Our primary mandate is the delivery of exceptional legal education and resources to the entire spectrum of Alberta’s legal community.
To uphold our reputation as one of Alberta’s leading providers of legal education, we pride ourselves in our mission, vision, and values.
Our mission, vision, and values allow us to provide support to the legal profession through ever-evolving content, delivery, and educational methodologies. Recently, we have embarked on a transition from print to digital resources.
Below is a list of FAQs that we hope will assist you in a smooth transition from print to electronic resource access.
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FAQ
WHAT ARE E-MATERIALS?
E-materials are LESA’s traditional program materials (formerly presented in a binder) now offered in an electronic format. When you registered for a program in the past, you expected to get a binder with papers, checklists, precedents, annotated statutes, PowerPoint slides, etc. E-materials are the same product presented in an electronic format.
HOW CAN I ACCESS LESA’S E-MATERIALS?
You can access program e-materials via a link emailed to all registrants a few days before a program runs. This link takes you to a secured login page that has hyperlinks to the program materials, which you can download onto your device or print if you choose.
WHY HAS LESA CHOSEN E-MATERIALS RATHER THAN HARD COPY BINDERS?
From an adult education perspective, we believe this is an effective method for both learning and educating. It gives you the opportunity to review content before the program, which will prepare you to be engaged at a higher level of learning during the program. We want to help you find practical ways to apply your education to your practices and areas of interest. When you can access your materials before the program, you have the chance to read the papers in advance, formulate questions, and come better prepared to engage.
We are a not-for-profit society. This shift helps us keep costs down so we can provide quality education at reasonable registration rates.
We hope that you will arrive at a program with a basic understanding of the particular topics for that program so our presenters can focus on helping you achieve deeper levels of learning and application. Ultimately, the shift to e-materials is not simply a change in format or a cost-saving measure. Rather, it is art of an approach to enhance the educational experience for all involved in a program.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE ADDED BENEFITS OF E-MATERIALS?
Some of the feedback we have heard from people is that when they are referencing older program materials and looking for specific information, they have difficulty finding it. This is wasted time. E-materials facilitate ease of navigation and introduce a search functionality that would be difficult to achieve with printed materials. A CTRL+F or CMD+F search function saves you time.
We also want to help our volunteers. E-materials allows for greater flexibility to deal with changes to the law or to a presentation. As a result, you have access to higher quality materials that are as up-to-date as possible. You can also access up-to-date biographical information, registration lists, and faculty lists. We want you to have practical, useful information you can use in your day-to-day practice.
CAN I STILL PURCHASE PRINT MATERIALS FOR PROGRAMS?
No. However, we will continue to provide law libraries across the province with printed materials for select programs. For many years, we have been offering program materials in electronic format to those who were unable to attend programs. The shift to e-materials allows us to align our program content delivery methods before, during, and after a program runs.
AM I EXPECTED TO PRINT E-MATERIALS MYSELF AND BRING THEM TO THE PROGRAM?
You’re welcome to print the e-materials if you choose. The terms of use for our materials remain the same: LESA program materials are intended for individual use only and should not be shared with others. We recommend that you download a copy of the materials onto a laptop, tablet, or other device for use at the program and afterward.
ARE ALL LESA PROGRAMS SWITCHING TO E-MATERIALS ONLY?
While the vast majority of our programs will offer e-materials only, we will be offering hard copy materials for select LESA programs. Specific multi-day courses will continue to have hard copy materials (i.e. Interest Based Negotiations, Mediation of Family & Divorce Conflicts, Basic Collaborative Law, and the Annual Intensive Advocacy program).
From time-to-time, we will also offer programs that are presented in a technical training-style or workshop-style format. For these kinds of programs, it can be helpful to have workbooks or other kinds of material that facilitate the learning objectives. If we decide to offer hard copy materials for a program like this, we will let you know.
WHAT IS LESA DOING TO MAKE SURE THIS SHIFT RUNS SMOOTHLY FOR ME?
We appreciate that attendees have all kinds of different learning styles and preferences. Our recommendation is that when you receive your e-materials access link, you download the materials in advance and come with these on a device of your choice. Our on-site staff will be there to assist you if you are experiencing technical issues or having issues locating passwords or links to the e-materials. We also have staff at the LESA office that are able to provide support to registrants before the program runs. If you experience any issues regarding your e-materials, we encourage you to reach out for support.
Please come with your devices fully charged. Our AV providers, Seminars Techs, have very generously provided battery packs and other equipment for charging a variety of devices (iOS, Android, tablet, etc.), in case your batteries run low. If you prefer to take notes with a pen and paper, we also have complimentary note pads and pens available for you. We welcome you to visit the registration desk at any time.
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Thank you for your ongoing patience and support during this transition. If you have any additional questions regarding e-materials, or any other aspect of LESA products, programs, or resources, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
