Jon Parker
BPP Law School is putting all of its GDL lectures onto DVD and MP3 files from the next academic year.
From September 2006, every GDL student will be issued with a complete DVD box set of all lectures at the start of the year, allowing them to watch them at home or in the library.
Audio files of the lectures will also be available on the BPP intranet to download onto MP3 players. Live lectures will continue as usual.
Roxanne Stockwell, BPP course director, said: "Students learn in different ways, and have different demands on their time. We're trying to provide maximum flexibility.
"Many students like to attend live lectures, but they also like to listen to lectures several times, especially when revising for exams.
"This puts students in control - they can decide when and where and how often to review lectures. This is great for clarifying difficult areas."
The move follows BPP's arch-rival The College of Law's decision to replace all of its LPC lectures and replace them with online tutorials.
As first reported by Lawyer 2B (February 2006), the college will be replacing lectures in a number of pervasive subjects, including accounts, insolvency and tax, with 'i-tutorials' that will be available both online and on DVD.
A Bar Council consultation seeking views on radical reforms to the BVC has closed - but any changes are likely to take years to come into effect.
The Bar Council launched the consultation in December 2005, giving BVC providers three months to respond to the proposed changes.
The key proposals were drawn up by the bar's education and training committee, which said there is an ongoing need for a vocational course.
However, the committee said there needs to be more practitioner involvement in the setting of outcomes, the preparation of materials, the monitoring of courses and the assessment of students on a vocational course.
The Bar Council also wants to examine the cost implications of the BVC and whether this is a deterrent to potential new barristers.
BPP chief executive Peter Crisp said that, while the school welcomed the opportunity to review the BVC, the fact that no changes would be made for some time was a "missed opportunity".
"It's fine, but it hasn't actually done anything," said Crisp. "Talking about things is all well and good, but we'd like some action."
