General information
Online Education Committee: Associate Dean Andrew Guzman, Chair; Associate Dean Charles Weisselberg, Associate Dean Anne Joseph, William Fernholz, Marilyn Byrne, Patricia Donnelly, Amelia Miazad, Carol Rachwald , Susan Whitman.
Staff: Patricia Donnelly, Assistant Dean, Instructional and Information Technology & Services
Dino Johnson, Manager of Instructional Technology
John-Mark Ikeda, Instructional Technologist
Alan Roper, Lead Instructional Designer
Kara Ganter, Instructional Designer
What: Online individual courses; online certificates; online executive education; online executive education certificate courses; custom designed courses for targeted audiences.
Where/Who: Initially we are targeting an international audience but some courses (particularly IELE courses) may have a domestic target audience.
Why: Increase access to legal training, extend the reach of our teaching and the Berkeley brand, generate revenue, fill a gap in executive education for practicing attorneys, and recruit prospective students to professional LLM program.
When: Pilot course offered in 2013; Fundamentals of US Law offered late spring 2014; Intro to IP course offered Fall 2014. Other courses in the pipeline.
Pilot and results
See 2013 Pilot page for more details about our pilot course
See Research page for the results of our pilot course survey
What is the feedback from faculty who have taught online?
Faculty who have taught online say the experience of building and teaching an online course has improved their in-resident teaching and it has inspired them to re-imagine their course and content. The quality of their connection with their online students was better than expected. They also have expressed concern about the scalability without administrative and teaching support. (We have addressed these concerns with our plan to provide that support.)
Certificate programs
What courses are we focused on?
Our Spring 2014 launch will include 2 courses:
– Introduction to Intellectual Property Law (Professor Molly Van Houweling)
– Fundamentals of US Law (Lecturer in Residence William Fernholz)
Who is the audience? Who are we marketing to?
Our target audience includes: international law students; LLM students; international practicing attorneys and law firms.
“Why?”
Who else is doing online courses?
See Research page for a list of other law schools doing online programs
Why are we doing this?
The potential advantages of online education are significant: high quality legal training, increased access thanks to reduced costs, and revenue generation. It is also a good time to begin an online program because the needed technology and requisite public awareness are both widespread. Acting now, rather than waiting, allows us to create a thoughtful and well-tailored program that is developed in a deliberate fashion. As online education becomes more popular and more widely available, institutions that fail to develop internal policies and programs will be forced to react to outside pressures and adopt responses in an ad hoc fashion.
Will this actually make money for the Law School?
Based on our market research, we believe this initiative will meet a market need and generate revenue.
Quality control
Is there an admissions process? Are there admissions requirements? What caliber of students will we get?
Admission for courses will include a process where prospective applicants will be provided with information as to the learning level, academic rigor, pace, and any prerequisite knowledge required, prior to enrollment. Students may also submit evidence of previous educational achievement, and professional experience. Students will be informed of the TOEFL score or equivalent language fluency needed and will be given a week to add/drop in the event they discover they do not have the language skills to successfully complete the course.
How will we ensure a high level of quality?
Berkeley Law Online courses will make effective use of sophisticated instructional delivery technologies while protecting and enhancing Berkeley Law’s reputation for academic excellence. The development of online courses will focus on opportunities to leverage educational technologies in a way that extends the scope of Berkeley Law’s courses and programs, providing opportunities for all students regardless of location or learning style.
Our design philosophy focuses on creating a valuable and rich learning learning experience for students by focusing on four areas of engagement: engagement with content, engagement with instructor, engagement with other students, and engagement to the Berkeley community. Berkeley Law Online courses will offer pedagogically sound and innovative methods of presenting content, providing effective learning activities, and helpful feedback. Berkeley Law Online courses will provide valuable opportunities to interact with world-class instructors. Berkeley Law Online courses will foster collaborative learning and networking opportunities for students. Online students will experience the benefits of being a learner among other learners, in discussion groups, learning teams, and as active participants in every course module. Berkeley Law Online courses will create a strong sense of connection to the Law School, campus, and Berkeley communities through campus resources and on-location filming of course presentations and interviews. We want our online students to feel just as much a part of Berkeley Law as on-campus students, and to engage online students as lifelong learners.
How will we make sure online courses are up to date?
Courses that are to be offered in subsequent terms will undergo a review to ensure they are up to date, and include changes in the law, professional practice, and in relevant materials and resources.
Won’t online course development detract from teaching in our JD program and detract from our research?
On the contrary, faculty who have worked with the instructional designers have universally commented on how their online course work can be leveraged to benefit in-resident JD courses. Faculty are also beginning to talk about how individual modules within online courses might be leveraged in other in-resident courses to fill a gap in instruction on a particular subject or provide deeper learning resources for students.
Are there academic policies for our online courses? Is there an honor code? Who enforces them?
Students taking online courses will adhere to the same honor code and level of academic integrity that in-residence students do. Specific student expectations for participating online will be available for instructors and course developers to include in course syllabi. Instructors and teaching assistants will be able to monitor student interaction and academic work in the online course. In the event issues of academic integrity or other non-compliant behaviors arise, they will be handled in a way similar to that of in-residence students. You can find Berkeley Law Online Academic Rules, Berkeley Law Online Conduct Guidelines and Pertinent University of California Online Education Conduct Policies at http://online.berkeleylawblogs.org/about/policies/
Logistics
What is the online course approval process? How are courses chosen?
The Online Education Committee is charged with reviewing proposed courses in order to determine which should be offered and in what order. Faculty are encouraged to submit such proposals to the Chair of the committee.
Will courses carry course credit for our Berkeley Law degree programs?
At this time and for the foreseeable future, Berkeley Law does not accept credit for any online courses, including our own online courses.
Can students who have taken online course credit use that once they are admitted to degree programs?
Berkeley Law does not accept credit for online courses in our degree programs. However, some online courses taken for credit may allow a student to place into a more advanced course in the same curricular area. The head of each curricular area may approve placement in a more advanced course at their discretion.
Do we accept credit for any online courses in our degree program? Why not?
We do not accept credit for any online courses in our degree program because our degree programs were designed as in-resident programs. If online courses were introduced into the degree program curriculum, there would need to be a deeper discussion about our degree program goals and objectives.
What if some of our degree program students ask me if they can take one of my online courses?
Berkeley Law degree program students may take any online course they wish for a fee and with the understanding that the credit will not be accepted towards their Berkeley Law degree.
What is the grading scale?
Our online courses will use a traditional A-F grading scale.
Is there going to be a grading curve?
At this time, there is no plan to implement a grading curve in our online courses.
How long does it take to make a course?
The process for developing a new online course works on a six-month schedule, which has three phases. Phase one involves developing the overall strategy of the online course, assessing teaching style, building course elements based on course learning objectives, and establishing the framework of course modules. Phase two is where the content is written, (e.g. lessons, scripts for video presentation, quizzes and responses, discussions questions, etc.). Phase three is the production phase where videos are created, narration for slide shows is recorded and edited, and the contents are placed in the learning management system. This six month schedule is dependent on the faculty member’s commitment and availability to the process.
What role does the Instructional Designer play?
The Instructional Designer will work closely with the instructor in the course design and development, offering services including:
Identifying effective classroom techniques and translating them to an online delivery plan
Assisting in identifying course learning objectives, activities and assessments
Collaborating with faculty to identify a course development schedule
Conducting one-on-one meetings
Assisting with course layout, content presentation, and creative brainstorming
Completing all the technical aspects of the course development
What if I disagree with what the Instructional Designer recommends?
The faculty member has final say on course design. However, Berkeley Law courses need to meet our expectations of high quality. All Berkeley Law online courses will undergo ]review by (the Online Education Committee?) and courses that do not meet our standards will not be approved for delivery without further improvement. The Online Education Committee has approved best practices as our guidelines for online course development and hopes faculty can embrace those guidelines.
Academic personnel
Will there be teaching assistants? How will they be chosen?
Teaching assistants will normally be assigned to support online courses when enrollments reach 25 or greater. It is planned that a teaching assistant will be assigned for every 25 students enrolled in an online course. Teaching assistants who are expected to grade assignments will come from our adjunct lecturer community. Teaching assistants who act as a supportive resource for students may come from other hiring pools.
Do faculty get teaching credit for teaching an online course?
There are no plans at this time to offer teaching credit to faculty who agree to build an online course.
Do faculty get teaching relief for building and/or teaching an online course?
There is no plan at this time to offer faculty teaching relief for building and/or teaching an online course.
Do evaluations for online courses count toward merit and promotions?
Evaluations for online courses do not count towards merit and promotions.
If I build an online course, will someone else teach my course? Am I involved in the selection process for that proxy instructor and can I have veto power?
Faculty are expected to teach the course they build the first time it is delivered, to provide the builder time and feedback to tweak the course to perfection. Subsequent courses are expected to be taught by adjunct lecturers unless the faculty designer wants to teach the course again. Faculty are encouraged to identify suitable lecturers to teach their courses and their concerns about the suitability of an instructor will be taken into consideration.
Will the proxy instructor be permitted to change and/or customize content?
The proxy instructor is not permitted to change and/or customize content without the approval of the build instructor. Proxy instructors will be discouraged from changing content. Rather, they may supplement content.
What is involved in teaching an online course, how is it done, how much time does it take, etc?
From creation through delivery, a new online course involves a similar time commitment to teaching a new live course. An online instructor will be expected to provide roughly the same total number of instructional and office hours as an in-residence course carrying the same number of units, although what constitutes “instruction” in an online course is more broad and includes more than just podium or lecture time. A large part of the time commitment in an online course occurs before the course is delivered and includes meeting with designers, planning the course, preparing and recording lectures, planning activities, writing content, and gathering course materials. However, there is also a time commitment during the delivery of the course. In many cases, the instructor will not spend time lecturing in real time during delivery because the primary instruction will take the form of pre-recorded lectures and activities. The student has access to all the materials that the instructor has already spent time creating, and moves through the pre-recorded lectures and other activities largely at their own pace. Even so, this does not mean an instructor simply “pushes play” on the course once it is designed. Berkeley Law has made a commitment to delivering a “high touch” student experience, meaning that students will actually get to interact with their instructor(s) during the delivery phase. This interaction may take many forms. An instructor may respond to student discussion responses, hold weekly office hours through live web conferences, provide summary comments to quizzes or assignments, send announcements, and / or hold live meetings with students via webinar. Although it is ultimately up to the instructor to choose the points of contact, at least some of these elements to facilitate instructor engagement with students will be present in every course. Based on enrollment numbers, TAs or GSIs may be assigned to help with the course and will assist in interacting with students, managing key contact points with the class, or facilitating activities and discussions.
For additional information on the process and tools of course design, please see our Working with the Online Team page.
Impact on in-resident degree program courses
What impact could these courses on our JD and LLM degree programs?
There are many potential benefits to live JD and LLM courses that may emerge from the development of Berkeley Online courses. Many of the learning objects (videos, discussions, quizzes, interviews, etc.) can be repurposed to integrate with live courses. Additionally, the course development process of identifying learning objectives, using content mapping strategy, and creating formative assessments can foster a rich learning experience for students.
Are instructional designers available to help all faculty, even those not involved in the online education initiative?
Yes, with the understanding that top priority for the instructional designers is support for Berkeley Law Online courses. To inquire about collaborating with an instructional designer, please check with Patricia Donnelly, Assistant Dean, Instructional and Information Technology and Services.
Can I repurpose the class recordings, multimedia and other content that I develop for online courses in my in-resident courses?
Yes. Since the central campus is also using the same learning management system (bCourses powered by Canvas) these learning objects can be duplicated and made available to students in live courses.
Intellectual property issues
Once a course is created who owns the content? What happens to my online course if I leave Berkeley Law?
Please refer to the draft sample contract that is available on our Resources page to see specifics on intellectual property rights.
Going forward
When will faculty hear from the Online Education Committee on the status of program?
Andrew Guzman, chair of the Online Education Committee, will periodically offer a report to the faculty at a prandium. The next report to the faculty is planned for the fall of 2014.
Who do we contact with questions and concerns?
Interested parties can contact any Online Education Committee members with questions and concerns.