Creating 'movie magic' in first year skills subjects

The use of technology in legal education is a rapidly evolving area but incorporating digital content into existing teaching resources can often appear daunting and resource-intensive. Those willing to experiment with new technologies have achieved significant success in embedding such technologies into existing subjects (Butler; DA, 2009 and Butler; DA, 2011). In many cases, the focus of such projects has been on providing a virtual legal environment for students through the use of Second Life or similar virtual reality platforms. This paper will focus on the use of different software, which provides an environment in which those who would not usually engage with virtual worlds can build a movie set, characters and on-screen action with a view to creating a virtual reality movie designed to address the specific needs of the particular subject. This technology has been employed to create a series of movies set in a virtual law firm, which were embedded into the content of a compulsory first year legal skills subject with the aim of enhancing student engagement and assisting with the development of students' legal writing and statutory interpretation skills. An initial pilot study of student response to the use of this new media will also be discussed