Classcaster is getting a new server. The new server will give Classcaster a more responsive website and a lot more storage space. I will be bringing the new server online Saturday, August 26, 2006. To accomplish this the Classcaster service will be unavailable from 10:00 AM until 11:00 AM on Saturday August 26, 2006 while the hardware switch is made. The switch to the new server will not have any effect on how you or your readers access Classcaster.

As I work on tuning up Classcaster for the fall semester, I've added the FAQs that were living on the CALI website to the Classcaster site. This should give everyone better access to the information right from the site and help reduce confusion. The FAQs are now here. Please note that the FAQs are being drawn directly from the CALI system, so you can still find them ther eas partof the CALI Support area.

You can now create custom templates sets based on existing Classcaster templates. This allows you to customize the look and feel of your blog. You can use this feature to do things like change the header graphic, add your school's logo, or change colors. Listen to the podcast for an overview of this feature. I am writing HowTos that will cover specific editing tasks. These will be included in the Classcaster FAQ. Here are a couple of links to general information about templating in LifeType (Classcaster's blogging engine):General Template DevelopmentCustomizing TemplatesClick here to download the ClassCasteraudio.Play It Now!

On Monday January 9th, 2006, Prof. Jennifer Martin at Western New England College of Law recorded her Business Organizations class and posted the lecture to her Classcaster blog becoming the first law professor to podcast her course using the Classcaster system. This first podcast launches an ambitious CALI project that will see over 50 faculty members from CALI member law schools create blogs and podcasts for their courses during the spring 2006 semester. The project is intended to examine the usefulness of podcasting and blogging in legal education. CALI is providing digital voice recorders and extra support to the faculty members chosen to participate in the project. Classcaster is a course blogging system that provides faculty, librarians, and staff of CALI member schools with a new way to interact with students and communities. A Classcaster blog provides authors with tools for posting not only traditional blog articles but also tools for podcasting and sharing any documents and/or files with students and communities. For more information about Classcaster, please read the Classcaster FAQ or the Classcaster whitepaper. A forum for discussing Classcaster is available here.

Should there be a ping server for all those law prof, law librarian blogs floating around out there? This may tell us...