Susan-Annotated-Bibliography


 * ETEC 750D Susan Jaworowski

Annotated Bibliography**

Curtis, D.M & Karp, J.R. (2007). In a case, on the screen, do they remember what they've seen? Critical electronic reading in the law classroom. //Hamline Law Review// 30, 247

The authors, professors of law at Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center and the authors of "In a case, in a book, they will not take a second look! On critical reading strategies at the law school" return to the issue of critical reading at the law school by considering the difference that reading in an electronic format, rather than a traditional paper textbook, has on the process. The articles discusses the biological and physiological differences in reading on a computer screen, and on-screen reading in the law school classroom. Flicker rate, the difference in page layout, and particular issues posed by non-linear hypertext links are discussed. On-screen reading is shown to be slower and less accurate, although overall comprehension rates seem to be the same for both groups of readers. The authors also offer solutions for improving critical reading skills in this format by adding metacognitive techniques in which the reader is aware of and monitors the reader’s comprehension process.

Foster, A.L. (2005). Texas weighs bill to allow graduates of online law schools to take bar exam. //Chronicle of Higher Education//, 51 (27), A35

This non-peer-reviewed article was selected to highlight one of the many barriers imposed on distance legal education. The American Bar Association refuses to accredit any all-distance learning law schools, and most states do not allow non-ABA-accredited law graduates to take their bar examinations. Only one state, California, allows distance-learning law school graduates to immediately take the bar after graduation. The majority of states do not let these graduates ever take the bar. Some, however, will, if the graduate has practiced for five years (in another states). The Texas bill would allow a distance education law school graduate to take the bar exam if they have already taken and passed another state’s bar exam, thereby potentially cutting down the 5 year moratorium to six months.

Heminway, J. M. (2006). Caught in (or on) the web: a review of course management systems for legal education. //Albany Law Journal of Science and Technology// 16, 265

The author, a University of Tennessee law professor, is a strong proponent of web-based course management systems in the law school setting, and she recommends tem for broader use in law school teaching. The author first provides a brief history of United States legal education, law school teaching today, and the 21st century law student, concluding that today’ student find using the internet very natural, and that that should guide law schools to adapt to new technology. The author gives her subjective response to the Lexis-Nexis Webcourses and the TWEN course management system she used. She also lists her generally positive student comments. The author admits that these evaluations are not scientific.

Newman, M.S. (2005). Not the evil TWEN: how online course management software supports non-linear learning in law schools. //Journal of High Technology Law 5//, 183

The author, a professor of law and law librarian at Pace University School of Law, discusses how law students learn through technology in the context of theories of learning and personality styles. Her focus is on technology as a classroom supplement, not a replacement, and the specific tool she discusses is the Westlaw course management technology called TWEN (hence the title). She sees the need for law schools to reach across the “digital disconnect” between students who grew up with the hypertext revolution and their professors who teach in the linear structure of most law school courses. She also reviews a survey of the professors at her law school on the impact of the TWEN system and student learning and interaction with the faculty. The author notes that there are few empirical studies on law students. She posits that the lack of large-scale studies showing a positive impact on student learning in the law school area keeps law schools, traditionally very conservative, from exploring this technology in great numbers. An additional factor against adoption is the time that learning this technology and managing it takes, which is time away from higher-valued tenure and tenure-track functions such as research and publication.

Oliphant, R.E. (2002-2003). Using “hi-tech” tools in a traditional classroom environment - a two semester experiment. //Richmond Journal of Law and Technology// 9, 42 pp [note: this is an exclusively online journal – billed as the world’s first - article can be found at http://law.richmond.edu/jolt/v9i2/article5.html]

The author, a professor of law at the William Mitchell College of Law, worked with a team to teach a cohort of fifty-five first year law students taking civil procedure, contracts, real property, and torts to experiment with using of high-technology tools in the classroom. The Blackboard course management system was used. The author’s hypothesis was that student learning and satisfaction would be increased by these tools as the tools would allow the students more control of the course in accordance with their learning styles. The teaching team challenged the traditional “one-size-fits-all” legal education model with its complete reliance on the Socratic method. The author reported a high level of student satisfaction with the high tech tools and as a result, the high-tech offerings at the College were to be expanded. The author did point out a number of barriers to more widespread adoption of these tools; modest administrative support, diversion of time from publication, minimal recognition by collegues, conflict with more lucrative off-campus consulting, limited training and budget for technology, and lack of appropriate facilities.

Perritt, Jr. H.H (1999). The internet is changing the face of American law schools. //Indiana Law Review// 33, 253

The author, a dean and professor of law at Chicago-Kent School of Law, examines three areas of internet usage in which law schools should become increasingly involved. The first is supporting electronic publishing and the virtual law library; the second is the development of intellectual and human capital, and the third is distance education. For distance education, the author unbundles four traditional components - classroom instruction, classroom preparation, office visits, and student-to-student discussion and reviews – noting that use of these technologies for classroom preparation is most advanced as it is relatively easy to digitize and post legal books and articles. Use of listservs and email can support the third and fourth areas. The first area is the least developed in the law school arena, and the author explores ways to create a virtual classroom by deconstructing the legal classroom experience However, the author finds significant barriers to the virtual classroom, including ABA accreditation issues and the traditional law school teaching style in the “grand manner.”

Poustie, M.R. (2001). Engaging students and enhancing skills: lessons from the development of a web-supported international environmental law conference simulation. //International Review of Law, Computers & Technology// 15 (3), 331

The author, a senior lecturer in law in Scotland, discusses a move from a traditional lecture and tutorial-based environmental law class to a class involving a large element of web-supported simulation in simulated international environmental conference. The key reasons for the change were (1) the desire to move to an active learning environment where students were at the centre of the learning process and would be learning by doing; and (2) to integrate and enhance negotiating, team working and IT skills in the class. The web-support aspects facilitated asynchronous learning and access to documentation and learning materials. The author found that this methodology increased active learning, but that the web-based conference was avoided by a significant number of L.L.B. students as compared to the previous year, possibly due to conservative avoidance ot non-traditional teaching techniques.

Powell, D.C. (2006). Five recommendations to law schools offering legal instruction over the internet. //Journal of Technology Law and Policy// 11, 285

The author is the director of the University of Alabama’s School of Law Graduate Tax Program, which offers an L.L.M. (master’s) in Taxation taught in part through distance learning. The author offers five recommendations from his perspective as a director of a distance learning program. The first recommendation is to offer graduate programs more generously than law courses, as law courses are strictly regulated by the American Bar Association (ABA), including a restriction on the number of distance courses that can be offered. In contrst, graduate law programs are not regulated by the ABA and can be freely offered online. The second recommendation is to collaborate with other law schools when offering courses but not programs; this seems to be based on a protectionist philosophy. The third recommendation is to use synchronous delivery, like video conferencing, as that most closely approximates the traditional interactive law school classroom style. The fourth recommendation is to use asynchronous forms of delivery to support the learning process, such as websites and podcasting. Last, the author recommends the use of relational marketing to attract distanc education students. While the author provides a plethora of material, the fact he offers a course that perfectly fits the model he recommends must be taken into consideration when evaluating the methodologies he recommends, especially as many authors find that asynchronous tools better fit student learning styles, even in the legal area.

Strickland, J.S. & Butler, J. (2005). Establishing guidelines for determining appropriate courses for online delivery. //Journal of Interactive Online Learning// 4(2) Retrieved from www.ncolr.org/jio on October 7, 2007

The impetus for this article was apparently one university’s attempt to draw in distance education faculty by promising them that they could “teach at the beach!” The authors wanted to critically examine the concept of distance education to determine whether its use was merely convenient for instructor but not pedagogically sound for the student. The authors compared two comparative religion courses, one taught in the traditional face to face method, and one taught through distance education on WebCT, to evaluate the effectiveness of the distance education offering. The authors review the existing literature on distance learning and report that, for the most part, studies find those courses to be at least as effective as face to face courses. The study also found that the online students had more positive responses toward the course than the traditional students did, and that the positive attitude of those in the online course to that method of teaching rose substantially by the end of the course. The authors conclude that distance education can be professionally defended. The authors also offer a five-step plan for faculty members to use in determining whether to offer an online course.

Winer, L.R. (2002). Computer-enhanced collaborative drafting in legal education. //Journal of Legal Education// 52, 278.

The author, an assistant professor at McGill University’s Center for University Teaching and Learning, reports on the pilot year of a three year study to look at various fields, including law, to see if computer-enhanced collaborative drafting would be successful. The study covered three areas: impact on students, impact on teachers, and instruction design concerns. The collaborative modality was a significant change in pedagogical style as the traditional course is taught with one final exam only, while the online collaborative approach involved multiple testing and substantial graded group work. The data consisted of an in-class questionnaire, student and teacher interviews, and classroom observations. The students felt overworked compared to their other courses. Of the learning outomes, the students ranked the skills aspect – drafting and teamwork – the highest, both in terms of what was learned and confidence level. Despite this, the author found that the software did not adequately support the draftibg exercises and recommends software that offers a sufficient level of stability, reliability, dependability, and flexibility, and supports communication and document exchange.

Zanglein, J.E. & and Stalcup, K. A (1999). Te (a) chnology: Web-Based Instruction in Legal Skills Courses. //Journal of Legal Education// 49, 480-503

The authors, a law school professor and the law school’s technology manager, explore their thesis that web-based technology can improve student learning and satisfaction in law school skills-based courses when they are based on a multi-media approach that takes into account different student learning styles, in contrast to the standard one-dimensional law school pedagogy. The articles discusses student learning styles, the pedagogy of web-based learning, and the application of the two in three legal skills-based courses. They assess their program based on student survey responses and make recommendations or the future. They reported three primary challenges: a lessened sense of civility; the unstable nature of the software they employed, and insufficient training and support for students with the technology. Nevertheless, the authors’ conclusion is that web-based instruction is one of the most “useful and energizing teaching technologies/tools” they have encountered.