91成人AV

By Katie Garwood

A key piece of any legal education is real-world experience 鈥� getting in the courtroom, going through the motions and learning by doing.

That鈥檚 why Associate Professor of Law Scott DeVito includes real-world examples and skills training in all his classes at the 91成人AV College of Law, starting in the first semester of 1L year up until graduation.

Most law students experience courtroom proceedings by observation. While mock trials allow some participation, they only allow for one student at a time to act in different courtroom roles. Finding creative ways to involve students in the courtroom experience prior to graduation and passing the bar exam is critical, which is why DeVito wanted to introduce it to law students early in their curriculum.

So, when DeVito saw a presentation on virtual reality and its uses in the healthcare field, he saw an opportunity to apply the technology to his law classes. Through funding from the Florida Department of Education, DeVito purchased VR headsets, developed a script for the VR mock trial, and filmed the 360-degree video that students will interact with using the headsets.

Not many law schools are using this technology yet, DeVito said. He knows of a handful in the country that have started virtual reality instruction, but none have an entire program in place, which is what DeVito hopes to create 鈥� an entire set of videos that can be used for various training purposes.

鈥淵ou can get this through internships, externships and job training. But in those instances, there鈥檚 no instruction going on, and students are just observing,鈥� DeVito said. 鈥淭his way, students get to interact with the material they鈥檙e learning.鈥�

In a courtroom at the Duval County Courthouse, DeVito directed a mock trial with Associate Professor of Theatre Arts Dr. Erik DeCicco, who brought several of his theater students to play the roles of the lawyers, witness, defendant, judge, bailiff and court reporter.

For DeCicco鈥檚 students, the opportunity to act in the simulation was a unique learning experience. 鈥淭he collaboration between the College of Law and the theater students highlights some of the best work we do on campus 鈥� disparate disciplines helping each other to learn, grow and face the market and industry with more confidence, courage and capability,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his project was a real gift for theater students 鈥� an opportunity to flex and test their abilities outside of a classroom setting. Simulation can be exceedingly difficult in the arts, so our department leaps at opportunities such as the VR project.鈥�

Once the script was recorded and edited, students in DeVito鈥檚 contracts class donned the headsets to work through the first scenario. In the simulation, students were presented with choices to make in the trial, such as whether an objection should be sustained or overruled, and they evaluated the strength of the arguments.

DeVito said he is recording more scenarios for students in trial and appellate advocacy classes, moot court, and legal writing and analysis. He plans to collaborate with other faculty within the College of Law to bring the technology into their classrooms, too.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e able to get these sets of experiences that make it easy when they do their summer internships for them to go and say yes, I鈥檝e done X, I鈥檝e done Y,鈥� he said.