Editorial: legal education and Information & Communications Technology (ICT)

Abstract

WITH THE recent failure of large-scale ICT projects in higher education it looks as if we've finally woken up from the technology dream. In spite of this, though, ICT seems to be an increasingly important medium for teaching and learning the law. New forms of course design are being used widely to exploit it. The range of technologies we can use is rich and fast changing, with portable PCs, wireless technology, and increasing use of mobile hardware and communication networks over the internet. Web applications themselves are increasingly blurring the distinctions between hypermedia, multimedia and the internet. The convergence of online and face-to-face teaching methods via learning management systems such as WebCT or Blackboard, for example, is creating new learning situations for our students, with fresh challenges and opportunities for both students and staff. At a deep level technology is also influencing module design, the ways law teachers think about teaching, and the way students learn. It is all the more important, therefore, to analyse and explore the key pedagogical and policy issues involved when ICT is used for legal learning, to learn from international use of ICT in legal education, and to consider the practical challenges facing teachers and learners globally, and their possible solutions.