Victoria Szymczak, University of Hawaii, William S. Richardson School of Law: “An LLM, an Oral Presentation, and a Video Camera”
Vicki Szymczak gave her presentation, “An LLM, an Oral Presentation, and a Video Camera,” at the 2014 Igniting Law Teaching conference with the Active Learning Pod. She notes that educators routinely use technology to flip or create distance learning opportunities for students, but that proven methods of active learning need not disappear in these new environments. This program demonstrates how technology can push students into action, break down communication barriers and open a classroom for global contribution. She highlights her experiences teaching an online class of U.S. students and foreign trained lawyers, and putting them in the driver’s seat.
This video is part of a video collection from the Igniting Law Teaching, hosted by LegalED at American University Washington College of Law. Responding to the calls for legal education reform, the conference -- the first of its kind -- created a forum for professors experimenting with cutting edge technologies and techniques in law teaching with the goal of spreading their ideas to the broader community. The talks were modeled on TEDx Talks, with each speaker on stage alone, giving a well scripted and performed talk about an aspect of law school pedagogy. The goal of LegalED is to curate a growing collection of short, 10-minute videos on law school-related pedagogy that will inspire innovation and experimentation by law professors to bring more active learning and practical skills training into the law school curriculum. This videos, and others like it, are available on LegalED, a website developed by a community of law professors interested in using online technologies to facilitate more active, problem-based learning in the classroom, in addition to more assessment and feedback.
Professor Szymczak is the Law Library Director and Associate Professor of Law at the University of Hawaii, where she teaches first year and upper level research courses. She has experimented and lectured on the integration of games, role playing, polling, and group projects to create active learning experiences. The project that she is currently working on entails effectively flipping required and elective research courses at the University of Hawaii, while operating within University and ABA guidelines.
LegalED aims to harness the power of the internet for legal educations. It facilitates blended or flipped learning – by migrating lectures to the web, LegalED frees up classtime for active learning that challenges students to learn the essential lawyering competencies while they are in law school. Professors may assign the videos in any combination for students to view outside of the classroom for active learning that challenges students to learn the essential lawyering competencies while they are in law school. LegalED seeks to develop and maintain a vibrant online community of teachers and students of the law, creating a central hub for the community. Through the video collection, teachers can be inspired to borrow, adapt, and bring great teaching moments into their own courses. With an internet platform, LegalED opens up formerly isolated classrooms by sharing showcasing, celebrating and inspiring innovative teaching. Simply put, the vision of LegalED is to inspire innovation in legal education. Join the movement!
The LegalED 2015 Igniting Law Teaching conference will take place on Friday, March 20th, from 9am to 6pm. Register to attend in person or live stream the event.