We are deep into creating an exciting new product: interactive online education. We have received consistent positive feedback from the Michigan lawyers working with us to build it and from those who have participated in user testing. Our first product to launch in late spring will focus on deposition skills. The second product, which will launch in the fall, is a certificate program in elder law. This new type of education will be entirely online and includes demonstration videos and practice exercises to help you gain new skills and experience.
A few months ago, as part of strategic planning, we reviewed trends in legal practice, continuing legal education, and education in general. The report on those trends, prepared by ICLE’s former associate director Mary Hiniker, already has me looking forward to the next thing we need to figure out for online education: virtual reality.
Remember how in the past navy pilots were trained using flight simulators? Virtual reality has the potential to be even better. Researchers claim that virtual reality can increase retention up to 35 percent compared to traditional training. Virtual reality allows people to learn faster, remember longer, and decide better. Lofty claims, but it also looks like fun.
Check out some of the virtual reality education samples in this article. I particularly liked David Attenborough’s Great Barrier Reef Dive. I also liked the EON Reality demo video, mainly because the students wore virtual reality gear that looked more like safety glasses than masks that completely cut you off from the world around you. Imagine a group of people in a room with that headgear.
So how could we use virtual reality for ICLE online education? How about getting to practice going to court, checking in, approaching the right table, and arguing a motion for summary disposition in the safety of a virtual courtroom? Or sitting in a virtual conference room with your client and a vendor to negotiate a software development agreement? The sky is probably the only limit.