CQU Senior Lecturer in Law Robert Fisher has solicited help from a side-kick called 'Robolawyer' to give his video lecture summaries a special spark.

The Robolawyer device started out wearing a legal wig but now appears in a variety of different comedy clothes as Mr Fisher 'chats' to him on screen.

Robolawyer clips summarise the key topics for the week in a clip of less than 5 minutes which some students prefer rather than watching a whole lecture.   Partners of students also watch Robolawyer.

Robolawyer has been in operation for 2 years since making his first appearance on course web pages via the blackboard tool, under the heading 'video commentaries'. 

"Robo is regularly uploaded onto the various course web pages each week for the courses I teach," Mr Fisher said.

"However when students were no longer enrolled in a particular course they could no longer see the Robolawyer video clips.

"To cater for this audience I have put the clips up on 'You Tube' as well.

"When Robolawyer went up on You Tube he attracted the attention of people outside the University as well. International students tell me that Robolawyer can be viewed in their home countries.

"Robolawyer is not a slick presentation.  It is unrehearsed and unscripted and I operate the web cam.  It is essentially improvised using resources in my office and deliberately amateurish.  A bit like playschool for Uni students."

Mr Fisher is based in the Faculty of Business & Informatics. You can access his You Tube clips via http://www.youtube.com/user/fisherra