Introduction On January 2nd the Association of American Law Schools sponsored a one day workshop on technology and pedagogy. Materials from this workshop can be view using the links to the right. “The times they are a changin.” Whether we like it or not, Bob Dylan’s famous song lyric is undeniably applicable to twentyfirst century legal education. Unlike their teachers, most twenty-first century law students have grown up in the digital age. For many of our students, technology is a fundamental language — a tool for learning and living. Increasingly, students attending law school having been weaned in a culture where IM is more commonplace than the telephone, PDA’s replace a plethora of personal management techniques, students meet others socially and professionally online, and all the while looking out for the newest HitClip.1 To reach digital age law students, law teachers must confront the challenge of new technology, in order to make informed decisions about how, when, whether and what it takes to integrate technology into the law school curriculum. This one-day workshop is designed to help legal educators come to grips with the host of new pedagogical challenges posed by digital technology. The focus of the workshop is on using new technology to more effectively reach and engage the digital age law student, both inside and outside the classroom. The workshop will consider in depth the steps that faculty members can take to enrich their teaching with technology, as well as to overcome some common obstacles that stand in the way of effectively incorporating new technology into law school pedagogy. In the morning, there will be a plenary session on teaching to the digital age student. This plenary session has both student and faculty perspectives, as well as short vignettes on technology and legal writing, online discussion, and the use of digital technology to enhance the classroom experience. Two series of concurrent sessions will be held in the late morning and early afternoon. These breakout sessions will focus on a variety of issues relating to teaching with technology. Examples include online discussion, enhancing classroom presentation with technology, digital course materials, interactive exercises, distance learning, course management tools, international institutional connections, teaching visual persuasion, the integration of technology in clinical sessions, and the use of technology for remote exercises. The workshop will conclude with a second plenary session that focuses on what it takes to successfully incorporate new technology into law teaching. A panel of faculty experts will consider a variety of challenges to successfully teaching with technology, including equality of access to technology, obtaining the necessary intellectual property rights, and administrative concerns. Those who attend the workshop will learn about new uses of technology in law teaching — from the very simple to the more complex applications — as well as lessons learned by experienced users of technology. Throughout the workshop, there will be a variety of demonstrations and opportunities for hands-on practice with a range of technology that is being used in law school teaching. Absolutely no technological experience is expected or necessary, but the Planning Committee is hopeful that this workshop will provide a thoughtprovoking forum for law faculty with a wide variety of technological expertise to share ideas and learn from each other. We hope you will join us at this rich and exciting event! 1: If you don ’t know what these acronyms mean, or even if you do, then this conference is definitely for you! |
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Association of American Law Schools |
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1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Suite 800 Washington, D.C. 20036-2605 |
tel: 202/296-8851 fax: 202/296-8869 |
Please let us know.