Using the Iolis courseware to teach law

Iolis and courseware

During the 1990s the term ‘courseware’ was widely used to describe software combining learning materials with interactivity, accessed by students at any time and at their own pace. The term has now largely fallen into disuse.

Iolis, an interactive legal study resource on CD-ROM developed by the Law Courseware Consortium, was widely used in law schools and played a key role in the introduction of e-learning into legal education. The articles listed below trace the development of Iolis from its beginnings to the final 2007-08 edition.

Iolis:

• ‘E-learning and culture change: the Iolis story’ (2005) – article in The Law Teacher 39(1)
• Iolis authoring in a Web environment (2002) – describes a project at the University of Durham developing a courseware package on legal research skills
• Implementing Iolis (2001; PDF file) – summary of the findings of the Iolis Implementation Project (1999-2001), which worked with six law schools developing strategies to embed Iolis within learning and teaching strategies
• Changing perceptions and needs of legal education and the usefulness of Iolis in these changing times (2001; PDF file) – considers the use of Iolis as a means of developing skills alongside the more traditional knowledge acquisition approach to legal education
• The claims and challenges of computers in learning the law (2000; PDF file) – includes a review of student use of Iolis at Liverpool John Moores University
• Co-operative development of CAL materials: a case study of Iolis (1998) – describes the development of Iolis, suggesting that it offers a model for the collaborative development of e-learning
• Law courseware and Iolis: assessing the present and constructing the future (1997) – contrasts the national introduction of Iolis with the approach taken by the US Center for Computer-Assisted Learning Instruction (CALI)
• A continuum of CAL: integrating Iolis, Web and Toolbook to make IT easy for legal faculty to author (1997; PDF format) – describes the introduction of Iolis at the the US Center for Computer-Assisted Learning Instruction (CALI)
• Virtual reality or really a virtual necessity? An evaluation of Iolis in the modern law school (1997, PDF file) – describes a research project at Coventry University examining staff and student reactions to the introduction of Iolis
• Law courseware: big bang or damp squib? (1995) – identifies a number of benefits as well as potential obstacles to widespread use and implementation of Iolis

IOLISplus:

David Grantham (Coventry University) developed IOLISplus, a learning environment linking webpages directly to Iolis. Three articles trace the development of this software:

• IOLISplus: extending the electronic learning environment (1999) – describes the project’s context, the design processes involved and the early piloting of the package
• IOLISplus: the second chapter (2000) – describes the evaluation of the pilot study and the impact of the introduction of WebCT, particularly on the use of electronic fora
• Cybertort: towards an integrated electronic learning environment for distance learning in law (2000; PDF file) – describes the pedagogy underpinning IOLISplus

Last Modified: 4 June 2010