NALA’s Online CLE is Effective, Efficient & Proven
National Association of Legal
Assistants
1516 South Boston Avenue
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74119
www.nala.org
(918) 587-6828
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Success Stories
Online CLE success comes only with a
clear vision, attention to detail, and the kind of solid administration
a national organization such as NALA can provide.
Marge Dover, CAE
[email protected]
It has been nearly five years since the
National Association of Legal Assistants sliced into the Internet with
cutting-edge continuing legal education for paralegals. The original
NALA Campus (www.nalacampus.com)
has become even more robust with the addition of NALA Campus LIVE! now
in its second session of courses through May 1. Development is also well
underway toward offering CLA/CP Specialty certification by way of the
Internet.
When NALA Campus went on line in August
2000 with eight courses offered around the clock, paralegals quickly
took note of the substantive course work prepared by acknowledged
authorities and educators. The new online format was enthusiastically
embraced, and within six months, nearly 3,000 visitors logged on at the
site and there were 800 enrollees.
The original NALA Campus concept still
appeals strongly to paralegals who wish to pursue CLE at their own pace
and from their own computers. Employers appreciate the fact that their
paralegals do not need time away from the office in order to take the
course work, and some office managers have incorporated NALA Campus
courses in their in-house training programs. A number of business
professionals outside the legal field have also made use of the courses.
NALA Campus LIVE! adds the new dimension
of “live” course instructors in synchronous presentations allowing
questions and interactive teaching techniques. Some learners are more
comfortable and confident in this real-time environment, and 153 of them
enrolled in the first session of 11 courses last fall.
The 13 courses in the NALA Campus LIVE!
Winter Session now in process range from Discovery Investigation and
Trial Preparation to Employment Discrimination and 401(k) Basics. A
number of the courses—Ethics, Judgment and Analysis, Written
Communication, and Legal Research—are CLA/CP review courses ideal for
paralegals preparing for the examination.
Use of the Internet was growing
exponentially when NALA began to exploit the educational possibilities
offered by this technology. Success was assured by adhering to some
established basics. It was crucial to keep the educational mission in
mind and not to fall in love with Internet technology for its own sake.
Service and attention to the needs of users have remained high on NALA’s
priorities as its online CLE curricula have grown.
These basic principles also have a major
part in NALA’s development of online CLAS credentialing. The Specialty
Task Force assembled by NALA in 2002 to consider the challenge of
offering specialty certification in a relevant, more convenient and time
responsive way, has developed a program implementing a curriculum-based
certification via the Internet.
Development of an online CLA/CP
Specialty program has had input from NALA members, paralegals with the
CLAS designation, professional educators, attorneys and paralegal
managers, and an expert in developing professional certification
programs.
Online continuing legal education has
proven effective, efficient, and an unqualified success as a service to
paralegals and the profession. The possibilities are virtually
limitless, but online success comes only with a clear vision, attention
to detail, and the kind of solid administration a national organization
such as NALA can provide. |
