Caught in (or on) the Web: A Review of Course Management Systems for Legal Education

Joan M. Heminway, The University of Tennessee College of Law

Abstract

Like other teaching innovations, course management software has been somewhat slow to take hold in legal education. Yet, as law teachers, we cannot deny that our current students are children of a technological age that centers on electronic communication. Although there is a lack of empirical evidence strongly supporting the pedagogic case for the use of technology in law teaching, some of us in the law academy have ventured forth with the use of teaching technologies on the theory that the current demographics of the law student population demand our interaction with students on this basis.

Course management systems are an easy way to bridge the technological gap between law teachers and law students without forcing law teachers to irrevocably alter the material they teach and the way in which they teach it. In that spirit, this article describes the way in which I have implemented Web-based course management in my law school course offerings and sets forth my perspectives on that experience. The article adds to existing literature by offering primary experiential observations that should be useful to others in law teaching - especially those who may not be familiar with course management systems.