As online JD programs flourish and more students turn to online materials to supplement their learning, academic support programs now offer a wealth of online resources. Guides, videos, checklist, outlines – ASPs have it all! Yet a common challenge is that students don’t use all of the resources available to them. Or they open them once, skim briefly, and move on.
The issue is rarely that students don’t want help. More often, digital resources are designed for storing information rather than engaging students. When academic support materials are created with active learning in mind, they become tools students may actually return to, rather than just files sitting in an LMS.
Here are a few principles I’m trying to integrate into our program’s online resources to encourage active use:
1. Start with Timing
Every resource should solve a concrete problem students are experiencing at the moment. We do this with live workshops all the time; I would never schedule my 1L Preparing for Final Exams Workshop in September! Yet I often find myself updating and posting my digital bar exam handouts in August, when most of my 3Ls won’t be taking the bar until next July. With online resources, I am lured into the idea that the students will find the information when they’re ready, but this probably isn’t the case. Now, I am trying to time my digital resources (or at least when I promote them!) with what’s happening in the students’ world to boost timely engagement with the material.
2. Design for Action, Not Just Information
We all know that students retain more information when they do something with the material. So, when I record a live session and post it online, I’m probably not getting the best engagement or learning from my students who have to watch it later. Instead of (or in addition to) posting recordings of live sessions, I am trying to develop videos aimed at my asynchronous participants.
For me, this means building prompts and opportunities to try the skills into the recording, rather than just explaining the concepts. For instance, in a case briefing video, I might prompt the students to “pause the video and identify the rule statement from the case on the screen.” By integrating prompts for active learning into the video, I hope to shift the resource from passive consumption to active engagement.
3. Keep Resources Short, Organized, and Modular
Attention is limited. Long recordings or dense PDFs can unintentionally discourage use. Whenever possible, I am trying to keep videos under 10 minutes, break longer documents into sections, create separate resources for distinct tasks, and allow students to access pieces individually. Each resource should clearly address a specific task, rather than a broad topic. For instance, around final exam time, a video entitled “How to Turn a Case Rule into an Exam-Ready Rule Statement” is probably going to get more views than one called “Exam Skills Workshop Recording.” Students are more likely to click on a resource that they can identify as addressing a skill or task they should be developing at that moment.
Additionally, simple design choices can make a big difference. I tell students to break up their exam answers using headings, white space, and a clear structure so I can read them easier, so why shouldn’t I do the same for them? Headings, white space, and consistent formatting can make a resource much more user-friendly. Additionally, integrating components for different learning styles, such as including diagrams, will help more students interact with the concept.
4. Make Navigation Intuitive
The most frustrating thing for me is when I spend a lot of time creating and promoting resources that students later claim they’ve never heard of before. Students just aren’t going to use resources they can’t find easily. Effective resource hubs include things like:
- Clear categories (e.g., exam skills, time management, bar study)
- Descriptive Titles
- Consistent Formatting
- Limited Layers of Navigation
The goal is for students to reach the needed resource in one or two clicks, not five.
While an overhaul of online materials can seem daunting, I recommend starting with student feedback. Ask students questions about which resources they use the most, which feel confusing, and what they want to see to get an idea of where to start the process. Ultimately, digital academic support resources work best when they are designed not just to inform, but to engage. By focusing on clarity, action, and accessibility, academic support professionals can transform online materials from static repositories into active learning tools.
(Dayna Smith)
