This July, the Sydney Law School presented their new strategies and technologies for enhancing learning at the Law eLearning Showcase, most notably through the creation of video and audio resources for today’s students. The event was opened by the Dean of Sydney Law School, Professor Joellen Riley and supported by the Associate Deans of Education and Postgraduate Coursework, Dr. Scott Grattan and Professor David Hamer. The eLearning team of Mai Stringer and Cameron Murray showcased the technologies, and resources available to aid in the development of materials to be used in the delivery of legal education, including a suite of borrowable gadgets such as iPads, Android tablets, microphones and an All-in-one recording kit as well as a number of learning and teaching focused videos filmed using the school’s resources. Although the gadgets and videos were of great interest to those in attendance, the testimonies of guest speakers Professors Joe Campbell and Anne Twomey were a clear highlight of the presentation. Each Professor provided a recount of their experiences utilising the technology to produce audio and video materials to cover integral but static aspects of the curriculum (Legal history of Equity and the background to Public Law) in a manner that was sustainable to deliver and engaging to students. In Professor Campbell’s Equity unit of study site, the School is trialing offering the podcasts both as streams from YouTube and as downloadable files (both via Blackboard) to allow students the opportunity to listen to the content on mobile music device and at their leisure. The School plans to review the statistics at the end of the semester to gauge the popularity of each method and to help inform future progress in this area.
What was clear throughout the showcase was that such approaches privileged learning over technology, and were supported not only by the devices on display but the wonderful work of Mai Stringer and Cameron Murray whose combined knowledge and support for the School made this step in the educational revolution less daunting and more feasible through the provision of a suite of online resources and encouraging support. Such events herald an exciting era for teaching and learning at Sydney Law School. Mai and Cameron welcome questions, thoughts and feedback from those within the Law School, and the wider University, and can be reached at [email protected].
