At the vanguard of this movement is the Connected eBook. You may have heard about it or, if a red print casebook has been specified by one of your professors, you may have purchased one (click here to register). In any event, you owe it to yourself to find out more about the Connected eBook – including what students have to say about it and tips to get the most out of using it.
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What is a Connected eBook anyway?
More than just a print casebook, a Connected eBook gives law students access to an online e-book with highlighting and note-taking capabilities. Also included are practice questions and exercises from popular study guides like Examples & Explanations that allow students to quiz themselves and assess their comprehension of the law, built in tools for case briefing and outlining, and a legal news feed. -
What do students have to say about it?
A recent survey polled 35,000 students who purchased and registered their Connected eBooks. The Connected eBook received a big thumbs up from students overall, garnering such comments as: “doesn't require lugging around books or having copies in different locations, easily searchable, easy to use in class” and “The search and annotation features make using passages and examples from the book very easy, especially in an online learning environment.” - What do students think about the e-book?
The top five features they found most helpful were:
- eBook Search
- Highlights & Annotations
- Study Center Practice Questions
- Study Center Explanatory Videos
- Case-brief Tool
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What do students wish they had known about it sooner?
All the features at their fingertips. A common theme among some respondents was that they didn’t realize that their Connected eBook was an all-in-one learning tool because they never got beyond reading the e-book at Casebook Connect. To see for yourself, take the tutorial.
Read on to find a sampling of students’ opinions, the lessons learned from their experiences, and tips that will help students new to using Connected eBooks. -
“Love not having to lug my books around everywhere!”
Portability is a big plus for students, who often attend multiple classes per day. Those who commute by public transportation report finding it handy to read the e-book while in transit.Tip: Consider using the e-book during class instead of your print casebook. Even if your professor doesn’t allow laptops during lectures, you can print individual chapters from the e-book and bring them along with you to lighten the load. -
“I liked being able to search quickly while in class.”
Cited as the most popular feature, searching the e-book makes it easy to follow the professor’s lecture. This way, students can spend more time following the discussion and less time rifling through pages.Tip: As you find the specific parts of the case cited by your professor, highlight material using one of six colors or add notes directly into the margin of the e-book for greater efficiency. -
“The videos were helpful tools in understanding the information.”
Sometimes a different perspective can bring clarity to complex concepts. The videos in the study center dovetail with the material being studied and were created to help students gain deeper understanding about what’s important.Tip: Even if you’re pressed for time, don’t skip the videos. You’ll gain a more nuanced view of fundamental concepts that will help prepare you for midterms and finals. -
“I loved the practice exercises and study questions; they really helped me learn the material!!”
The study questions included come from the most popular study guides, including Examples & Explanations, Glannon Guides, Law in a Flash and Emanuel Law Outlines. This content has been carefully curated and is aligned to the course material to reinforce learning.Tip: Don’t wait until you’re studying for exams! Test your knowledge throughout the semester by answering multiple choice, short answer and essay format questions. Use your results to self-assess your performance and pinpoint areas for additional study.
Bonus:If you need additional help and find questions from Emanuel Law Outlines, Examples & Explanations, or Glannon Guides helpful, buy the full e-book which comes with an interactive study center. Go to https://www.casebookconnect.com/catalog and click on the Digital Study Aids tab. -
“Being able to highlight and easily create case briefs was a fantastic resource and time saver for me!”
Connected eBooks lets students set up labels for their highlighter colors (facts, issues, rules, etc.) and associates them with the material that’s highlighted. The highlights and notes made when reading a case are automatically arranged into a case brief based on the students’ personal settings.Tip: Set up labels early in the semester. You can edit the label name or rearrange their order at any time. -
“I liked... how we are able to highlight and create an outline.”
Students can use Casebook Connect ’s highlighting and notetaking tools to automatically populate the outline template with their notes and highlights from the e-book, then save the template as a Microsoft Word document for easy editing and printing. By getting a jump start on an outline, students enjoy more time for studying when it counts most, before midterms and final exams.Tip: Charts and graphs also can be imported into the outline – a big advantage for visual learners.