I have taught a course on the “Domain Names Law and Governance” for the Master Program “IP and IT Law” at the University Montpellier 1 from 2006-2011. I have also been invited to give lectures in various jurisdictions, including Cornell Law School and Chinese University of Hong Kong, as well as a number of seminars and public trainings within the framework of the European Union Academic Program of Hong Kong. I am also engaged in distance education, including webinars and distance courses.

I became a full-time teacher in 2014, when I taught at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). I taught the law of obligations in a compulsory course entitled “Introduction to Business Law” (common law) for undergraduate students and an elective course on digital law entitled “Legal Aspects of E-Commerce” for postgraduate students. The students at all levels gave extremely positive feedbacks for both courses.

In order to explore innovative teaching methods, I voluntarily followed two six-month theoretical and practical courses on the application of cognitive science at the university level. The first one laid the foundation for teaching at the university while the second one focused exclusively on the use of digital tools. In this context, I held a personal journal concerning teaching in a “blended learning” environment, including some of the following subjects:

• Blended learning and the flipped classroom
• Is blended learning the best of both worlds?
• Great wikis v. low participation rate 
• Developping an e-tivity planner
• Inclusive teaching 

The outcome of the BOT training led to a personal reflection and to the writing of a case study which was itself the subject of an article (“Legal Quizzes for Non- Law Students” and a presentation at the PolyU symposium entitled “Blended Learning Symposium: Teaching Beyond the Classroom” (pecha-kucha). I have also proposed to PolyU the development of a mobile application aimed at promoting the learning of Hong Kong law.

My teaching is inspired by Bloom’s taxonomy and the flipped classroom method I use with the digital tools. I have adopted the “flipped classroom” method, in which I invert the typical cycle of content acquisition and application so that students gain necessary knowledge before class (1) and I guide them to actively and interactively clarify and apply that knowledge during class (2).

.

Self-study and peer review through online study tools

.

Before each class, my students are required to first self-study and acquire knowledge from relevant reading materials, and then test their understanding and discuss among their peers through the online study tools.

As an illustration, my students will collaborate via wiki. This activity has many advantages: on the one hand, it promotes proactive learning; on the other hand, it produces a remarkable effervescence which, in addition to being incredibly inclusive, encourages quality collaborative work. It is also the product of peer-to-peer criticism, and my students are invited, on many occasions, to make constructive judgments about the contributions of their peers.
 
It also seems essential to me to put at their disposal a series of weekly quizzes, available both on computers and on the mobile application provided by the platform, and whose entries can give access to a legal dictionary, expanded revision sheets, and bibliographical references. The quiz function involves engaging students in an assessment of the knowledge they have acquired. In this respect, they are free to repeat the exercise as many times as they deem necessary.

I do not dictate their discussions, but frequently check the students’ interactions on wiki, and deliver my observations and comments regularly.

.

Learning in class

.

As students have already familiarized themselves with the reading materials before class, I dedicate the time spent in class to make sure that everyone has acquired the necessary knowledge and, if necessary, to make some clarifications and address their questions. Knowledge verification can take many forms, including:
the analysis of the results of the weekly quiz, which makes it possible to insist on the difficulties encountered; and/or writing solutions to case studies.

In class, I expect my students to be proactive. My students are learning in a group. In addition to encouraging collaborative work and the socializing virtues of this method, there is no better way of knowing students, identifying their strengths and weaknesses, but also their level of inclusion/exclusion.This favors a teaching based on the personality of the students with the view of building self-confidence.

My students recognize my didactic commitment and my efforts to make learning fun and enjoyable.