William Slomanson, Thomas Jefferson School of Law
Bill Slomanson serves as a professor at both Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego and at Pristina University in Kosovo. Professor Slomanson presented as a part of the Flipping Law School Course Pod in the 2014 Igniting Law Teaching conference. In his discussion, he will take you into his classroom- wherein group collaboration yields the opportunity to fine-tune the student’s homework. While some professors will opt to move slowly and flip just a few difficult classes or concepts, Dr. Slomanson chose to flip an entire course.
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.
Dr. Slomanson launched a seismic pedagogical shift- after thirty-six years of tradition Socratic and Problem Method teaching- to a blending learning environment. For him it was either time to retire, or to pursue more active learning techniques. The initial report of his work is now available on the SSRN network at http://ssrn.com/abstract=2381282. His related e-book is available at http://www.tjsl.edu/slomansonb/FedCivPro4_e-book.html.
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.