Online Decision Making Program

Jenny Green, Academic Director, NJCA

National Judicial College of Australia

Overview

• WHY• WHO • WHAT • HOW • QUESTIONS

Why online?• Request for easy access to education

• Previous experience with judicial online learning was successful –

(2 x Coroners’ programs, 2 x Decision making programs)

• Must be an interactive platform for participants

• Cost & time effective for courts and participants

• Can be delivered numerous times in a year

Who’s involved?

Expert program developers & facilitators Judges, magistrates, tribunal members (approx. 4 per program)

Participants 16 judges, magistrates & tribunal members

Online moderators2 staff

Welcome & Orientation • Week 1

How the brain makes up its

mind• Week 2

The human side of legal

decision making

• Week 3

Whom do I believe?

Techniques for better fact-

finding

• Week 4

Expert Witnesses

• Week 5

Writing good reasons

• Week 6

What?

Program Roadmap

Participant preparation

• Orientation handbook emailed prior to program start

• Small group teleconferences with online coaching

• Technical support available throughout the program

Participant profiles

How do participants interact?

Content is grouped into topics

Participants interact through: • content related tasks• gathering resources from library• sharing experiences• using checklists

Responses to tasks are added

Topics can contain, video, documents or links to the web.

How do participants build knowledge & practice skills?

Principles of social learning:• work on scenarios and case studies,• apply existing knowledge,• sharing experiences,• refine their skills through group-based

activities,• increase their reference base, and• draw on collective intelligence of the

group to arrive at decisions,• completing tasks in their own time

enables reflection

Role of Facilitators

• Provide subject matter expertise• Monitor & guide participation• Respond to Q and A• Provide feedback

Resources

• Support booklet– technical support– subject support

• Library– journal articles– Chapters– video– online materials

• Q&A

Mobile apps

Mobile access was an important criteria.

Many participants access the course on iPads.

Acknowledgement

Ripple Effect Group – social business architects

Questions

www.njca.com.au