Have We Forsaken Quality and Professionalism for Technological Convenience in the Training of Lawyers in the 21st Century? The ‘Flexible Learning' Paradigm

Abstract

Critical questions and issues face legal educators as a result of the challenges and opportunities provided by the advent of information technology. This chapter focuses on the introduction of online learning environments in the legal education context primarily at the point of pre-admission practical legal training. It queries whether parallels can be drawn between changes in technology and changes in the learning and training of lawyers. In turn, it considers whether such changes are for the benefit of the students, their intended profession and the society it is supposed to serve. Can the important communication skills, the cornerstone of legal work, be obtained through flexible delivery modes? What are the perceived limitations, disadvantages of such programs and do they outweigh the advantages? Can the professional ethos of lawyering be conveyed and developed adequately by an online training program? In this context, the literature pertaining to online delivery in the area of legal education is considered. The writer also reflects on observations of teaching instructors in both the on-campus and online courses of the Postgraduate Diploma of Legal Practice, Skills and Ethics (PDLP) at Monash University. The chapter considers course evaluations administered to cohorts of PDLP students. Finally, the chapter proposes the preferred way forward for virtual communicators in producing online programs in this area.