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Teaching to law students in the 21st Century can be a daunting task for any law professor. Students come from different backgrounds, could be the first member of their family to go to university and bring with them varied experiences and exposure with modern technology, social media and the internet. Within this background, modern teaching pedagogy suggests that students need to be actively involved with their learning and that the learning and teaching environment needs to be student centred. This paper focusses on using the pedagogy of storytelling to build a bridge between teaching by law professors and learning for the modern law student in a technological era.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop and evaluate the use of a closed community for first year law students. The purpose of the closed community, which could be a wiki or a discussion board, is twofold. The first purpose is to assist new undergraduates in making the transition to University. Research tells us that socialising is an important part of this transition. A second purpose is to encourage students to learn from each other but to understand when the line is crossed and plagiarism results. The use of social networks for learning is an interesting subject for study both for its potential pedagogic value and as a means of developing “employability”, particularly for those considering a career as in‐house counsel.Design/methodology/approachThis paper will evaluate three projects which aimed at establishing closed online communities.FindingsFrom the authors' project results there seems to be a direct correlation between student interaction, student learning and assessment. It seems clear that student learning will not, of itself, be facilitated through the use of an online community. The learning is interlinked with student perceptions of a tangible benefit, usually in the form of an assessment item.Originality/valueThis paper will be of interest to those considering new methods of encouraging use of virtual networks to promote student learning.

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