Adjunct Impact-For Law Professors Not Worth It

I just took a look at Adjunct Impact (free trial available). I do not believe that it is a useful tool for most law professors, but some Adjuncts at smaller colleges may find it somewhat useful. Basically, Adjunct Impact is a program which allows classwork to be continued and supplemented online. It includes items such as a syllabus builder, a message board and a lounge where students and the professor can converse with each other.

However, both TWEN and LEXIS already do a much better job in providing the same type of online course work. Each of those programs also have the ability to link to statutes and cases that might be discussed in class. I believe all law schools have access to TWEN and Lexis so I see no use for this program on the law school level. The additional information provided, such as a checklist for the first day of class which includes the class roster are so obvious that they contribute nothing.

However, I recognize that all colleges-particular small community colleges-may not utilize TWEN or Lexis's Blackboard program. For those few colleges, this program may be worth it. As any professor who has used TWEN can tell you, communicating online has changed the way education is practiced.

I am not sure why the program is called Adjunct Impact because it seems to me that the program would be useful to full time community college professors as well if they do not access to a similar program.

An article about this program that ran in Insider Higher Education is available here.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein