Law Schools Meet Ed-Tech: Innovation of the Platform
Hundreds of millions of private and public sector dollars
are pouring into educational technology (“Ed-Tech”). Ed-Tech, broadly speaking, is the use of
technology to enhance the teaching and learning process. Ed-Tech has progressed far beyond posting
recorded lectures and PowerPoints on the web.
That is Ed-Tech 1.0. We are in
the dawn of Ed-Tech 2.0, in which “huge advances in computing power,” combined
with advances in simulations, digital gaming, and social collaborative networking,
among other technologies, have raised the capabilities of Ed-Tech to new
heights. Inspired by the promise of Ed-Tech, the
venture world injected nearly half a billion dollars in 2011 into the industry
through 80+ investment deals; the United States government is expending
substantial federal monies to fund programs designed to enrich education
through technology;
and colleges and universities have leapt into the fray too. The time is ripe for law schools to enter the
mix.