Adaptable Design: Building Multi-Modal Content for Flexible Law School Teaching

This essay discusses ways to build course content that can easily toggle between face-to-face and online modes of instruction. It is meant as a quick, practical guide for law professors faced with challenging teaching circumstances due to COVID-19 and campus closures, but with long-term applicability as law schools continue to expand online and hybrid course offerings. This idea for “adaptable design” is based largely on my own experience moving face-to-face courses online. I try to avoid delving too much into technical definitions and pedagogical theory, instead focusing on personal experience and examples.

Although COVID-19 has created an immediate need for adaptable design, I hope this essay proves to be a resource beyond our immediate reactions to a global pandemic and can be useful for anyone seeking to innovate in their law school courses.