As the delivery of knowledge within the various levels of the educational system shifts into the new normal, the traditional in-person teaching of law in a physical classroom environment is now replaced by a virtual teaching in cyberspace.

To meet the new normal, the Legal Education Board (LEB) has adopted Multi-Learning, a combination of teaching methodology using the Internet, limited face-to-face delivery of instruction, use of learning modules while retaining the facets of the Socratic Method for recitation, and the Langdellian case method for research.

All of these methods require knowledge and facility in the use of Learning Management Systems (LMS) which is the recognized term for the use of the internet in the delivery of knowledge.

Recognizing the need to re-tool the teaching methodology of law professors to capacitate them with the technical and practical applications of LMS, the LEB -- in partnership with the Philippine Association of Law Schools (PALS) -- conducted a series of online teaching capacity building webinars for law professors in July.

The training series aimed to help the law professors prepare for online teaching this Academic Year (AY) 2020-2021 and to provide them with a first-hand experience on student-paced asynchronous learning. A total of 468 participants nationwide completed the first phase which served as an introduction for the law professors’ online teaching modalities.

The second phase highlighted the fundamentals of creating and managing an online class, and organizing a synchronous content in an LMS prototype. Practical exercises were included in the integration phase of the lectures. The second phase concluded with a total of 1,024 participants nationwide, 568 for the weekday sessions and 456 for the integration session.

A survey conducted after the webinars revealed a high degree of enthusiasm and interest in online teaching. The participants commonly observed that all aspects of the training were useful especially those parts where the speakers provided them with a clear picture of the advantages of and the need for online learning. The webinars also also made them realize that while teaching online is challenging, it is doable”.

Aware of the need for additional skills to complement the knowledge learned by the law professors, LEB and PALS are also lining up additional webinars on Syllabus Writing consistent with Outcomes Based Education (OBE), as well the development of Learning Modules.