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The University of Southampton
Southampton Law School

Learning IT and telecoms law - at a distance

Published: 26 March 2012

A distance learning LLM degree in Information Technology and Telecommunications Law has attracted students from several countries in Europe and from as far away as Bangladesh and Eritrea.

Professors Ian Lloyd, and Steve Saxby established the postgraduate programme in 2010 and have since been joined by Professor David Mellor OBE; thirty people are now studying this fast-moving area of law.

Required reading from Ian’s own textbook and other published work of the team is supplemented by audio podcasts from the course leaders. Blogs have been established for each module so students can contribute posts, often commenting on legal matters in their home countries and of international concern. Facebook pages are also used for communication and regular emails keep students in touch with their tutors.

“Many of our students have returned to education with wide-ranging experience in relevant fields such as software development and security which they are now sharing with their peers as part of their degrees,” explains Ian, who lives in Glasgow. “As law is a text-based subject, it is not difficult to teach at a distance. I am pleased with the progress of our international students and have awarded very high marks for some of their essays.”

Around half the students enrolled on the distance learning programme are solicitors. The rest come from a range of professions linked to IT. Law has a major role to play in the development of the web and e-commerce so they believe a thorough grounding in this area will help with their careers.

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