Lawyer

Imagine taking your Trusts and Estates class while sitting in your neighborhood coffee
shop. Or maybe you’re listening to a lecture in your International Criminal Law course
while your baby takes a nap. Those scenarios are a reality for IU McKinney students.
A grant from the IU McKinney Alumni Association during the 2011-12 academic year spearheaded
the effort toward moving some of the law school’s courses from the classroom and into
a web-based format. Now, paired with a three-year grant from Indiana University, the law
school has tapped into the experience of the university’s online learning experts, and is expanding
its digital course offerings even further.
Professor Max Huffman is the law school’s faculty director of online programs. He believes
IU McKinney is ahead of the curve in its online efforts when compared with other traditional
law schools. The school’s courses are being created with the help of the IUPUI Center for Teaching
and Learning and IU’s eLearning Design and Services. The goal is to make the courses as
accessible for students as possible, Professor Huffman said.
“The design aspect is where we handle the differences,” Professor Huffman said of the details
that need to be worked out for courses that don’t translate as intuitively as others might. “All the
work thus far has created an asynchronous, interactive course experience.”
There were seven online courses available for students during the 2014-15 academic year:
• Comparative and International Competition Law, 2 credits.
• International Criminal Law, 3 credits.
• Trusts and Estates, 3 credits.
• Legal Research, 1 credit.
• Comparative Middle Eastern Law, 2 credits.
• Secured Transactions, 2 credits.
• Information Privacy, 2 credits.
Now, paired with
a three-year grant
from Indiana
University, the law
school has tapped
into the experience
of the university’s
online learning
experts, and is
expanding its digital
course offerings
even further.
It is anticipated that as many as 15 online courses will be available for McKinney
students in the 2015-16 academic year. Some of the courses will initially be taught in
“hybrid” format as the online design process is perfected:
• Contract Drafting, 2 credits.
• Comparative Law, 3 credits.
• International Law, 3 credits.
• Information Privacy, 2 credits.
• Comparative and International Competition Law, 2 credits.
• International Criminal Law, 3 credits.
• Trusts and Estates, 3 credits.
• Legal Research, 1 credit.
• Comparative Middle Eastern Law, 2 credits.
• Cybercrime, 2 credits.
• Payment Systems, 2 credits.
• Publicly Traded Corporations, 3 credits.
• Professional Responsibility, 3 credits.
• Health Information Privacy, 2 credits.
• Secured Transactions, 2 credits.
IU ROBERT H. McKINNEY SCHOOL OF LAW / Summer 2015 Alumni Magazine 15