Top 5 legal technology stories of 2020 — from abajournal.com by Nicole Black
Excerpts:
Online learning and law schools during the pandemic — from tonybates.ca by Tony Bates
Excerpt:
Pre-Covid, law schools and especially law accrediting agencies in North America have been pretty conservative in the past with regard to online or more accurately distance learning (see Online education and the professional associations: the case of law, for more details on the situation in 2018).
We can then fairly safely assume that most of these schools would have had no or little prior experience of online learning before March of this year. So it is interesting that 89% of students in law schools in the USA responding to a Thomson Reuters survey reported that during Covid-19 they were taking classes entirely online.
…
However, for me the most interesting results are in the graph below:
Preferences for permanent changes
It seems clear that at least some level of online instruction will continue in the future, and that online learning will become widespread for at least some types of classes.
Given that there was almost no online learning in law schools in the USA pre-Covid 19, this is a significant conclusion.
From DSC:
I appreciate Tony writing about this topic. He’s correct in saying the ABA and the legal education field — along with the entire legal realm — was behind the 8 ball in terms of online learning (and I would add the use of emerging technologies in general). In fact, I’d say that the ABA was essentially twenty years behind in terms of getting on board the online learning train. It still has a ways to go…but the pressure is on the ABA to get with the times. Our society requires that they do so. The pace of change has been changing for a decade or more now. They can no longer walk on the race track and hope to not get in the way of a world that’s traveling at 180 mph.
Make no mistake, if the ABA — and the legal field in general — continues at their previous pace, we all will pay the price. Consider but a few areas that are already having an impact on our society:
Along with other tags that apply here:
Trends 2021: Three Scenes from the Future — from frogdesign.com
Excerpt:
This year, we decided to lean into this unreality. For our tenth annual Trends list, we asked frogs to not only imagine the societal and technological shifts that will impact our future, but to project the future worlds these shifts will create. From perspectives on the accelerated adoption of remote work, to visions of distorted realities and changing consumer behaviors, we’re sharing different possible views of 2021 and beyond—and the products, services and experiences that will shape our future worlds.
Social strikes back — from a16z.com
Social Strikes Back is a series exploring the next generation of social networks and how they’re shaping the future of consumer tech. See more at a16z.com/social-strikes-back.
Excerpt:
Until recently, it was commonly accepted that “social” was done. The market had been fully saturated, the thinking went, dominated by the holy trinity of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Turns out, rumors of social’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Not only are we seeing the rise of innovative new social networks—from the earshare of Clubhouse to the seamless interactivity of cloud gaming—but having a social component has become a powerful acquisition and retention tool for every consumer product, across education, shopping, fitness, food, entertainment, and more. In this series, we reveal what new social looks like, the forces that are driving it, and how to build it.
Meet Me in the Metaverse — from a16z.com by Jonathan Lai
Excerpts:
There are many competing visions for how we’ll build the Metaverse: a persistent, infinitely-scaling virtual space with its own economy and identity system.
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New social modalities will emerge in the Metaverse. Advances in cloud streaming and AI will enable new forms of engagement with friends—for example, the ability to pop into a persistent virtual world and discover new people and experiences together, entirely unplanned.
Live, Social, and Shoppable: The Future of Video — from a16z.com by Connie Chan
Excerpt:
Now, we’re about to enter a whole new era of video-first products that extend far beyond entertainment and gaming. If phase one of video was a laid-back experience, video 2.0 will be far more interactive and participatory, with users engaging with the platform, giving direct feedback on the content, and fundamentally shaping the experience in real time.
Also see:
Edtech’s Answer to Remote Learning Burnout — from a16z.com by Anne Lee Skates and Connie Chan
Excerpt:
While previous generations of edtech largely focused on in-school content distribution, more recently founders have turned their attention to after-school and out-of-school education. There’s a lot left to build. We believe post-COVID online education will differ from the past in key ways.
2020 in review: Legal software for working remotely — from abajournal.com by Nicole Black
Excerpts:
DC: So how might this impact the learning ecosystems out there?https://t.co/tMl5ouSX1x#learningecosystems #learningfromthelivingclassroom #careers #careerdevelopment #education #highereducation #change
— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) November 25, 2020
The Dice Q3 Tech Job Report: Tech Hiring and COVID-19: What You Need to Know — from techhub.dice.com
The report, issued quarterly by Dice, provides
From DSC:
One can quickly see how valuable this information would be as a data feed into an AI-based, next-generation learning platform.
The platform would connect the marketable skills with the courses, websites, blogs, RSS feeds/streams of content, etc. that would help a learner quickly and affordably build such in-demand skills. Given the shortening half-lives of many kinds of information, such a service is needed desperately…especially now with the impact of the Coronavirus.
Also relevant: See how ISTE built its upcoming virtual event!
State of Remote Work 2020 — from owllabs.com
Excerpts:
During COVID-19, on average, people are saving $479.20 per month.
