OpenVerdictfor Education
A short demo · ready to pilot

Change one fact. See who moves.

Put a hypothetical on the screen. Every student answers on their phone: a result and a one-line reason. Change one fact and they answer again. You see who changed their answer when the facts changed, and who didn’t.

For law and pre-law courses that teach by hypothetical, and the academic success offices that support them.

The problem

  • In a 75-seat section, a few students do most of the talking. A cold call reaches one student; the other 74 wait.
  • Discussion boards get everyone writing, but you read the posts after class, too late to reteach anything that day.
  • ABA Standard 314 requires formative assessment. Nobody has time to write weekly feedback for 75 students.
Instructor your laptopStudent a student’s phone

Pick a format

In all three, every student answers in writing before anyone speaks.

Format
As the instructor, before class

Your chains

Pick a ready-made chain, or copy one and edit it for your course. Then choose how you call on students.

  • Contracts
    Offer and acceptance: the mailbox rule
    3 fact changes · answers: Contract / No contract
  • Criminal Procedure
    Miranda: custody, and the public safety exception
    3 fact changes · answers: Warnings required / Not required
  • Constitutional Law
    Equal protection: which level of scrutiny
    5 fact changes · answers: Rational basis / Intermediate / Strict scrutiny
  • American Government
    Student speech: when may a school punish it?
    4 fact changes · answers: Protected / School may punish
Calling on students
Calling on students
As a student

The facts: Contracts

You’re one of nine students in a sample section (Contracts, section 2 (1L)). Your answers stay in your browser. The other eight students are made up.

The screen at the front
  1. Monday: Seller mails Buyer an offer to sell 500 widgets at $10 each.
  2. Wednesday, 9 a.m.: Buyer mails a letter accepting.
  3. Wednesday, noon: Seller, who has received nothing, phones Buyer and revokes the offer.
  4. Friday: Buyer’s acceptance arrives.

Is there a contract? Give the result and one reason.

You’re in.

Read the facts. You have one minute to pick an answer and give one reason. Classmates won’t see your name. Your instructor will, unless names are hidden.

Would you use this in your class?

One click answers. A no helps us as much as a yes. Everything else is optional.

Would you run this with a class?

How it works in class

Your laptop has the controls and the names. The projector shows a room screen with no names.

1. Write the facts
Monday: Seller mails Buyer an offer to sell 500 widgets at $10 each. Wednesday, 9 a.m.: Buyer mails a letter accepting. Wednesday, noon: Seller, who has received nothing, phones Buyer and revokes the offer. Friday: Buyer’s acceptance arrives.

Enter the facts and the changes before class. The answer key stays on your laptop.

2. Students join
Sample room code
4821

Students open a link on a phone or laptop. No accounts.

3. Start the clock
68 of 75 writing (sample)1:12

Answers arrive on your laptop. The room sees only the count until you close answers.

  • Across the term. A course adds up each student’s answers week to week. Share it with a TA or your academic success office.
  • More time. Answers stay open until you close them. Students can hide the clock or ask for more.
  • Anonymous when you want. One switch hides names on your laptop. Or never ask for names at all.
  • Names. Only you see who wrote what; classmates never do. Nobody at OpenVerdict looks unless you ask us to fix a problem.
  • Student work. Never sold or used to train AI; only our hosting and database providers hold it. Sessions are deleted 30 days after class unless you keep them.

The hypothetical chain is live on openverdict.net, run by OpenVerdict Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Questions go to william@openverdict.net. How student data is handled today.