COVID-19 and Law Teaching: Guidance on Developing an Asynchronous Online Course for Law Students

34 Pages Posted: 4 Jun 2020 Last revised: 23 May 2023

See all articles by Yvonne Dutton

Yvonne Dutton

Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law; Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law

Seema Mohapatra

SMU Dedman School of Law

Date Written: May 18, 2020

Abstract

Most law schools suspended their live classroom teaching in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and quickly transitioned to online programming. Although professors can be commended for rapidly adapting to an emergency situation, some commentators have nevertheless suggested that the emergency online product delivered to students was substandard. Based on our own experiences in designing and delivering online courses, we caution against embracing a broad-reaching, negative conclusion about the efficacy of online education. Indeed, much of this emergency online programming would be more properly defined as “emergency remote teaching,” as opposed to “online education.” Delivering online education to students involves more than giving the same classroom lecture on Zoom. Online education requires professors to design their courses to be delivered at a distance, with the goal being to create a course driven by pedagogy using technological tools to inform and enhance the learning experience. COVID-19 is going to be with us for the foreseeable future, and because some schools might be unable to bring all of their students back into the classroom in the fall, we urge faculty to prepare to deliver their courses online. Law schools and faculty should not wait for another emergency and should prepare to deliver at least some of their courses online in the fall. To aid with this transition, this Article offers some guidance on how to develop and implement an effective asynchronous distance-learning course for law students.

Keywords: online education, COVID, teaching, distance learning

Suggested Citation

Dutton, Yvonne and Dutton, Yvonne and Mohapatra, Seema, COVID-19 and Law Teaching: Guidance on Developing an Asynchronous Online Course for Law Students (May 18, 2020). 65 St. Louis University Law Journal 471 (2021), Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law Research Paper No. 2020-7, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3604331 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3604331

Yvonne Dutton (Contact Author)

Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law

530 West New York Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202
United States

Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law

530 West New York Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202
United States

Seema Mohapatra

SMU Dedman School of Law ( email )

P.O. Box 750116
Dallas, TX 75275
United States

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