Digitally Shifting EU’s Law & Legal Studies’ Content in Higher Education
Global programme: Erasmus Plus
Specific programme: KA226 - Partnerships for Digital Education Readiness
Call: Call 2020 Round 1 KA2 - Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices
Project number: 2020-1-RO01-KA226-HE-095254
Duration: 18 Months (3/1/2021 - 8/31/2022)
Project Manager: West University of Timosoara
UNINETTUNO Scientific Leader: Andrea Sacco Ginevri
UNINETTUNO Project Manager: Davide Vietri
Summary
DGLEAP Mira a collegare i dipartimenti di giurisprudenza ad un approccio digitale più facile nel mondo post covid
Description
The digital transformation of enterprises has been duly noted over the past years and coordinated efforts (DigComp) to equip the workforce with digital skills to succeed in the new environment have been promoted by the EU. Such need became even more pressuring following the societal and industrial disruptions brought by COVID-19. One of the sectors that is currently lagging with regards to digital transformation across the entire EU (McKinsey, 2020) consists of the legal sector (attorneys, notaries, judges, etc). The lack of digital skills comes primarily from the inability of universities to equip the next generation of workforce in the legal system with the necessary digital competences. Additionally, EU universities delivering law programmes are also facing the general (process-gap) challenges brought by online teaching: frustrated academic staff, ineffective learning, limited engagement of students (lack of focus/attention/interest, limited connectionism and constructivism), lack of inclusiveness and personalised online teaching, and others (EACEA, 2020). This gap is due to missing competences, skills and abilities that the consortium has further confirmed in the digiLEAP countries and project partners such as:
*LAW STUDENTS (undergraduate and postgraduate, LAW LECTURERS & LAW PRACTITIONERS - GAPS IN DIGITAL LAW CONTENT: cultural change competences towards adopting a digital working way in law, digital collaboration and communication competences in the legal sector, productivity & casework consolidation competences via digital tools, and entrepreneurial skills & legal-tech awareness (HBR, 2020).
* LAW STUDENTS - ONLINE LEARNING GAPS: Inability to interact with lecturers in an online environment and foster connectionism and constructivism; absence of online learning skills such as being well organized, self-motivated, and possess a high degree of time management skills in order to keep up with the pace of the course (i.e. text-based interaction takes more time); lack of skills to fight the sense of isolation and psychological wellbeing; lack of active learning skills; lack of ability to understand responsible/ethical digital education utilisation.
* UNIVERSITY LAW/LEGAL LECTURERS - ONLINE TEACHING GAPS: inability to deliver online education (both synchronous and asynchronous) that would foster connectionism and constructivism; unawareness of enabling a supportive virtual class environment; lack of digital skills to support the curriculum transformation process; inability to incorporate forward-looking digital solutions to support teaching; lack of skills for co-sharing resources and jointly developing high quality universal Open Educational Resource with other lecturers internationally; inability to reach social groups at risk and gender-balance by delivering personalized online education; unawareness of behavioural mechanisms to inspire students.
In this context, digiLEAP aims to bridge university law departments, law practitioners, quality/accreditation experts, educational software developers and non-formal education providers in order to co-create OERs with innovative methodologies helping both law students and law lecturers perform in online law education while also helping legal sector workers develop digital skills.
Objectives
DigiLEAP will deliver:
IO1 - Crash-course on the digital transformation of the legal/law system (OER) based on DigComp principles and LegalTech innovations
IO2 – Digital teaching toolkit for law lecturers (OER) based on DigCompEdu and a neuroscience/behavioural approach to help law lecturers develop impactful learning via Attention, Plasticity and learning creation, Emotion and Timing.
IO3 - DigComp and DigCompEdu certification methodology for students, practitioners and lecturers: DigComp Certificate in Practicing Digital Law (for students and law/legal practitioners); DigCompEdu Certificate in Teaching Digital Law via Online Education (for lecturers); DigCompEdu Certification in Online Learning in Law& Legal studies (for students) *digiLEAP Alumni Network (as sustainability)
*digiLEAP International digital law training association (as sustainability)
DigiLEAP in numbers:
250 students, 100 law lecturers and 50 law professionals involved in virtual plots; 175 external requests for certification; 35 internal staff certification requests; 85% satisfaction (quality) of the participants with the project results; gender balance and at least 135 social groups at risk included as participants; 2500 hits on the website and 100 000 targets reached on social media via paid ads; observed boost of acceptance towards online education; 250 participants to the multiplier events (face to face) and 400 online.
DigiLEAP's main impact:
Boost the digital readiness of university law departments and of the legal sector towards the digitally transformed environment (both online education and the professional environment) by making learning and digital skill development more effective.
UNINETTUNO Role
UNINETTUNO will be responsible for the developement of IO1 Crash-course on the digital transformation of the legal/law system (OER), and it will contribute to IO2 and IO3.
Partners
Partners | Country | Contacts | Web |
Universitatea de Vest din Timisoara | Romania | Contacts | Web |
HELIXCONNECT EUROPE S.R.L | Romania | Contacts | Web |
YET - ASTIKI MI KERDOSKOPIKI ETAIREIA | Grecia | Contacts | Web |
ISQ e-learning, SA | Portugal | Contacts | Web |
International Telematic University UNINETTUNO | Italy | Contacts | Web |