April Mara Barton
Director of Academic Computing
Biography
April Barton is the Director for Academic Computing at Villanova University School of Law where she is responsible for establishing the Law School's academic technology strategy and implementing technologies that enhance the teaching, learning, and scholarship processes. She is the author of “Best Practices for Building a High-Tech Law School: The Process of Designing Educational Spaces,” a book being published this spring by the ABA’s Section of Legal Education. She currently serves on the Distance Learning in Legal Education Working Group and speaks frequently about Classrooms of the Future and her vision about the future of legal education.
Formerly, April served as an attorney with the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection in the Division of Marketing Practices. In this capacity she worked on policy and law enforcement issues related to Internet fraud and deception.
Prior to joining the FTC, April served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Villanova University School of Law where she taught Computer Law, First Amendment and Regulation in Cyberspace, the Legislative and Administrative Process (Clinic), and Digital Law. At Villanova, she also served as the Faculty Director of the Global Democracy Project (GDP), a program dedicated to advancing the development of civil societies and promoting the rule of law through Internet technology. GDP initiated projects in many regions of Central and Eastern Europe, Costa Rica, Rwanda, and most notably in Bosnia where the Project successfully implemented an operational Internet infrastructure through grants from the U.S. State Department and other institutions.
April received her Bachelor of Science degree cum laude in physics from Moravian College, where she was a member of the Sigma Pi Sigma, the National Physics Honor Society, and her law degree from Villanova University School of Law, where she received the Herman Mitchell Schwartz Award (awarded annually to the person in the graduating class who, in the opinions of the faculty, has contributed the most to the achievement of equality of opportunity and treatment for women). Following law school, April was the Director of Technology and subsequently, the Director of Operations for the Center for Information Law and Policy (CILP), an organization dedicated to exploring issues at the intersection of law and technology. Additionally, she served a two-year position as a Teaching Fellow at the Law School.
Courses and Seminars
Publications
To view publications - Click here.
