Megatrends | September 25, 2022 — by Michael Moe, Tim Juang, Owen Ritz, & Kit Royce
“The trend is your friend.” – Martin Zweig
“Follow the trend lines, not the headlines.” – Bill Clinton
“In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.” – Coco Chanel
“I don’t set the trends. I just find out what they are and exploit them.” – Dick Clark
Megatrends are powerful technological, economic, and social forces that develop from a groundswell (early adoption), move into the mainstream (mass market), and disrupt the status quo (mature market), driving change, productivity, and ultimately growth opportunities for companies, industries, and entire economies.
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The metaverse is not a vertical trend; it’s a horizontal trend that will impact sectors ranging from healthcare, education, socialization, entertainment, commerce, and more.
Top tools for learning 2022 — from toptools4learning.com by Jane Hart
Excerpt:
In fact, it has become clear that whilst 2021 was the year of experimentation – with an explosion of tools being used as people tried out new things, 2022 has been the year of consolidation – with people reverting to their trusty old favourites. In fact, many of the tools that were knocked off their perches in 2021, have now recovered their lost ground this year.
Also somewhat relevant/see:
Third edition of Teaching at a Distance is now published — from tonybates.ca by Tony Bates
Excerpts:
The book has been up-dated to take account of the impact of the pandemic on teaching and learning, and with more emphasis for those in k-12 education to balance the post-secondary focus.
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20 Things To Remember About Forgetting — from theelearningcoach.com by Connie Malamed
What Causes Us To Forget
Excerpt:
Even though we use it all day and night, we are usually not aware of our memory’s processes until they fail. Yet remembering and forgetting are crucial aspects of learning. In learning design, it’s important to know what causes us to forget. Here are some key facts about the forgetting process that relate to learning, instruction and creativity.
Jigsaw Explorer — Free Online Jigsaw Puzzles for Students — from educatorstechnology.com by Med Kharbach, PhD
Excerpt:
Jigsaw Explorer is a website that offers a wide variety of online jigsaw puzzles that you can use with kids and students in and out of class. Jigsaw Explorer also allows you to create your own puzzles based on your photos and you can share these puzzles with others via email or through social media websites.
Help All Students Be Seen: Five Tips for Stronger Connections — from blog.edmentum.com by Amy Collins
Excerpt:
I began to challenge myself to set aside my preconceived boxes for them and see each one as a person—complex, with parts they reveal to the world easily and parts they hide. As I did this more and more, I was amazed at how my strategies needed to change in order to truly see each student and make those strong connections that lead to more effective learning. In this blog post, I hope to share some thoughts on how to adjust your own thinking to see the true student within.
An excerpt from Eva Keiffenheim’s recent Learn Letter| learning science to make the most of your mind
Resources for Evidence-Based Teaching
Are you an educator who wants to improve teaching? This website can be a great help. You can access proven, practical and free educational articles on psychology, assessment, behavior, and social-emotional learning. One of my favorite articles include 6 high-impact teaching strategies.
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This YouTube Star Says AI Will Become a Creative ‘Collaborator’ With Students — from soundcloud.com by Jeff Young and Taryn Southern
Description:
Taryn Southern is a pioneering YouTuber who these days experiments with how cutting edge tech might transform human expression. She’s recorded a pop album that she co-wrote with some AI code, for instance, and she’s created a digital clone of herself that she can use to make videos for her popular YouTube channel. Here’s what she sees coming for education.
#convergence #AR #VR #MR #AI #blockchain #HCI #Metaverse
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Teacher shortage? Here’s one way around it — from edcircuit.com by EdCircuit Staff
Excerpt:
After seeing the teacher shortage first hand in China, Jessie Sullivan and Isla Iago launched an innovative new start-up that teaches children how to read and write through YouTube – without the need for adult expertise or attention. Since the release in July, the start-up called See Say Write is already being used by schools, homes, and children’s charities in seven different countries.
[Administrator Tips] Sharing the Benefits of Virtual Learning with Homeschooling Families — from blog.edmentum.com
Excerpt:
One of the long-lasting results of the pandemic is the number of ongoing virtual learning programs that have been created, allowing schools to retain students who found that they need or prefer to learn in a virtual environment. Another segment of students who have been increasingly turning to online learning is homeschoolers.
Virtual learning programs offered through the school district have a great deal of benefits to offer homeschooling families. Promoting these benefits and showing families that a district virtual program offers the best of both worlds can help bring families back from independent homeschooling.
While there certainly are differences between traditional homeschooling and online schooling, it is helpful to point out the similarities and benefits so that homeschooling families can make an educated decision about the options available to them.
Addendums on 8/22/22:
Lawyers trying to strangle alternative legal advice — from calmatters.org by Dan Walters
“Scope of practice” conflicts are common in the California Legislature and one is a bill that would forbid the State Bar from exploring alternative legal services.
Excerpt:
There is, however, a darker side to California’s licensing system. It gives licensees monopolies over specific services defined by the Legislature.
Therefore, who is legally authorized to provide what service is ultimately as much a political issue as one of professional competency. No session of the Legislature is complete without at least one “scope of practice” battle.
Also relevant/see:
ABA Sides Against Opening Law Firms Up to New Competition — from news.bloomberglaw.com by Sam Skolnik
Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
The American Bar Association is pouring cold water on efforts to loosen restrictions on who can own law firms, including moves that could open firms up to new competition from corporations.
The group’s House of Delegates on Tuesday passed a non-binding resolution discouraging changes to state rules barring the sharing of legal fees with non-lawyers. But it also encouraged state bar groups to explore innovations designed to increase access to justice by making legal services more affordable.
“By reaffirming our core value of independence of the legal profession and the prohibition against nonlawyer ownership, the ABA House’s action today is a huge victory for all lawyers,” said Foley Hoag partner Stephen Younger, a previous president of the New York State Bar Association.
From DSC:
Yes…that emphasized part of the last paragraph seems to say it all. A victory for lawyers, but not a victory for the American people. Not for those who are trying to access the legal system. Not for those who are fighting to provide more access to justice.
Addendums on 8/13/22:
Attorneys: It’s OK if you didn’t pass the #barexam. The exam doesn’t test minimum competence anyway.
The same attorneys: Allowing a JD holder to be a licensed and regulated paraprofessional serving family law clients in very limited case types is a terrible idea.
— Natalie Anne Knowlton (@natalalleycat) August 10, 2022
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And it’s not just in the United States either:
“If the Benchers of the Law Society of Ontario wish to preserve the privilege of self-regulation, they should be careful to avoid suppressing competition and exacerbating A2J problems.” Be ready to hear “regulatory capture” with increasing frequency re: legal services regulation. https://t.co/bMj2GDPvQw
— Jordan Furlong (@jordan_law21) August 11, 2022
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How Did Legal Services Get So Unaffordable, and What Are We Going to Do About It? — from chicagobarfoundation.org
Excerpt:
Over the past 50 years, we gradually have gone from a time in our country where the average middle-class person or small business generally could find affordable legal services when they needed them to a time today where everyday people struggle to afford legal help and lawyers often joke that they could not afford their own services if the need arose.
How will the Metaverse Influence Business and Legal Processes? — from jdsupra.com
Excerpt:
While some will be hesitant to use the metaverse and adoption is difficult to predict, it is not going away and will undoubtedly affect internal processes, business dealings, case strategy, and more. Organizations should start thinking about the possibilities now to be better prepared for future challenges. Below are some predictions on how the metaverse will influence operations, strategy, and investments across different areas of the enterprise.
Lawyers & the Metaverse — from joetechnologist.com by Elizabeth Beattie and Joseph Raczynski
Excerpt:
In a new Q&A interview, Thomson Reuters’ technologist and futurist Joseph Raczynski offers his insight about the Metaverse and how it will impact the legal industry.
I have likely spoken to thousands of lawyers over the last several years. They are extraordinarily bright, but with one limiting factor — their dedication to their craft. This means that they do not have the time to lift their heads to see what is coming. All these emerging technologies will impact their practices in some way, as well as the business of law. At a minimum, lawyers need the opportunity to focus on the big four: AI, blockchain, workflow, and the grab bag of general emerging technology. There are a multitude of places to learn about these things, but I would include some of the classics such as Google Alerts, Twitter threads on these topics, and magazines like Wired, which should be a staple for everyone.
These legal issues should be on college business officers’ radars — from highereddive.com by Rick Seltzer
A panel at the National Association of College and University Business Officers’ annual meeting covered legal questions spanning many offices on campus.
Let’s not presume that virtual hearings are the best solution in family law — from canadianlawyermag.com by John Silvester
Excerpts:
Proponents argue that virtual hearings are less expensive for clients, leading to enhanced access to justice for those who cannot afford to pay for their lawyers to travel to a courthouse and then sit and wait for hearings to commence. Sounds reasonable, right?
Not so fast.
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Virtual hearings are advantageous in some scenarios, but there are at least three reasons why moving to an almost entirely virtual legal world may prove problematic.
LawNext Podcast: CALI Executive Director John Mayer on Using Tech to Advance Legal Education and Access to Justice — from lawnext.com by Bob Ambrogi and John Mayer
Excerpt:
In this episode of LawNext, Mayer joins host Bob Ambrogi to discuss the history and mission of CALI and to share his thoughts on the use of technology to enhance legal education. They also talk about how and why A2J Author was developed and how it is used by courts and legal services organizations to help those who are without legal representation. Mayer also shares his thoughts on the future of innovation in law and on the future of CALI.
Louisiana Approves Virtual Custody Services and Proposes Virtual Currency Business Licensing Rules — from natlawreview.com by Moorari Shah and A.J. S. Dhaliwal
Excerpt:
Recently, the Louisiana lawmakers and regulators have taken steps to legalize operations in the state involving virtual currencies. On June 15, the Louisiana governor signed a bill that, effective August 1, 2022, will allow financial institutions and trust companies to provide virtual currency custody services to their customers as long as they satisfy certain requirements on risk-management and compliance. On June 20, the Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions (OFI) published proposed rules on licensing and regulation of virtual currency businesses in the state pursuant to the Louisiana Virtual Currency Business Act, which went into effect on August 1, 2020.
If I were you I’d be following what @LXStudio_Legal is up to. Knowing the smart folks involved, the initiatives to come are likely to be exciting and much needed for the legal ecosystem. #legaltech #business
— Colin S. Levy (@Clevy_Law) July 16, 2022
Also relevant/see:
What is Norton Rose Fulbright’s LX Studio? — from artificiallawyer.com
Excerpts:
‘From tiny acorns, mighty oak trees grow’ so the saying goes, and it’s fair to say that US-based LX Studio, the new innovation project of global firm Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF), is very much still an acorn – but it has plenty of potential.
Artificial Lawyer spoke to Jeff Cody, Managing Partner for the US side of 3,700-lawyer NRF, which was formed by the merger of the UK’s Norton Rose and America’s Fulbright & Jaworski in 2013, to find out some more.
But, with a more optimistic outlook one might say that this is a beginning; and that although the US is home to many pioneering legal tech companies and ALSPs, the reality is that few law firms in the US have dedicated innovation groups which mirror the full range of what NRF has in the UK, for example.
The Future of Education | By Futurist Gerd Leonhard | A Video for EduCanada — from futuristgerd.com
Per Gerd:
Recently, I was invited by the Embassy of Canada in Switzerland to create this special presentation and promotional video discussing the Future of Education and to explore how Canada might be leading the way. Here are some of the key points I spoke about in the video. Watch the whole thing here: the Future of Education.
…because by 2030, I believe, the traditional way of learning — just in case — you know storing, downloading information will be replaced by learning just in time, on-demand, learning to learn, unlearning, relearning, and the importance of being the right person. Character skills, personality skills, traits, they may very well rival the value of having the right degree.
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If you learn like a robot…you’ll never have a job to begin with.
Gerd Leonhard
Also relevant/see:
The Next 10 Years: Rethinking Work and Revolutionising Education (Gerd Leonhard’s keynote in Riga) — from futuristgerd.com
Opportunities for Education in the Metaverse — from downes.ca by Stephen Downes
Excerpt:
This short presentation introduces major elements of the metaverse, outlines some applications for education, discusses how it may be combined with other technologies for advanced applications, and outlines some issues and concerns.
Also relevant/see:
What Should Higher Ed in the Metaverse Look like? – from linkedin.com by Joe Schaefer
Excerpt:
The Metaverse is coming whether we like it or not, and it is time for educators to think critically about how it can benefit students. As higher education continues to evolve, I believe every learning product and platform working with or within the Metaverse should, at least, have these functionalities:
Addendum on 5/23/22:
Is the virtual courtroom the future of the justice system? — from deseret.com by Zakary Sonntag
Video proceedings have increased court access but raised questions of rights amid case backlog
Excerpt:
The justice system in Utah is straining under the weight of an immense backlog of criminal cases, especially serious felony cases, leaving many defendants to languish in custody as additional filings continue to accumulate.
The buildup began in 2020 after the Utah Supreme Court ordered the shutdown of in-person proceedings in response to the coronavirus, which left attorneys and judges to hash out settlements through a remote, Webex court process.
The pandemic’s impact on the legal sector and what emerging lawyers need to know — from timesofindia.indiatimes.com by Roma Priya
Excerpt:
For aspiring lawyers and law school graduates who have commenced practice recently, one of the best ways to stay relevant is to upskill yourself. Apart from the legal industry-related skills as a lawyer, such as in-depth knowledge about clients, the law, and other subjects, communication skills, problem solving and analytical skills, and tech skills are crucial.
Today, digitally-savvy lawyers are in high demand as technology continues to evolve and progress. And as the Indian Judiciary System gradually acquaints itself with cutting-edge technologies, emerging lawyers must do the same.
About one-fifth of lawyers and staffers considered suicide at some point in their careers, new survey says — from abajournal.com by Debra Cassens Weiss
A new survey of lawyers and staff members hailing mostly from BigLaw has found that anxiety, depression and isolation remain at concerning levels, despite a slight decrease in the percentages since the survey last year.
When is a legal department ready to transform? — from advisory.kpmg.us by Eric Gorman, Kimberly Majure, and Jeff Ikejiri
Explore the catalysts for change
…legal departments that identify and agree on a motive to change, and then are alert for opportunities to act, are legal departments that are ready to transform.
From DSC:
I saw the link to LitSoftware at the posting entitled, Three Lessons In Persuasive Trial Technology (from legaltechmonitor.com by Stephen Embry).. I thought it offered some interesting software:
The Top 3 Legal Technology Trends of 2022 — from lexology.com by Sean Heck
Excerpts:
Litera legal survey shows that technology is driving change in all aspects of M&A practice — from canadianlawyermag.com by Annabel Oromoni
Excerpt:
The global pandemic and the increasing reliance on technology to facilitate remote legal work and collaboration have accelerated the legal profession’s interest in technology-based solutions. A recent survey by Litera, a legal tech company, revealed that technology significantly impacts M&A practices in law firms.
Litera’s survey included insights from over 200 lawyers whose practices focus on M&A in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada.
David Curle, legal content and research lead at Litera, says the legal profession is fragmented, and Litera sought to receive responses about technology use, adoption, and spending from M&A lawyers specifically.
6 Types of Software for Your In-House Legal Team Needs — from jdsupra.com
Excerpt:
Most legal teams rely heavily on documents and communication for their work, and handling all the related operations may not be as simple as you would like it to be. Unless you change your approach to document management and start exploring tech solutions that improve team efficiency.
Automation software has helped many businesses and departments streamline all or most of their operations and improve their efficiency. The same can be done for a legal team.
In this article, let’s focus on the types of automation software for in-house counsel along with some of the top examples.
Addendum later on 5/11/22:
ANALYSIS: Lawyers’ Top Legal Tech Tools—And Biggest Blind Spots — from news.bloomberglaw.com by Racheal Pikulski, Princess Onyiri, and Lida Ouyang
Addendum later on 5/11/22:
Ontario Bar Association backs proposed guidelines for remote court hearings — from lawtimesnews.com by Katrina Eñano
Excerpt:
According to the OBA, resorting to remote hearings can promote efficiency and cost-effectiveness and ensure the appropriate allocation of judicial resources.
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In addition, the OBA provided a list of matters that should presumptively proceed remotely. These matters include:
Also relevant/see:
Lawyers increasingly concerned about interplay between virtual and in-person court operations — from lawtimesnews.com by Annabel Oromoni
Excerpt:
As civil proceedings prepare to return to in-person hearings for discoveries, mandatory mediations, and trials, litigation lawyer Eric Sherkin says lawyers are wondering about the interplay of online and in-person arguments.
Certain hearings like pre-trials and case conferences will remain remote but how it works in practice beyond that is still unknown, Sherkin says.
All parties can agree to a virtual hearing, but “how often will all counsel say, ‘let’s agree to do this on Zoom,’ or will there be fights where five lawyers want to proceed on Zoom, and one insists on doing it in person?”
Math worksheets for the learning process — from intelligenthq.com
Excerpt:
If you want to master the subject of mathematics, constant practice of various topics is a must. To ensure that you have the proper grasp of all the topics of the subject, solving worksheets for math is one of the best techniques. Worksheets for math facilitate the stepwise mechanism which enhances the learning process and helps students identify their mistakes. Once they can recognize what their mistakes are, they can work on improving them. Worksheets for math also have visual problems that help in the visualization process of students and make their analyzing and strategic capability high. Take worksheets for math from Cuemath and excel in math.
Also see:
Also relevant/see:
In New Math Proofs, Artificial Intelligence Plays to Win — from quantamagazine.org; with thanks to Alec Lazarescu on Twitter for this resource
A new computer program fashioned after artificial intelligence systems like AlphaGo has solved several open problems in combinatorics and graph theory.
