Law Class Offered to Public Over Web

Arthur R. Miller, Bromley professor of law, is pioneering a project with the Berkman Center for Internet and Society that may help transform people the world over into budding lawyers.

Miller is teaching Harvard Law School's first class through the Internet. Offered free of charge, his class, "Privacy in Cyberspace," began two weeks ago and has about 1,500 students enrolled. Miller said his students live in countries from Latvia to Singapore.

"The course is underway and we have people from all over the world in it," Miller said. "We've put them into 14 groups and they've been conducting dialogue for close to two weeks."

The class was developed in conjunction with the Berkman Center, an organization at Harvard Law School that investigates cyberspace and its implications.

But the original idea for the experiment was conceived by Charles R. Nesson '60, Weld professor of law, according to Jonathan L. Zittrain, the center's executive director.

"We want to come to understand just how well one could teach over the Net...so that just one or two people could reach out to many more people than they could in person," Zittrain said. "At the same time, we want to get some of this amazing intellectual content that these professors have out there."

Courses offered over the Internet are designed for anyone interested in the subject matter, according to Abigail S. Phillips, Web developer for the Berkman Center.

"[It's for] anybody who wanted to take it," Phillips said of Miller's course. "It's definitely not supposed to appeal only to lawyers or to people only in the legal profession."

Instructors say they are enthusiastic about their involvement in the class.

"We're excited and all very pleased teaching fellow for the course.

The 14 groups of students interact over theWeb, discussing a different hypothetical questioneach week.

Miller himself said he plans to get on-lineonce a week for a live discussion with hisstudents.

Additional readings are linked to the class Website.

"I think they're learning from the materials weposted on the site and from each other," Shaffersaid.

Miller's class will continue for 12 weeks asstudents investigate issues concerning Internetprivacy.

"We have to explore a variety of topics wehaven't touched on yet, including encryption,medical records' privacy and workplace privacy,"Shaffer said. "We plan to keep experimenting withdifferent ways to use the technology and differentways of organizing the discussions."

The unique experience of interacting withpeople all over the world distinguishes the classfrom everyday classes at the Law School, Shaffersaid.

The possibility for offering similar courses inthe future depends on the success of Miller'sclass.

If all bodes well with this first attempt,Zittrain said a course on intellectual propertywill follow in the spring

The 14 groups of students interact over theWeb, discussing a different hypothetical questioneach week.

Miller himself said he plans to get on-lineonce a week for a live discussion with hisstudents.

Additional readings are linked to the class Website.

"I think they're learning from the materials weposted on the site and from each other," Shaffersaid.

Miller's class will continue for 12 weeks asstudents investigate issues concerning Internetprivacy.

"We have to explore a variety of topics wehaven't touched on yet, including encryption,medical records' privacy and workplace privacy,"Shaffer said. "We plan to keep experimenting withdifferent ways to use the technology and differentways of organizing the discussions."

The unique experience of interacting withpeople all over the world distinguishes the classfrom everyday classes at the Law School, Shaffersaid.

The possibility for offering similar courses inthe future depends on the success of Miller'sclass.

If all bodes well with this first attempt,Zittrain said a course on intellectual propertywill follow in the spring