Students Using Wikis in Research Class

Law students in the Advanced Legal Research class are using some of the latest digital technology in the form of “wikis”—to both enhance the collaborative learning experience and better prepare for the practice of law in a world shaped by social media.

Last spring, Philip Berwick, associate dean for information resources and senior lecturer in law, and Aris Woodham, director of Web services and lecturer in law, began having students in their co-taught course submit assignments using the wiki technology. The web-based collaborative tool enables multiple people to edit a single article or document.

“Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia where anyone can edit the contents, is a well-known example of a wiki,” Berwick says. “In our Advanced Legal Research class, law students use wikis to create individual and group pathfinders, which are traditional legal research documents that explain how to approach research on certain topics. In addition to the ease of shared editing capabilities, another advantage is that on the wiki, as opposed to a paper copy, the students can provide links to additional online resources.”

Law student Michael Schwalbert found the use of the wiki enhanced the research course, which, overall, he says was extremely useful. “As lawyers, especially young lawyers, we will rarely know the answer to tough legal questions. The art is knowing where to look, or at least having an idea of where to look. Perfecting that art takes practice, and creating the wiki was definitely good practice.”

Aside from being environmentally friendly, the transition from paper to electronic assignments mimics the current trend toward the use of the Web as a communications tool in a variety of circumstances, Woodham observes.

“It has a useful place in teaching legal research, particularly if you want students to work in a group,” she notes. “By their very nature, most legal documents need to be edited by multiple people. Especially for our current students, familiarity with this kind of social-media, collaborative technology—using digital forums, both private and public—is critical since it is part of how the practice of law is evolving.”

Woodham and Berwick say they plan to use wikis in their course again in spring 2010.

“The students did a great job employing this tool,” Woodham says. “We’d like to use it again in our course and make it available to other faculty members.”

By Laura Miller