Northumbria Journals
Not a member yet
1008 research outputs found
Sort by
Copyright Anxiety and Digital Learning
Full text linkDigital learning provides a number of benefits to students and educators, but brings with it a number of ethical and legal considerations. Copyright is a particular challenge, because activities which were unproblematic in the classroom or lecture theatre raise a range of questions when transferred online; as we saw during the Covid-19 pandemic (Secker and Morrison, 2020). Is it ‘fair’ to incorporate copyright protected content such as text, music and video into learning materials and who is responsible for making risk-based decisions which could be challenged by a copyright owner?
This workshop will share findings from a recent research study into ‘copyright anxiety’ in higher education, undertaken at City St George’s University of London, Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford and the University of Alberta in Canada. The research surveyed over 500 members of staff in higher education in the UK and Canada to explore whether copyright law and its interpretation ‘chills’ innovative teaching and research practices.
Our research tested a survey instrument known as the Copyright Anxiety Scale (Wakaruk et al, 2021) and conducted 7 focus groups with 32 staff working in higher education in the UK and Canada. Almost 20 years ago Hobbs et al (2007) reported on the pedagogical costs of “copyright confusion” meaning teaching materials were less effective and there could be the perpetuation of misinformation. Our findings reveal concerns about copyright continue to impact on teaching and learning, research activities and the services that libraries can offer. Almost 60% of UK respondents and 52% of Canadians, reported they worry they do not know enough about copyright and 25% say they have abandoned projects of avoided activities because of copyright issues. We will discuss the impact that copyright has on digital learning activities in higher education.
The workshop presenters have been running regular webinars since the pandemic to support the higher education community and try to ensure copyright is not a barrier to online learning. They also co-Chair the Association for Learning Technology’s Copyright and Online Learning special interest group and have developed several educational games (Secker and Morrison, 2022) to teach about copyright in a playful way.
Workshop aims:
Share findings from the copyright anxiety research
Discuss some of the reasons for copyright anxiety and provide participants with an opportunity to share their own experiences
Consider what institutions and the higher education community can do to build greater levels of understanding about copyright so that it does not unduly restrict digital learning activities in higher education.
Provide an opportunity for participants to share their own ideas about how to address copyright anxiety as part of their own practice
Exploring the relationship between pedagogic decision-making and digital learning behaviours: activity design
Full text linkThis workshop will provide participants with an opportunity to explore how students in digital learning environments behave when prompted to undertake certain types of Learning Activities (as described by frameworks such as ABC Learning Design and OULDI). Participants will use Ketso, a collaborative learning workshop format (fuzzy felt for academics!) to explore and map this relationship and link it back to how pedagogic decisions are articulated by academics/learning designers and understood by students once translated by learning activities.
Outcomes:
Participants will understand the concept the ‘learning behaviours’ and the kinds of behaviours students may undertake in digital learning environments
Participants will collaboratively establish approaches for explaining how pedagogic decisions map onto learning activity design
Participants will map how connections between learning behaviours and pedagogic decision-making could be made 
Helping Students to Improve the Standard of Their Writing with Generative AI: An Evaluation of a Studiosity+ Pilot
Full text linkThe University of Sunderland has been partnering with Studiosity for the past three years to provide an additional student support service which helps students to improve the quality of their academic writing. Their Writing Feedback service offers students the opportunity to submit draft pieces of writing for feedback on their grammar, level of writing, referencing, etc., with the feedback being provided by academic staff recruited from leading institutions throughout the world on a 24/7/365 basis, in under 24 hours.
In response to the mainstream adoption of generative artificial intelligence software solutions, Studiosity have developed the Writing Feedback+ service where student’s work is evaluated by AI, with the major benefit that feedback can now be provided to students in near real time.
As part of the development process for this new service, Sunderland were offered a pro bono trial for up to six months, and for use with a discrete cohort of up to 5,000 students. We chose to use this between May and August 2024 on our distance learning service which has approximately 4,000 students. This paper will examine the trial in more detail and explore some of the data which is now available on student usage and feedback
Protection of Linguistic Diversity & Access to Justice for All through Pro Bono: Case Study of Nigeria (International Federation of Women Lawyers & Nigerian Law School Law Clinics)
Full text linkAccess to justice for the indigent in Nigeria has been a growing concern over the years and has drawn governmental and private efforts towards achieving this feat. Civil societies and law clinics have also taken advantage of this opportunity to centre their activities towards meeting these needs. Indeed, a lot has been done through the instrumentality of these groups amidst growing challenges one of which is the hindrance caused by the inability to adequately communicate in a language common to these service providers and the recipients of their services especially in a country with over 400 indigenous languages. This article therefore through empirical and doctrinal research, probes what these challenges are, in the six geopolitical regions in Nigeria, for the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) – a civil society - and the Law Clinics run by the Nigerian Law School. It explores the constitutional framework with respect to the recognition of the use of indigenous languages. It also identifies the pragmatic approach utilised by FIDA and the law clinics in addressing these challenges, and makes recommendations on how these language challenges can be surmounted to an extent to enhance access to justice. It affirms that harnessing the use of indigenous languages for enhanced life and livelihood is crucial to national development
Street Law for Specific Communities: A Project for Persons with Disabilities
Full text linkThis article will discuss the need for legal education programs for Persons with Disabilities, how an innovative Street Law Program was created, and the benefits of such a program. Jigme Singye Wangchuk School of Law’s (JSW) Human Dignity Clinic (HDC) developed a multi-faceted legal community education program for Persons with Disabilities soon after the law school was founded in 2015. This article will discuss a law clinic project at JSW in the Kingdom of Bhutan, where the HDC reaches out to educate Persons with Disabilities about their legal rights and responsibilities.
This is an ongoing, law student led clinic project. Surveys were conducted of students and participants to gauge the success of the project. Some of the results will be shared in this article. It is hoped that the readers may adapt some of the lessons learned from this project to similar projects in their communities
Reviewing Grievances of Automated Decisions in UK Administrative Justice: Qualitative Documentary Analysis Methodology
Full text linkAI and other advanced technologies are increasingly deployed in governmental decision-making, including for fundamentally important decisions. Traditional methods of redress for grievances, such as ombudsmen and judicial review, were designed to focus on processes of human decision making, which might not be applicable in cases involving components or whole decisions made by automated processes. There is a dearth of legal precedents for such issues, and theoretical implications of law in this area are typically lagging behind rapid technological and governmental developments. More timely and comprehensive insights are needed to understand emerging administrative justice issues. This paper explores the utilisation of empirical qualitative documentary analysis as a viable methodology to categorise the challenges in reviewing administrative automated decisions grievances, demonstrating the application of systematic review and thematic analysis to derive insights for legal development
Collective advocacy in the age of neoliberalism: Getting political in an interdisciplinary law clinic
Full text linkBackground: In a context of neoliberal policies where social, health and legal services are increasingly scarce, legal or interdisciplinary clinics can play a pivotal role in defending the rights of the most marginalized, in addition to training students on the structural and political dimension of the law and social-work practices.
Purpose: Based on students’ experiences of collective advocacy at the Outaouais Interdisciplinary Social Law Clinic Law Clinic, this article explores the nature and impact of learning through community engagement and collective advocacy.
Methodology: A case study conducted through semi-structured interviews with 9 clinic students and analyzed using an inductive approach.
Findings/Conclusions: The learning experiences transform students’ conception of justice, by integrating the basic needs of all community members along with ending oppressive police and judicial practices, but also the role they wish to play as future professionals for social justice.
Implications: These findings demonstrate the importance of addressing the political dimension of higher education
Bridging the Gap: Law Students as Agents of Public Legal Education and Community Empowerment
Full text linkThis article explores the critical role of law schools in advancing Public Legal Education (PLE) and the unique contributions of law students in fostering a more legally literate society. By examining the impact of law students as ‘Street Law’ teachers, the article highlights how these programmes not only benefit communities through increased legal awareness but also enhance students' practical skills and legal consciousness. The discussion extends to PLE initiatives in non-traditional settings, such as prisons, where legal education contributes to rehabilitative cultures and supports reintegration efforts. The incorporation of legal capability and the Capabilities Approach into PLE is proposed as a means to enrich these programmes, ensuring they are more effective in empowering individuals. The article also addresses the challenges and importance of evaluating PLE programmes, reviewing successful models and offering recommendations for future assessments. Ultimately, the article calls on law schools to deepen their commitment to PLE, emphasising the need for strategic expansion and innovative partnerships to build a more legally literate society. Future research directions are suggested, focusing on the long-term impact of PLE and its potential to enhance legal education. Through these efforts, law schools can fulfil their vital role in promoting legal literacy and social justice