SOCIAL MOBILITY

Social mobility and social inclusion is one aspect of ‘retention and

success’ which aims to promote access to the professions and

postgraduate study

�Advantages

Social media can involve practitioners as participants or used as case studies

Learners are increasingly equipped with or able to learn new skills

�Disadvantages

Digital media literacy levels may be low or need augmenting for learning

Institutional barriers may prevent external contribution to learning environment

�Directions

Online working and training platforms will demand experienced graduates

Newer models of scholarship and curation of resources

Twitter

Fast paced, widely used by the legal profession: time investment needed

� TweetCases: [16] summarise a case or principle therein in 140 characters

�Question the Expert: [17] pose questions or survey via twitter as a class

� Twitter Fountain: [18] allocate a class hash tag for post-lecture Q&As

iTunes U

Popular and accessible for most mobile devices: up-skilled staff needed

� Taster Sessions: [19] individual lectures, promoting wider access and enrolment

�Keynote Speakers: [19] public lectures or keynotes speakers from events

Horizon

Horizon Report 2012 identifies mobile apps and tablets as <1 year away:

� Predominantly non-UK content, although increasingly UK universities are

moving into this market. May arguably be listed as Transnational in the future

as content is typically delivered within an institutional VLE at present

Mapping Social Media and Innovation in Legal Education

ABSTRACT

TITLE:

Mapping Social Media and Innovation in Legal Education

BACKGROUND:

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are seeking to improve the learning

experience, and teaching through novel means is one mechanism to achieve this

goal. The Higher Education Academy (HEA) supports 9 thematic areas to

enhance learning and teaching practice across all disciplines, of which the

following are priority areas for 2012/13: flexibility of pace and place,

transnational education, social mobility and inclusion [1].

OBJECTIVE:

This poster identifies areas of good practice where innovative use of collaborative

and interactive technology has been applied to legal education. The advantages

and disadvantages of some current social media tools are explained briefly, and

evaluated for the purposes of improving the student learning

experience. Consideration is given to whether students are working

collaboratively or independently, synthesising new or evaluating existing

materials, assessed formatively or summatively, and the level of both staff and

student engagement required.

METHODS:

Online case studies, learning and teaching journals and conference papers were

searched to identify relevant examples of different types of social media, different

applications and the attendant benefits that were obtained.

RESULTS:

The findings illustrate a range of social media tools that may be used to enhance

learning and teaching. By no means exhaustive, the results highlighted in this

poster illustrate a range of tools and modes of use to support the thematic goals.

CONCLUSIONS:

A variety of methods exist which can enhance one or more of the thematic goals

identified, although few contribute significantly to all three. This would suggest

that a blend of different social media tools is required at present, dependent on the

exact objective. iTunes U and Game-based learning appear to have sufficient

overlap but mainstream legal education is not yet fully developed to be supported

by these methods.

THEMATIC GOALS

REFERENCES

Flexibility

TransnationalMobility

Michael Bromby: Discipline Lead for Law at The Higher Education Academy, Innovation Way, York Science Park, York YO10 5BR michael.bromby@heacademy.ac.uk @HEA_Law

Reader in Law at Glasgow Caledonian University, Cowcaddens Road, Glasgow G4 0BA m.bromby@gcu.ac.uk @m_bro

FLEXIBILITY

Flexibility of PACE looks at part-time learners who are taking

longer to complete their programme. Flexibility of PLACE looks at

learners studying whilst living at home

�Advantages

Physical barriers to collaborative work are removed through online interactions

Work-load is set according to time availability or progression rate

�Disadvantages

Social groups are not maintained in the long-term as progression is not uniform

Social behaviour is difficult to establish without prior face-to-face engagement

�Directions

The considered use of asynchronous and synchronous activities for PLACE

Interactions between year groups or module cohorts for PACE

Wiki

Group collaboration: contributions can be made anytime from anywhere

� Contribute to Wikipedia: [2] Correct, update or add new content to existing site

� Create a resource: [3] Mass collaboration improves upon individual work

� Create annotated lists: [4] Notes indicate relevant of sources for coursework

Blog

Individual posts: can engage other authors and draw comments

� e-Portfolios: [5] Personal development, reflection, demonstrate progress

� Referencing: [6] Authoritative blogs? How to reference breaking news

Horizon

Horizon Report 2012 identifies as 2-3 years from adoption:

�Game-based Learning: Transactional simulations have existed for some time

[7], but we are yet to move into open-ended , challenged-based collaborative

games [8] for legal education

Examples of well-developed game-based learning institutions [9]

TRANSNATIONAL

Transnational education promotes teaching across national

boundaries within the UK or outside. This may be on a programme

or modular level; as a franchise or articulation model

�Advantages

Removes the need for visits / flying faculty to other countries to teach

Promotes discussion of comparative issues from first hand experience

�Disadvantages

Face-to-face and group cohesion can be lost over distance or over time zones

Cultural and linguistic barriers can prevent or confuse social aspects of learning

�Directions

Economic pressures: creative institutions will develop new competitive models

Performance indicators will augment distance learning methods

Discussion Forum

Text-based: moderation can be time-intensive

� Bulletin Boards: [10] Permanent resource for later revision; anonymous Q&As

� International cohorts: [11] Blend participants from other HEIs online

� Reflection: [12] Reflective learning that scaffolds the classroom activities

Podcasting

Voice or video: custom made or live recording of classroom activity

� Create content: [13] Video-conferencing and podcasting transnationally

�Adopt/adapt: [14] Asynchronous audio offered to other law school students

Learning Analytics

Horizon Report 2012 identifies as 2-3 years from adoption:

� The use of web and social analytics to decipher meaningful trends such as

assessment predictions, curriculum gaps or needs, evidence of student

engagement during placements or teaching international cohorts [8]

Matching students for collaborative work by computer analysis [15]

[1]. The Higher Education Academy (2012) “HEA Thematic Areas of Activity and Interest and Specific Priorities”

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/HEA_2012-13_Thematic_Areas_6Aug12.pdf

[2]. N Witzleb (2009) “Engaging with the World: Students of Comparative Law Write for Wikipedia”

19 Legal Education Review 83

[3]. F. Davis & I. Loasby (2009) “I Love Legal History : web 2.0 and the Teaching of Law” 7(1) Journal of

Commonwealth Law and Legal Education 19

[4]. M. Bromby (2010) “A Rather Tasty Annotated Bibliography” BILETA Conference 2010 Conference Paper,

http://www.slideshare.net/mbromby/bileta-2010

[5]. P. McKellar et al (2008) Using e-Portfolios in Legal Education” UKCLE online resource

http://www.ukcle.ac.uk/projects/past-projects/eportfolios/

[6]. M. Bromby (2010) “Web 2.0 and Unconventional Sources” Learning in Law Annual Conference 2010, Warwick

http://www.slideshare.net/ukcleslidespace/bromby-lilac10-slideshare

[7]. P. Maharg (2004) “Virtual Firms: Transactional Learning on the Web” Journal of the Law Society of Scotland 49 (10)

[8]. New Media Consortium (2012) “Higher Education Horizon Report”

http://www.nmc.org/publications/horizon-report-2012-higher-ed-edition

[9]. http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2012/07/08/10-best-colleges-for-game-based-learning/

[10]. R. Deazley (2003) “Biting the Bulletin” UKCLE online resource http://www.ukcle.ac.uk/resources/enhancing-learning-

through-technology/durham/

[11]. M. Bromby (2009) “Virtual Seminars: Problem Based Learning in Healthcare Law and Ethics” JILT 2009 (3)

[12]. T. Foley 9(2002) “Developing Electronic Discussion-Based Learning in Clinical Legal Education.” 6 Newcastle LawReview

39

[13]. R. Friel (2005) “Special Methods for Educating the Transnational Lawyer.” 55 Journal of Legal Education 505

[14]. P. Martin (2005) “Cornell’s Experience Running Online Inter-school Law Courses—An FAQ.” The Law Teacher: 39 The

International Journal of Legal Education 70

[15]. http://blogs.library.duke.edu/dukelibrariesinstruction/2012/02/17/learning-analytics-library-instruction/

[16]. M. Jones (2012) “Courting Controversy: Introducing Twitter into Law Teaching ” BILETA 2012 Conference

Paper. See review by P. Maharg http://paulmaharg.com/2012/03/29/bileta-legal-education-1/

[17]. M. Bromby (2012) “Social Media & The Law Student” National Law Student Forum 2012

http://www.slideshare.net/HEA_Law/michael-bromby-social-media

[18] J. Drummond (2012) Personal correspondence with author

[19]. S. Fodden (2011) “Law on i-Tunes U” slaw blog http://www.slaw.ca/2011/01/03/law-on-itunes-u