Has Canadian PLE made good use of the Internet? Ever since the emergence and popularization of the World Wide Web in the 1990s, the Internet has been a central medium for delivering public legal education. But have PLE organizations made the most of it?
Lois Gander, who has been tutoring me in the ways of PLE, is in the process of revising her 2002 paper, Applications of the Internet for Public Legal Education [204 KB MSWord DOC]. That document strives to catalog the most promising and curious uses of the Internet for PLE: for delivering it, for running the operations of groups that provide it, and for developing the professionals who oversee it.
I’m going to use this post to spotlight some of the newer and innovative uses I’ve seen. Don’t dare take my word for it, though: point out your own examples in the comments!
- Forums for intermediaries and the public: good examples are the Community Law School (Forest, ON) forums (for the public) and the PovNet discussion lists (private, for advocates only). These allow groups to (1) foster collaboration, (2) maintain a presence, and (3) solve the “update problems” of PLE.
- Online courses: Povnet provides them on their “PovnetU” site; Éducaloi has online training for intermediaries as part of its À bon port program.
- Video games: I only know of one PLE video game available on the web—Éducaloi’s “Face-Off.” Are there others?
- Animation: the Law Courts Education Society has put together a whole site of animation segments, legalrights4u.ca; Éducaloi also has animation on the web: BOM-343.
- Interactive learning experiences: two memorable examples are the Law Courts Education Society’s “Kid’s Guide to Separation and Divorce” and “Try Judging,” which apparently was not produced by a PLE organization.
- Online forms: maybe not as flashy as some of the other applications, but worth noting. PLEA in Saskatchewan uses forms to recruit volunteers, and the People’s Law School in BC uses them to solicit requests for its speakers bureau.
- Materials clearinghouse: CLEO uses online forms well, too, on its CLEONet site, but the big story there is the site itself—an online repository of hundreds of PLE materials from organizations all over Ontario. Also note CLEONet’s participation in a “Constellation” of organizations that share content and events announcements over the Internet.
- Major web strategies: finally, I’d be irresponsible if I didn’t point out some of the most substantial uses of a website to do PLE. The web is at the center of Éducaloi’s delivery strategy, and its website is immense and features timely legal stories, tests, and polls. The Legal Studies Program at the University of Alberta (soon to become the Legal Resource Centre) has developed a number of large PLE websites, such as Laws for Landlords and Tenants in Alberta and ACJNet. UPDATE: The Legal Services Society of BC‘s recently relaunched Family Law in BC website is also extensive and well worth a look.
Again, I know I’ve left good examples out. Please fill the gaps with your comments.