Thesis Abstract

Abstract
Information Communication Technology (ICT) has become an integral part of modern legal education, revolutionizing the way law students learn and interact with legal concepts. This study seeks to explore the impact of ICT on legal education, focusing on how technology has transformed teaching methods, student engagement, and the overall learning experience in law schools. The research will investigate the various ICT tools and platforms used in legal education, such as online databases, virtual classrooms, legal research software, and simulation programs. By analyzing the effectiveness of these tools in enhancing the learning process, the study aims to provide insights into the benefits and challenges associated with the integration of ICT in legal education. Furthermore, the research will examine the role of ICT in promoting active learning and critical thinking skills among law students. With the increasing availability of online resources and collaborative platforms, students now have greater access to legal information and academic support outside the traditional classroom setting. This study will assess how these digital resources influence student learning outcomes and professional development in the legal field. Moreover, the study will investigate the impact of ICT on legal research skills and the ability of students to navigate complex legal information. By analyzing the use of digital tools for legal research, the research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of online resources in helping students develop essential research skills and improve their ability to analyze and interpret legal texts. In addition, the research will explore the challenges and limitations of ICT in legal education, including issues related to digital literacy, information overload, and the quality of online content. By identifying these challenges, the study seeks to provide recommendations for improving the integration of ICT in legal education and enhancing the overall learning experience for law students. Overall, this research aims to contribute to the existing literature on the impact of ICT on legal education by providing a comprehensive analysis of the benefits, challenges, and implications of technology integration in legal curriculum. By examining the role of ICT in transforming legal education, this study seeks to offer valuable insights for educators, policymakers, and stakeholders in the legal field looking to enhance the quality of legal education through technology-driven initiatives.

Thesis Overview

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

This project centers on the ICT world in general, and also its relationship with the Legal Education system. The Legal Education sector, just like virtually any other sector that exists in the world has been integrated to some degree with ICT. The study is going to center around the students and educators in the Legal Education system. It will be in form of a survey to evaluate and analyse opinions on the ICT impact on their sector of expertise.

ICT refers to Information and Communication technology. It really emphasizes the role of unified communications and the key integration of telecommunications and computer systems with necessary enterprise software, middleware storage and audiovisual devices which enable the users of the service stated to access, store, transmit and manipulate information. These actions are performed digitally. The concepts that are involved in the broad term of ICT keep evolving and new applications and services are constantly in implementation.

Simply put, it is the merger or convergence of audiovisual and telephone networks with computer networks through a single cabling or link system.

Merging of telephone networks with the computer networks through a single cabling system comes with its own economic incentives through specific action which include;

• Using a single unified system of cabling
• Unified Signal Distribution
• Unified Network Management

There are a varying number of advantages and disadvantages of the ICT on any educational sector and these will be itemized at great length and studied in depth.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The world of Information And Communication Technology has progressed in the past decades and it has shall we say infiltrated almost every sector of the economy be it education, manufacturing, finance, business and other sectors. It has now become inevitable to conduct research and studies on the potential pros and cons of the implementation in the Legal Sector

1.3 MOTIVATION OF THE STUDY

The study was motivated by the increasing trend in the tech world especially with ICT and its resulting innovations in various sectors of the economy. We are currently a service based world and the field of education is no exception.

The Legal Education sector is considered to be one of the prestigious sectors of the Nigerian Educational system and as with other sectors, we can draw from the usefulness of ICT, study the pros and even the cons to as to mitigate negative effects of the impacts.

1.4 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The aims and objectives of this study include;

1. Studying Information and Communication Technology in depth
2. Reviewing the early and the current methods of education and instruction in Faculties of Law and Law Schools in Nigeria
3. Retrieving public opinion on the impacts of ICT on the educational sector and specifically the Legal Sector.
4. Deducing the areas the Legal education sector has come short in terms of infusing and taking advantage of the exceeding possibilities of ICT

1.5 OUTLINE OF METHODOLOGY

This research work adopted the descriptive survey design to gauge the opinions of students, educators and academicians in selected institutions to asses the impacts whether positive or negative on the impacts of ICT on Legal Education and the Legal profession at large. This design was selected for the study to elicit a reasonable response rate from the participants. This will enable the researcher to gather sufficient data which will be coded and analyzed in a quantitative manner. The methodology will involve relationships which are measured to determine the degree of association between the variables of interest.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study focused on the impact of Information And Communication Technology in Legal Education, getting the opinions from a total of 120 participants which include 60 students and 60 educators from select Higher institutions.

1.7 SIGINIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study is significant in the sense that it explores the benefits and the drawbacks of ICT in the educational sector and steps to address them.

1.8 ORGANISATION OF THE PROJECT

The project is organized such that; Chapter One examines and discusses at reasonable length, a background of the independent parameters considered in carrying out the study of ICT integrated with Legal Education. In Chapter Two, we have a broad look at the history and related works in terms of ICT and the Nigerian Legal Education. Chapter Three explores the methodology employed in carrying out this study. Specifically the methodology of this study will practically be in form of descriptive survey. Chapter Four presents the result of the research carried out. Chapter Five rounds off the project work with the summary, conclusions and recommendations for future works.