subject: Court Reporters In The Classroom [print this page] Court reporters in Los Angeles, and all across the country, have numerous opportunities now, especially given the technological access to providing detailed, closed-captioned information about meetings as they happen in real time. This is useful not only in the courtroom where the hearing-impaired can follow legal proceedings such as trials, hearings and depositions, but also in many other environments. Los Angeles court reporters have long been active in the entertainment industry, for instance, providing accurate transcripts of contract meetings and conferences that conduct legal agreements. Using the latest in transcription technology, court reporters are also able to provide transcripts of corporate events, business discussions, and seminars, as well as captioning for entertainment media.
Some Los Angeles court reporters have made inroads into the classroom as well, providing a very valuable service for hearing-impaired students. Using real time transcription skills, court reporters are able to use "computer-assisted real time reporting" (CART) in the classroom when, perhaps, certified sign language instructors are not available or the person does not know sign language. CART is presently used not only in Los Angeles, but in hundreds of classrooms across the United States.
Using a stenography machine, many professional court reporters and stenographers are able to allow students to access laptops in order to see a captioned version of what is being discussed in class onscreen. Arranged with the help of teachers, court reporters in this context are as unobtrusive as possible. After usually explaining their presence to the class, they seek to facilitate the learning experience but not intrude upon it. Agreements with teachers provide that court reporters will not be available to monitor student behavior or cooperate in the actual education of the student, nor to grade papers, but rather to be present to add value to the student's experience and allow the hearing impaired to participate more fully in the learning experience. The students also understand that the court reporter is available to facilitate, but not to answer questions related to the classroom material or with regard to the expectations of the instructor or the other students.
Some of the prohibitive aspects of using a steno machine in the classroom is moving it from class to class, the cost for parents (this is usually not a service supplied by school districts), and the challenge of facilitating in an environment that is sometimes less structured or formal than a courtroom setting. Those who use a court reporter in Los Angeles claim, however, that the positive aspects outweigh the difficulties, and being able to better understand what is going on in class is invaluable.
