Category Archives: mLearning

Academy of Vocational and Professional Training signs a Five Year Contract with Deputy Vice Chancellor of Cambodian Mekong University

Posted on June 10, 2013 | 375 comments
Diane Shawe and Dr. Philip Dews

Diane Shawe and Dr.Philip Dews

To deliver Softskills training to it’s students throughout Cambodia

25th May 2013, Diane Shawe, United Kingdom

Dr. Philip Dews, the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Cambodian Mekong University  signed a 5 year exclusive contract with Diane Shawe the founder and CEO of Academy of Vocational & Professional Training (AVPTGLOBAL), the leader in delivering of over 300 soft skills globally accredited courses.

The agreement was signed by Dr. Philip Dews, the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Cambodian Mekong University and Diane Shawe the founder and CEO of Academy of Vocational & Professional Training, at their offices in the City of London, UK.

With the new contract in place, through the CHE college and Cambodia Mekong University student can apply online to study with AVPT’s UK Virtual Tutor Facilitators who will support them during the course they have registered to undertake.

With a population of over 15 million and a anticipated growth rate of 8%, over 50 of Cambodia’s population is under the age of 18 and even those who have already attained a degree do not have the necessary soft skills to meet the needs of a variety of employers.

This lack of skills will prove a particular challenge as the country is expanding rapidly as a tourist destination and yet does not have the hospitality courses necessary to train the number of staff large enough to satisfy the demand.

The Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is aware of this situation and has declared that the educational institutes must find ways to support the development of the variety of skills required in the tourism sector.

Dr. Dews said: “Inspired by the Prime Ministers vision, I discovered AVPT whilst researching for UK  soft skill training providers. [whilst in Cambodia] I then did my due diligence of the organisation itself online. When I came to the UK, I arranged a meeting with Diane Shawe and had the opportunity to be shown the unique learning management system and some of the course materials. I am confident that I have found the solution for the soft skills training for the Cambodia population.”

AVPT delivers a wide range of soft skills courses through it’s cutting edge learning management system which work fluently and securely with various mobile devices.

Diane Shawe said: “We are passionate about education and how technology can play a part in helping to upskill people around the world.  When Dr. Dews shared the problem they wanted to rectify in Cambodia, I knew we could help.  What most people, employers, entrepreneurs and even some educational institutions do not have today is the time, the necessary resources and the infrastructure they need to support and deliver a cost effective broad selection of soft skill courses, but we have already created them.  AVPT have streamlined the process and make learning quicker because we have made the investment to design, research, write, and create the system which is student (user) centric and time sensitive.  All our courses can be completed in days not years.”

Diane also believes that: “Our online courses transcend multiple barriers to learning, because they can be scalable which consequently reduces the cost of acquisition of knowledge per person.  The knowledge gained is also measurable, which encourages the student to progress and allows their online tutor VTF (or workshop leader) to provide the flexible support system most beneficial for motivation.  And additionally online training is environmentally friendly and adds to the accessible and inclusive nature of the courses.”

Dr. Dews also confirmed that the CHE will want to cement this long term commitment by sending its first group of 200 students to the UK for workshop training very soon.  This will be a reward for some of the thousands of students in the college giving them the chance to study here and experience British culture in advance of greeting tourists in their own country.  Such large numbers of students coming to the UK will help Cambodia cater for the huge demand within their hospitality sector as several large resorts open this summer.

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Revealed: How Improved Confidence Brings Powerful Success

Posted on June 10, 2013 | 7 comments
group of people

Confidence can be your key to success.

Confidence in Life and Networking can be learned.

Article by Diane Shawe Author

If you don’t have any shadows, you’re not standing in the light.
Lady Gaga

1. Learn to USE YOUR INNER DNA confidence

I feel it’s something that is always there, something you’re born with that gets lost along the way, or stolen by others. Sometimes you have to dig deep to find it again.
Amy Lee Tempest

 When you were born you did not emerge unsure of your cry or insecure about your umbilical cord. You came out unaware of external judgement, concerned only with your own experience and needs. I’m not suggesting that you should be oblivious to other people. It is just that it may help to remember confidence was your original nature before time started chiselling away at it. When you start feeling unsure of yourself remember: we were all born with confidence, and we can all get it back if we learn to silence the thoughts that threaten it.

2. Success WILL HAPPEN

It might seem strange to say expect success since you can’t predict the future, although according to Peter Drucker, ‘the best way to predict the future is invent it’. Conventional wisdom suggests you should expect the worst because then you won’t be disappointed if you fail and you’ll be pleasantly surprised if you succeed. Research suggests this isn’t universally true; pessimism can undermine your performance creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. Find the successes in every day and you will notice over time that they increase.

3. The unknown IS OK

Control is an illusion, you infantile egomaniac. Nobody knows what’s gonna happen next: not on a free way  not in an airplane, not inside our own bodies and certainly not on a racetrack with 40 other infantile egomaniacs.
Nicole Kidman in Days of Thunder (playing Dr Claire Lewinski)

People often think confidence means knowing you can create the outcome you want. To some extent it does, but this idea is not universally true for everyone. Confidence comes from knowing your competence / skills and acknowledging it’s not solely responsible for creating your world. When you take that weight off your shoulders and realise that sometimes the twists and turns have nothing to do with what you did or should have done, it’s easier to feel confident in what you are trying to achieve. Networking becomes easier and you fear.

4. Learn to receive praise.

It’s amazing how easy it is to believe all the negative things people say and yet discredit the positive. Taking a compliment is an art. Sometimes, it’s instinctive to assume they’re just being nice or that maybe you aren’t really skilled—you just got lucky. Occasionally, this may be true, but for the most part you earn the praise you receive. Don’t talk yourself out of believing it. Instead, recycle it into confidence. You did a fantastic job on your project at work-that means you can do it again. You had an amazing performance-that means you can trust you’re talented. Other people want you to succeed; now you just have to believe them when they show you you’re worthy.

5. Practice WILL MAKE YOU MORE confident

The harder you practice, the luckier you get.
Gary Player (Golfer) 1964

Like anything else in life, your confidence will improve with practice. A great opportunity to do this is when you meet new people. Just like if you were the new kid in school, they have no idea who you are—meaning you have an opportunity to show them. As you shake their hand, introduce yourself, and listen to them speak, watch your internal monologue. If you start doubting yourself in your head, replace your thoughts with more confident ones. Ask yourself what a confident person would do, and then try to emulate that. Watch your posture and your tone. Hunching and mumbling will make you feel and look less confident, so stand up and speak slowly and clearly. People are more apt to see you how you want to be seen if they suspect you see yourself that way.

You may have confidence in some areas and not in others; that’s how it works for most of us. Draw from those areas where you’re self-assured. Above all, remember you are talented and have real ability regardless of what mistakes you think you may have made. Start by acknowledging it and it is the first step to believing it in your heart; believing it is the key to living it. Living it is the key to reaching your potential.

Visit amazon for a selection of Diane Shawe Mindfeed books https://www.amazon.co.uk/Diane-Shawe/e/B0052WG8V6

 

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The Currency of Digital Learning

Posted on June 10, 2013 | 3 comments
Using technology for life long learning

Using technology for life long learning

How do we digitally learn?  How do you learn effectively in a workshop? What is the currency of digital learning?

By Tim T Dingle BSc (Hons) MIBiol PGCE MBA

Chief Development Officer at  the Academy of Vocational and Professional Training.

When you want to acquire a new skill or apply some new knowledge, do you learn by passively sitting and listening to an expert lecture for 90 minutes without a break and 150 Power point slides? What do you actually retain that enhances the value and the currency of your learning. The currency is defined  as something of value, or something that represents value: knowledge, gold, respect, or social media following, all represent different kinds of currency. In 2013 it could be that the currencies in digital and workshop learning are changing.

Learning is evolving and not simply by the tools that actuate it. The process of adopting new learning domains and materials (many digital) has exposed the need for new skills. It is debatable whether or not such skills need to be expressly taught, or if they’re simply the residue of intense, well-designed learning experiences. Whether or not they are old learning (content) with a new coat of paint, or genuinely represent a paradigm shift in learning priorities, it is difficult to doubt their constant application in a 21st century world that is super fast connected, digital, omni-social and multi-faceted.

No longer is it considered sufficient to teach children to simply read and write, and fill in the middle with discrete facts about history, mathematics, and scientific processes. There are new skills that transcend content areas, in this way functioning as natural pathways out of old thinking: creativity, problem-solving and collaboration. One can problem-solve across and within topics formerly thought of as science and history and moving between them both moves them beyond academia, and back to the real world. This is possible because flexible cognitive and creative capacities are not rigid.

The brain science literature suggests that workshop learners understand and remember more when they talk about what they are learning.  However, there are some people who attend workshop and training seem to have information wash over them and are uncomfortable with talking or moving.   So, to get improved retention and learning in both digital and workshops:

1.  Do something physical when you learn: incorporate some sort of movement or body activity every 20 minutes, on line or face-to-face.

2.   Walk and talk, walk and learn: I do this a lot in half-day or full-day trainings.   Participants might do an exercise, but the results are on the wall for a debrief. Using a tablet for true learning as you move.

3.  Flip Chart Products: This is where participants will write specific responses on labelled charts on the wall at designated times.    It can be an answer to a question, a question learners still have, a summary statement, an opinion about the content, facts they want to remember, or how they plan to use the content.  Then stick it on the wall. It works with digital media as well- plaster the wall with paper!

With the proper technologies and thoughtful new methodologies, courses can become content infinite. When the learning goals supersede the content areas, things begin to change. As the currencies in digital learning evolve, they necessarily evolve the learning with them.

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Are you tired of being everybody’s dartboard?

Posted on May 15, 2013 | 65 comments
dart-board main

Learn how to stop getting darts thrown at you everyday

So how do you stay calm, composed and maintain your self-esteem when everyone around you is fire fighting?

Article by Diane Shawe MEd

Here are six tips you may wish to consider as a starting point.

Imagine yourself standing around as a Dart Board.

Now take a look around and see who has most recently thrown their dart at you.  What would you actually do if you saw a dart coming towards you? Would you just stand there and take the hit, run for cover or protect yourself whilst your on the move? Without protection these dart will destroy your self-esteem and pull you down.  So which dart pins should you avoid?

Dart Pin 1: Negative Work Environment

Beware of “dog eat dog” theory where everyone else is fighting just to get ahead. This is where non-appreciative people usually thrive. No one will appreciate your contributions even if you miss lunch and dinner, and stay up late. Most of the time you get to work too much without getting help from people concerned.  Stay out of this, it will ruin your self-esteem. Competition is at stake anywhere. Be healthy enough to compete, but in a healthy competition that is.

Dart Pin 2: Other People’s Behaviour

Bulldozers, gossipmongers, whiners, backstabbers, snipers, people walking wounded, controllers, naggers, complainers, exploders, patronisers, jealousy… all these kinds of people will pose bad vibes for your self-esteem, as well as to your self-improvement scheme.

Dart Pin 3: Stale or Stagnant Environment

You can’t be a green bug on a brown field. Changes challenge our paradigms. It tests our flexibility, adaptability and alters the way we think. Change can either inspire, motivate or be stressful when we resist but, only for a while. It is said that a change is as good as a rest, it will help you find ways to improve your self.  The world has changed right in front of our eyes, we must be susceptible to it.

Dart Pin 4: Past Experience

It’s okay to cry and say “ouch!” when we experience pain. But don’t let pain transform itself into fear, spite or vengeance. It might grab you by the tail and swing you around. Treat each painful experience, failure and mistake as a lesson. Stop and reflect and see what message you have been given or taught.  Decide how you can best use that experience to help you grow.

Dart Pin 5: Negative Biosphere

Look at what you’re looking at, absorbing and ingesting daily. Self-reflection.  Don’t wrap yourself up with all the negativeness of the world. In building self-esteem, you must learn how to make the best out of most situations.  How to separate who and what you are and how to repair and protect your self-esteem.  If you cut yourself, you would normally seek to clean the wound, cover it with a plaster until it heals, check it and then when it is much better remove the plaster.  If it’s a serious cut you would normally seek professional help.  Seek out the tools that can help lift you out of a negative mind set.

Dart Pin 6: Fait accompli

It’s not always your fault.  It does not always happen to you.  The way you are and your behavioral traits is said to be a mixture of your inherited traits (genetics), your upbringing (learnt), and your environmental surroundings such as your family, spouse, your job, the economy or your circle of friends. You have your own identity. If your father was a failure, it doesn’t mean you have to believe that your going to be a failure too. Learn from other people’s experience, so you can avoid or recognise mistakes and old patterns in advance.

In life, it’s hard to stay tough or unscathed especially when things and people around you keep pulling you down. Constantly firefighting without the right tools means you could continuously become burnt out.

There are three tools you need to keep polished:

lady with cup of tea

Nothing like a good dose of positive attitude

a) Your attitude,

b) Your behaviour

c) Your way of thinking.

Building self-esteem means we take responsibility for who we are, what we have and what we do. We become clear about our mission, values  all of which aids self-discipline.  You can start right away by thinking more positively, look for more things to be appreciative about and never miss an opportunity to compliment either yourself or others.

Building your self-esteem is essential for confidence and success and it all begins with you. Of all the judgments you make in life, none is as important as the one you make about yourself. Without some measure of self-worth life can be enormously painful. If you want to discover some simple techniques that will dramatically change how you feel about yourself such as how to recognise the importance of learning self-acceptance and nurturing your sense of self, take a look at our On Demand Course Directory and how you can start your own Private Tutors Business or create your own Directory. Click here for more information.

How to create a digital on demand course library

 

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Is Mobile Technology re-wiring the brains of our Children?

Posted on May 7, 2013 | 1 comment

Overload or Growth?

Overload or Growth?

Or is there hope in a BRAIN project funded by the President of the USA?

Well you do hear people say that mobile technology and smart tech is rewiring their brains brain, making a new breed of digital natives and even brain washing our children. The facts are that they will spend 11.5 hours a day using smart technology; whether that’s computers, tablets, television, mobile phones, or video games (and in my experience usually more than one at a time). That is a big chunk of their 15 or 16 waking hours. The media tend to exploit these facts and combine them with pseudo-science with outlandish claims of ‘brain rewiring’ and potential harm. I have heard this uttered in alarm, (usually by those concerned that children’s ability to learn and pay attention) and stated as a ‘good thing’ by others, convinced that a generation of digital natives has developed incredible powers of absorbing and applying information.

Indeed 4 years ago President Obama officially announced in 2013 that 100 million dollars in funding for arguably the most ambitious neuroscience initiative ever proposed. The project has the catchy name of Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neuro-technologies, or BRAIN, and aims to reconstruct the activity of every single neuron as they fire simultaneously in different brain circuits, or perhaps even whole brains. If you have seen Iron Man 3 there is marvellous moment when the evil Aldrich Killian (played by Guy Pearce) shows the beautiful Gwyneth Paltrow inside his brain in real time; a must see moment. The next great project, as Obama called it, could help neuroscientists understand the origins of cognition, perception, and other brain activities, which may lead to new, more effective treatments for conditions like autism or mood disorders and could help veterans suffering from brain injuries. It also might just help people realise why they need to choose a great course and real focus.

neuroscience and nerve system neuroscience brainSo what are facts about neuroscience and mobile smart technology? Can we learn effectively using smart devices? Well, when our minds are engaged in a simple or complex task, the information relevant to that task is held in our STM or short-term memory. According to the late but great psychologist, George Miller, this mental holding space can only contain four to seven pieces of information at a time. To be retained it needs to be transferred to the LTM (long term memory). We can only move information from short-term to long-term memory using our attention; we have to be paying attention to, and thinking about, a fact or a concept in order for it to be encoded in memory.

To encode properly you need to eliminate distractions, which are often caused by multitasking events. Young people report frequent media multitasking (texting, emailing, surfing the web, Twitter and Facebook) while also doing homework. Their belief is they can do it effectively, but research shows otherwise. In fact, research demonstrates that individuals who multitask the most are actually the worst at it. Whether we’re learning with a tablet, smart device or a book, it’s best to give it our best attention.

The rapid evolution of mobile technology has placed quite a burden on our concentration. The day is constantly being challenged by external sources. Even the most pressing of matters can be interrupted at any moment by a familiar buzzing in the pocket. This gives a friendly nudge to pay attention that the brain responds to and many find virtually impossible to resist; alarmingly even while driving. These all too frequent interruptions, coupled with growing expectations for immediate responses (emails responded to at 2am), will challenge our cognitive control system at its very core.

The cognitive control system is our ability to focus on accomplishing a task in the context of competing demands. You might want to look at a course that explains this in more depth. This special ability is what has allowed humans to achieve remarkable achievements, from developing languages and building complex societies.

It doesn’t matter that we think children are growing up digital natives and somehow addicted to technology. It simply doesn’t change how we come to understand new information. Basic understanding happens when we process new information in terms of its meaning, rather than its surface features. Understanding happens when we connect new information to what we know already.

It seems that the competing noise and multitasking distractions, will have a more significant negative impact for those with undeveloped or impaired focus and cognitive control. Those that easily lose focus such as children and us older adults, or in the presence of neurological or psychiatric conditions like ADHD or Alzheimer’s disease. There is no doubt that we have to be careful about the influence of unending data streams of interference on our minds. We need to make more informed decisions about how best to interact with the technologies around learners and how we use the technology positively every day. Perhaps the BRAIN project will guide us on new ways being effective learners.

The lesson seems to be that when we are engaged in something that requires high quality attention (like one of our excellent express courses in critical thinking we should conduct ourselves in a manner that is most appropriate for how our brains function: in the absolute focus mode.
So it seems that despite all the real concerns, technology is not rewiring young people’s brains or brain washing them. Indeed mobile smart technology must and can be harnessed to improve our minds. This will come as a relief to some and a disappointment to others. This new brain research will shed light on our understanding, our attention and focus systems and better memory that can now be applied to a new generation of humans, not so different from the ones who came before.

Mindfeed ebooks by Diane Shawe

Get a copy of Diane Shawe book from Amazon

 

 Shawe’s eBooks are available on Amazon right now at: https://www.amazon.com/Diane-Shawe/e/B0052WG8V6

About the Author

Diane Shawe is an author, speaker, trainer, mentor, consultant and entrepreneur with more than 15 years of experience. She has personally trained over 2800 people around the world in a variety of fields and has published a number of works. She has contributed to over 100 Kiva Entrepreneur’s around the world.

She was also one of the producers of a Day time Ladies Talk Show in 2015 and Host of one of the UK’s best loved Annual Hair Extensions Awards.

Diane also enjoys oil painting, sailing and clay pigeon shooting. She focuses on topics that she is passionate about in her writing and has attracted over 36,000 followers on her popular blog.

Media Contact
Company Name: AVPT Short Courses & Hair Extension Training Academy
Contact Person: Diane Shawe MEd
Email: Send Email
Phone: +44 208 1333120
City: London
Country: United Kingdom
Website: http://www.academyexpresscourses.com

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Posted in accreditation, apps, body language, educational apps, eLearning, free courses, ipad, isend, Management, micro Learning, mLearning, mobile phone broadcasting, mobile phone communications, nokia vodaphone O2, non verbal language, online colleges, online courses, online teaching, online universities, Smartphones, starting a business, training courses, Uncategorized, virtual tutor faciliator, Wireless Intelligence

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TOP 10 HAIR EXTENSIONS TECHNIQUES FOR 2013

Posted on May 5, 2013 | 13 comments

Hair extension advert avptglobal small 2013

 

Why setting up a hair extension business or service in your salon could be profitable

Article written by Diane Shawe M.Ed

We have seen the hair extension market grow over the past 15 years, now there are more hair extension techniques than ever before and it can be confusing to decide which is the right one for you to either apply to your own hair or become a qualified technician.

If you are thinking of becoming a qualified technician, it is important to consider how potential clients might make their decision.  Some people will make a decision based on price, others on their hair type and some based on what they need to achieve. Click to see our training school video

Here are just a few tips to help with your decision making process.

1. Wigs:  Wigs are a quick and easy way to give yourself a quick makeover.  What you need to bear in mind is that the cheaper the wig the more un-natural it will look.  You don’t need to spend a lot of money but it is worth investing in a wig that you can use from time to time.  Client will pay between £120 – £300 for a good quality wig which could last for up to 12 months.

2. Hair Pieces: There are lots of different hair pieces from pony tails to rear hair attachments in all different shades, curly, straight or plaits. There are also specialist hair pieces for thinning hair that can help disguise any problems.  The thing to bear in mind is that hair pieces are not often very secure and could make you feel a little uncomfortable.  Some of the ponytail pieces can be securely fixed, so if you want a demure look go for a ponytail.

popular integrated weave

See what one of our students said about her 2 day course

3. Integrated Weaves: This is when wefts of hair is sewn onto a fine cornrow which is then hide by the bulk of your hair on top.  It is a popular technique because if done correctly it can look very natural and offer up a robust and secure hair enhancement solution.  If you look after the hair you can reuse it when you go back to have it re tightened. Clients could pay between £190 – £330 for the integrated weave.

4. Pre-tips: This is small pieces of hair that have been pre bonded together.  They can be added in sections all over the head to aid thickening, give the impression of highlights or lowlight and length.  Pre-tips can be applied using heat, micro rings or even small elastic bands.  Be aware that they have to be professionally removed so as not to damage your own hair.

5. Strand by Strand (glue gun): This is when hot bond is used to bond small sections of hair to the recipients own hair.  It was a very popular technique in 6 years ago, but requires professional application and removal by a qualified technician.  Can give the appearance of flyaway hair that you could somewhat run your fingers through.  It is a very time consuming technique and is much better for a long term wear over 3-4 months.

6) Clip in hair extensions: These are now very popular.  They are best used for lengthening mid should length hair.  If the hair is shorter they don’t sit very well because they can be a little bulky in appearance.  They don’t offer up much security unless they have been professionally fitted.  This is when a very small cornrow is done and the clips are slipped through for much added security.  Great for an evening occasion but not advisable for long term wear.  click to read more

20121208_180137

net weave for a seamless look

7) Net Weave:  This technique is used when the client wants to partially extend just a section of their hair or if the client suffers from patchy alopecia.  This technique is suitable for 2-4 months wear.

8) Hook and Latch: This technique does not use any glues or threads. It is a beautiful technique, flat to the touch and hair could be worn up.  It works well with shorter hair especially the Micro ring track technique.

9) Lace Wigs: Lace wigs have become very popular. They are really good for girls with short thin hair, damaged hair, hair that needs a rest or a complete makeover.  Top celebrities have made them really popular and you can see why from the video testimonial below. See Radio TV presenters new lace wig

alopeciaconsultant

Hair2Skin is also popular for hair loss.

10) Braides and Plaits: Braides and Plaits have been around for hundreds of years.  A technique that can look very simple or quite exotic.  Braids can be worn for a number of months until the hair grows out, they can even have beads added to the end for that extra special look.

Hair Loss Specialists
Clients also suffer from thinning hair can be helped, click here to hear what one client had to say.

As we see an aging population, people are becoming more confident about getting help to resolve short term or long term hair problems.
HAIR EXTENSION TRAINERS
There is s shortage of qualified hair extension trainers in the UK. Visit this link to find out more and how you can become qualified.

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Diane Shawe speaks at Business Startup on the 6th & 7th June 2013

Posted on May 2, 2013 | 9 comments

business startup show 2013

Welcome to AVPT Global! We will be exhibiting at the Business startup show on the 6th & 7th |June 2013. We will be showing you some of our popular courses, how to turn your mobile device into a learning and teaching tool and how to create a new career doing this.  We get people qualified in days, not years, through our soft skills training courses, which are globally accredited through IAO and are available online or in workshops. All online courses are supported with a personal tutor!

free ticketVisit us on stand 330

business startup show 2013 dIANE sHAWE

Text ‘EARNINGS’ to  0793 798 5077 to get a £100 voucher? Click the Banner!

Diane Shawe M.Ed MIoD IEBE

Hear Diane speak on How to use your mobile phone to learn and earn.

Diane previously spent six years working for the Department of Trade and Industry working with bodies that award funding to business start-ups. In this presentation she will share six ways to raise finance for your company without resorting to banks – important guidance in this period of economic constraint.

About Diane Shawe M.Ed MIoD IEBE

As the CEO of AVPT Global, which provides online fast-track training courses, Ms. Shawe utilises her expertise in education and business administration to oversee individual, one-on-one, group and corporate training. In addition, she ensures that staff members are reporting and achieving and that the business is meeting its target of student recruitment. Ms. Shawe also manages the quality of training, company finances and front-end marketing, while also maintaining the business profile. She has been in the educational field for the last 15 years and has successfully led her company for the past five.

Find out how Diane’s company has created the next best online career!

In addition to handling her day-to-day responsibilities with flair, Ms. Shawe has published several books, including: “How to Cyber Kiss your Business to Success,” and “100 Ways to Generate Quick Emergency Cash.” She believes that people should try to integrate the following practice into their daily lives: “never do anything as though you are a professional amateur.”

Her next publication is due out in June title ‘The digital face of Education’

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Understanding the Language of Training

Posted on April 29, 2013 | 3 comments

questionmarkI know what your thinking…

article written by Tim Dingle MBA
Chief Development Officer  AVPTGLOBAL

Training is about to undergo a revolution and the understanding of body language will be crucial for those undertaking training. Speaking at a conference in Birmingham last year, a leading HR director observed that there was nothing as important as understanding the language of business.  That must mean the non-verbal as much as the verbal expressed language.  Non-verbal communication is commonly known as body language and I spent a lot of time studying the basis of this and its importance in training and interviews. So the question is can it be read and used by individuals, managers and directors- or indeed in their wider professional or social lives?

Body language is a broad term for forms of communication using dress, body movements or gestures instead of, or in addition to, sounds, verbal language, or other forms of communication.  It is part of the category of paralanguage, which describes all forms of human communication that are not verbal language.  This includes the most subtle of movements that many people are not aware of, including, for example, a discreet smile or a slight movement of the eyebrows. Such messages can be communicated instantly and silently through gesture; body movement or posture, facial expression and eye gaze.

Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle would not have recognised it, but just watching an accomplished politician, actor, or shopping channel salesperson can give you some insight into the power of gestures or facial inference.  Such gestures can add to the stagecraft, amplify the message and can provide surprisingly magnetic assurance about what you are being told.   Have a look at the courses we offer at The Academy of Vocational and Professional Training.

Can the use of these non-verbal signatures be imported into the business, training and HR arena?  It can be a risky strategy to attempt to read and rely upon body language signatures without some training and practice. Should individuals be aware of the power of non-verbal communication and seek to harness this aspect in negotiation? If our desire, as individuals in business, training or HR, is to produce our optimum performance then we should employ all of the communication and interpersonal skills with which we individually have been gifted.

We may well consider investing our time to improve our oral questioning and language skills, but very few individuals seem to give much thought to developing the skill of both reading and transmitting non-verbal clues. We can help! Developing those reading skills would be much easier if all our clients were between three and nine years of age – this is rare of course, even if sometimes a negotiation has something of a playground quality about them.  Children wear their emotions on their sleeves and are, except perhaps to other children or their doting grandparents, pretty easy to read.

Mobile Learning, Mobile Earning

Mobile Learning, Mobile Earning

Tightly crossed arms, a screwed-up face and a stamped foot quickly clues you into the internal voice of the child, even if their response to the question, “Are you OK” is “Yes”. A parent’s sixth sense is often nothing more than a demonstration of the superior body language reading skills that child carer’s, of necessity, have learned to develop.  The older we grow the more we learn how to mask our true feelings, which unconsciously includes the toning-down of our body language as well.  Whilst we can try and make our non-verbal communication less obvious, very few people can completely mask it.

HR directors, business people and individuals, might want to learn to look for those more subtle, but tell-tale, signs of stress, hope, agreement, confidence, resistance, and fear in the body language of the clients, and indeed their own clients.  Picking up on these signs could allow us to make progress in a situation of stale-mate and could save a negotiation that is about to crash.  These skills can allow us to zero-in our questioning, to know when a private meeting or a break is essential, and to see the evident bridges and agreements, even when the other side have yet to verbalise them.  How too are we at listening to clients, staff and business partners when they speak to us?  Are we fully engaged with them, having turned our chair, and thus our whole body towards the speaker, leaning forward and maintaining good eye contact?  If you want to be heard in your turn, you need to be seen to be listening.

People will usually only tell us what is really on their mind if they believe that we are really listening.  Do we really listen?  Taking notes whilst staring at out iPad or mobile phone as the person tells their story, does nothing to build confidence in us or the process.  Active listening skills such as reflecting back a summary of what has just been said by the speaker may just persuade, non verbally, a client to listen to you and thereby facilitate success. HR directors, managers and individuals should be encouraged, therefore, think about using their body language positively to enhance the oral skills that they already have, allowing them to maximise their potential as conflict resolution practitioners.

I know what you are thinking. You need to start training, now.   

Please review our VTF  Presentation and let us know if this is an opportunity for you.

Meet some of our current VTF’s: 

Invitation to our Free 2 hour introduction.

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Keep Taking the Tablets

Posted on April 2, 2013 | Leave a comment
Keep taking the tablets

Keep taking the tablets

-More Than 1 Billion Smart Devices Sold Last Year Changes Everything

article by: Tim T Dingle BSc (Hons) MIBiol PGCE MBA  CDO at AVPTGLOBAL

I can remember clearly (it was after all, only 3 years ago on April 3rd 2010) when Steve Jobs unveiled a unique consumer tablet with an unusual name. It had been one of his obsessions for years, even before the iPhone. Many people thought Apple would be better served by coming out with a netbook: you remember netbooks, don’t you?

According to the International Data Corporation[1], worldwide shipments of smart connected devices grew an amazing 29.1% year over year in 2012, crossing 1 billion units sold with a value of $576.9 billion. The market expansion was largely driven by 78.4% year-over-year growth in tablet shipments, which surpassed 128 million in 2012. Quite astonishing and I hope everyone had a great Christmas opening the tablets!

We all know that smart devices can deliver amazing functionality; from constant Internet and social media connection to brilliantly helpful apps. They are genuinely changing the way we operate as a society. The change is happening so rapidly and almost seamlessly that most of us probably don’t realise how much we use and rely on our smartphones and tablets.  How did the business world even operate without employees having constant access to their phones, email and the Internet? How did busy parents keep track of their schedules without a calendar that never leaves their side and actually reminds them of events?

apps galore!

apps galore!

If we pause to consider that now we can use apps to find the best meal when on the road, the nearest petrol station or to locate possible holdups on route. We don’t even have to watch TV or connect to an online news site to get instant national and local news. We can scan rail and plane tickets with our smart phones and check in with no paper for international flights. While smart devices are making everyday activities easier for consumers, some businesses are facing challenges to compete effectively. The challenge is being met by forward thinking companies like AVPT Global[2] who seek to use tablets and smart phone technology to be at the heart of online learning and push forward the rise of mLearning.

The iPad and other smart devices (including my brilliant Samsung Note 10.1) have had huge initial impact on access to information, business sales and social interaction. In fact the pioneering of this new category has in some ways been even more significant than the iPod and even the iPhone, because it has disrupted so many different device manufacturers. It has created a market opportunity for smart device manufacturers and created a challenge to other PC makers and even potentially influencing how we may watch television in the future. It has also extended digital content opportunities to make books and video on-the-go a more practical experience, ending the back breaking march of the child with books to school perhaps?

The iPad was the first device to successfully bridge the gap between the PC and smartphone for consumers. Since it landed in the first consumer’s hands more than 55 million iPads have been sold worldwide, used for watching (and streaming) movies, reading books, magazines and newspapers, Web surfing and playing games. Tablets are becoming familiar common coffee-table fixtures in households around the country. They’re also being stowed in the briefcases and bags of travellers, whether they’re going by car or by plane. And they’re increasingly carried by teachers, doctors, lawyers, real estate agents — a wide range of professionals who find they can do much of their work with a tablet. Put simply, the tablet has become the go-to PC substitute for a variety of activities.

A smarter way to study with www.avptglobal.com

A smarter way to study with http://www.avptglobal.com

People now leave their laptops behind more often, taking advantage of the tablet’s lighter weight, ubiquitous wifi (and 3G /4G) connectivity, its longer battery life and catalogue of useful applications. We are seeing some of the tasks traditionally performed on PCs and laptops, now being performed on the tablet. In fact, all five of the top activities (email, Web surfing, game-playing, social networking and online shopping) shifted towards the tablet in late 2011.

Many of these are activities we do on our smart phones, of course, but doing them on the tablet is not only more pleasurable visually, it leads to entirely new behaviours. Watching video (be it movies, TV or YouTube) is definitely one of the preferred uses of tablet owners who also have smartphones, as is Web surfing and email, according to new research from Nielsen. In a great piece of research called, “Tablets are for meals. Smartphones are for snacks,” Nielsen[3] shows how 10 per cent or less of smartphone owners opt to do those activities on their phones. Social networking (both Facebook and Twitter) is also better done on a tablet than smartphone, as is writing emails. Aside from making phone calls, the only activity right now where the smartphone beats the tablet is instant messaging. But even 18 per cent said they’re doing that on their tablets. It appears that mobile phones tend to be the gateway drug in emerging markets where consumers typically move on to a tablet.

The IDC report that grabbed the headlines last week (1.2 billion smart devices), goes on to say that it expects global smart connected device unit shipments to surpass 2.2 billion units by 2017. Consumers and business buyers are now starting to see smartphones, tablets, and PCs as a single continuum of connected devices separated primarily by screen size. Each of these devices is primarily used for data applications and different individuals choose different sets of screen sizes in order to fit their unique needs. These kinds of developments are creating exciting new opportunities that will continue to drive the smart connected devices market forward in a positive way. The first step on the long road to mLearning is just beginning and the potential for individuals and companies to grasp the opportunity is seen by only a few.

Taking the Tablets has never been so exciting.

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[2] The Academy of Vocational and Professional Training www.avptglobal.com

[3] Dan Lee, Director of Product, Digital Nielsen July 18th 2012

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Why 2013 is a bumper year to become a Soft Skills Trainer

Posted on March 26, 2013 | 6 comments

So why is 2013 going to be a different type of bumper year for training organisations or consultant who can help the unemployed individuals upgrade into a new skill that will help them generate their own income?

article by Diane Shawe M.Ed

Well usher in the new breed of Virtual Teachers! If your not up to speck with the new direction and growth in the market then you could really find yourself on the old fashion self by 2016! Make no mistake, becoming a trainer is all about running a business. Being up to date with the latest techniques, developments, trends and needs is just as essential if you decided to set up a coffee shop.Institutions of higher learning increasingly embrace on-line education, with 65.5 percent of chief academic officers now calling on-line education ‘critical’ to their institutions! long-term strategy, an opinion that’s risen more than 15% over eight years.

Like any business you still have to source new customers, gain glowing appraisals and testimonials, get your pricing right, court the right type of publicity and sustain credibility. Oh! and let’s not forget making a profit.

AVPTGLOBAL almost 400 courses all globally accredited

AVPTGLOBAL almost 400 courses all globally accredited

We all know it takes a certain kind of self belief and courage to set up any type of business in today’s climate. You could even make a claim based on sheer desperation, the need to do something to generate an income.

But it even takes more courage to leave your destiny in the hands of many of the businesses today, no matter what their global or brand status might be. Most people are now being spurred into self employment due to the levels of redundancies, job insecurities and the need to meet ongoing expenses.

Participants are more interested in the qualifications and or skills they will gain in the subject at hand, and the experience you have in doing jobs similar to theirs and your track record in ‘doing’ rather than ‘talking about’ the topic.

What is really important is your ability to engage with participants around this experience and help them to translate that into action. That is where the true value often lies for them. Of course we know that there are academic trainers and teacher courses which award accredited or private certificates.

Choosing the entrepreneurial route can bring great benefits, but there are also challenges.

What are some of the considerations before you decide to set up, invest or replicate another successful business model? To find out more about the various considerations, visit http://www.academy-of-vocational-and-professional-training.com/index.php…

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