From Black and White to Colour; Educating and Engaging the Screen Addicts of 2011

This article, by Emily Allbon, is based on a presentation given at the BIALL Conference in 2011. She explores the depth of student engagement with online resources and how to handle the information-complacent law student. She discusses the development Learnmore, Lawbore’s legal skills wiki, and concludes with thoughts over future development of this resource

Developing a Second Life virtual field trip for university students: an action research approach

Background: Integrating 3D virtual world technologies into educational subjects continues to draw the attention of educators and researchers alike. The focus of this study is the use of a virtual world, Second Life, in higher education teaching. In particular, it explores the potential of using a virtual world experience as a learning component situated within a curriculum delivered predominantly through face-to-face teaching methods. Purpose: This paper reports on a research study into the development of a virtual world learning experience designed for marketing students taking a Digital Promotions course. The experience was a field trip into Second Life to allow students to investigate how business branding practices were used for product promotion in this virtual world environment. The paper discusses the issues involved in developing and refining the virtual course component over four semesters. Methods: The study used a pedagogical action research approach, with iterative cycles of development, intervention and evaluation over four semesters. The data analysed were quantitative and qualitative student feedback collected after each field trip as well as lecturer reflections on each cycle. Sample: Small-scale convenience samples of second- and third-year students studying in a Bachelor of Business degree, majoring in marketing, taking the Digital Promotions subject at a metropolitan university in Queensland, Australia participated in the study. The samples included students who had and had not experienced the field trip. The numbers of students taking part in the field trip ranged from 22 to 48 across the four semesters. Findings and Implications: The findings from the four iterations of the action research plan helped identify key considerations for incorporating technologies into learning environments. Feedback and reflections from the students and lecturer suggested that an innovative learning opportunity had been developed. However, pedagogical potential was limited, in part, by technological difficulties and by student perceptions of relevance

For Our Information, October 1948, Vol. I, no. 7-8

An official publication of the ILR School, Cornell University, “for the information of all faculty, staff and students.

Too cool for (law) school? Using technology to engage students in legal skills

Leading web portal Lawbore was first launched at City University by the law librarian in 2002, quickly connecting with students thanks to its bold, image-lead navigation and informal approach to presenting the law. In 2007 a new area, Learnmore, was added: a legal skills wiki born out of a desire to see the building blocks of law given more attention. It encompassed multimedia resources around mooting, research, legal writing and other skills. Collaboration with a new lecturer in 2010 kicked off a new era for the site; Learnmore is unique for its quirky style, utilisation of different mediums (text, video, audio, talking slideshows and prezi) and emphasis on student-collaborated content. 2012 heralded a five-month JISC-funded Learnmore app development. This paper offers a case study of the Learnmore resource, covering detail of the development of content, the visual branding and peer-learning community elements. The author seeks to look both at the practical elements of using technology to aid student learning in law and the pedagogical impact of such a strategy. The effectiveness of using certain techniques to ease the transition into Law School is discussed, as is whether or not involving students in the creation of content makes a difference to their levels of engagement

For Our Information, September 1948, Vol. I, no. 6

An official publication of the ILR School, Cornell University, “for the information of all faculty, staff and students.