LESSONS FROM THE WEB

What could be more boring than sitting through an entire semester of a ‘rules’ course? I mused when asked by my dean to teach Professional Responsibility about nine years ago. And the class met four hours a week which exacerbated the situation. I never liked boring classes and I don’t think anyone else does. And 'rules' courses (such as UCC based business transactions), civil and criminal procedure, and professional responsibility) more than others have the potential to be b-o-o-o-o-r-i-n-g. Is there anything worse than memorizing a bunch of rules? I accepted the challenge, lacking any reasonable alternative, and immediately began to ponder what might spice up the course. I theorized that the use of technology should offer an effective respite from the rigors of the traditional Socratic method.

Reflecting back on my years as a student, I recalled having preferred teachers who use a variety of instructional methodologies. Don’t all students prefer variety over monotony? Interjecting technology into the classroom certainly allows the use of a greater variety of instructional methodologies. Here are some applications of technology I have used to liven up the classroom.

Initially, to supplement classroom presentations, I used several videos produced by the American Bar Association and ALI-ABA which illustrated the material in two different formats. Some were recorded panel discussions of relevant rules as applied to various fact situations, while others were real-life ethical vignettes presented by professional actors. Overhead transparencies-admittedly low-tech, but effective-were also used to illustrate ethical standards and summarize the salient features of each.

Over the years, I have tried various new instructional methodologies utilizing technology. Several times I have assigned the students to view the full length movie To Kill a Mockingbird, and then discuss in class the ethical issues and tensions faced by Atticus Finch, a small-town southern lawyer appointed to defend a black man charged with raping a white woman.

On several occasions, I have shown portions of Anatomy of a Murder to illustrate how a criminal defense lawyer in the first client interview can coach the defendant in such a way as to elicit altered facts to accommodate a particular desired defense. This is, of course, unethical conduct. (See ABA Model Rule 1.2(d).)

In order to encourage student creativity as well as promote teamwork, I have often sought volunteer groups to role-play problems found in the textbook, then discuss the ethical issues and applicable Model Rules with the class. (This, and other ways to engage students, is suggested by Nathan Crystal in his Teacher’s Manual for Professional Responsibility: Problems of Practice and the Profession, Second Edition.) A few students enjoyed the opportunity to ham it up in front of their classmates; but the majority preferred the safety of videotaping their role-play outside of class. The video would then be played in class and the volunteer group would interact with the class concerning the ethical issues raised in the video and the applicable Model Rules.

A somewhat different application of technology was used in my teaching of Charitable Trusts, a non-traditional course for which there is no suitable casebook. The course lends itself well to solving problems in estate planning. I therefore assigned questions regularly to be analyzed and answered by the students using a sophisticated software program made available to the class through the generosity of the author of the program. The students welcomed the opportunity for some hands-on experience and to learn to use a valuable software program, enhancing their resumes and marketability.

A Web-based course management system is of great value to me as an effective means of communication with the students. Among the available systems, law professors are probably more familiar with TWEN (The West Electronic Network), Lexis-Nexis Web Courses, and Blackboard. Regent University adopted Blackboard for campus wide use several years ago, and that is the one with which I am the most familiar. Blackboard allows for great control, flexibility, and creativity.

Each student in the class is required to access the Blackboard Website regularly. A Control Panel allows me to select what I want to do on Blackboard. From here I can email students individually, as a group, or in subgroups, and do so frequently. Blackboard also contains the syllabus, announcements, background information on the instructor which the students might not otherwise know (and that I want to tell them), various course materials I want to make available to the students such as review outlines, individual Model Rules, handouts, some noteworthy Virginia cases on professional misconduct, law review articles, and external links to helpful resources, for example, legal ethics research resources at Georgetown, articles on legal ethics, and Biblical references. At Regent University School of Law, students not only learn the law but biblical foundations of the law. When discussing lawyerly virtues such as integrity, honesty, loyalty and truthfulness in the context of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, we also discuss biblical references dealing with those virtues.

Another application of technology that I have found very useful is online quizzes. I migrated from in-class quizzes to online quizzes to avoid taking valuable class time with an activity that could be performed effectively outside of class. With Blackboard, and other course management systems, students can take an optional quiz outside of class, before each class, on assigned readings, and for bonus points that can raise their final grade. The students and I both like the quizzes because they allow the monitoring of student progress and understanding of the concepts and standards they need to know. I usually give four multiple choice questions, resembling those on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam, and allow five minutes for the quiz. An electronic spreadsheet keeps track of all the quiz grades throughout the semester, and greatly simplifies the allocation of bonus points when calculating the final grades.

The Langdellian method of case study is still the norm in law schools today. What better way to augment case law text than with audio and video? Experts tell us that audiovisuals enhance interest and retention. One of my colleagues produced several years ago with the assistance of what is now the Regent University Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) an audio clip (Windows Media Player required) of a lifeboat case involving cannibalism studied in criminal law class. I am planning to produce with the assistance of CTL, Regent University Media Services, and the Regent University School of Communication a video of an actual case on the duty of confidentiality. (The case, People v. Belge, 372 N.Y.S.2d 798 (1975), illustrates the tension between the duty of confidentiality to a client who confesses to three unsolved murders, and the need to protect the interests of society in bringing a criminal to justice.) The use of audio and video can introduce an added dimension into the classroom which can effectively complement traditional methods.

CALI (Computer Assisted Legal Instruction) is another form of technology that can be used as a supplement to instruction, or as a review of material covered. CALI publishes over 150 computer-based tutorials in 20 plus legal subject areas. The lessons use a variety of formats and methods for teaching doctrine, analysis and critical thinking skills. In the past, I have suggested CALI’s Professional Responsibility Lessons to students as a form of review. The multiple choice questions and more recently interactive testing techniques are excellent tools to verify student comprehension of the materials.

In conclusion, most law faculty have ready access to valuable resources that are available to help them get started or to advance their use of technology. Some suggestions: (1) Don’t be overwhelmed at the thought of using technology. (2) Don’t think you have to master it. (3) Start small. Commit to trying one new idea. (4) Utilize resources available to you such as a colleague that uses technology, or the staff of your IT department. Technology can be used effectively without having to know everything about it. The secret is in using available resources.

* The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of several Regent University colleagues for ideas and assistance with technology. Particular thanks go to Ginger Zillges, Assistant Director of Instructional Development at the Center for Teaching and Learning, to Mark Muckelroy, Director of Media Services, to James Maurer, Media Services Audiovisual Systems Technologist, and Vicki Boggs, Law School Computer Services Administrator. Their invaluable assistance continues to enable me to brave the complexities of technology without fear.

JURIST's Lessons from the Web series is edited by Professor Patrick Wiseman, Georgia State University College of Law.

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JURIST welcomes your comments on this column and the issues it raises...

• Friday October 24, 2003 at 10:25 pm
  I believe that TWEN stands for The West Education Network, not the West Electronic Network (paragraph 8).
  
  A Reader
  Michigan/USA

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