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How can employers help keep their work force healthy so as to avoid high healthcare costs?

Posted on April 15, 2014 | Leave a comment

5-natural-ingredients-for-preventing-lung-disease-expresstrainingcourses.co.ukWhether you’re talking about asthma, cancer, COPD, or even rare conditions, lung disease is on the rise.

The experts are calling lung disease a “time bomb waiting to explode.”

sourced: by Diane Shawe from the  Institute for natural healing

Whether you are creating a workplace wellness program from scratch, or enhancing what you already have, you’re already on the right track! With increasing costs of health care, a shrinking workforce, and aging workers, a savvy workplace understands the value in supporting workers to improve their conditioning and to live a fitter lifestyle.

For instance you could help by engaging with your workforce through your company blog by blogging about five natural ingredients to keep their lungs young and healthy as follows:

1. Milk Thistle: You might already know that it has the power to help your liver regenerate its cells. But milk thistle contains silymarin. It’s a compound that flushes toxins out of your liver. It also helps prevent lung cancer from forming and spreading.

Milk thistle also contains silibinin. Like silymarin, it protects you from lung cancer. But even better. These cancer cells spread quickly to other organs in your body. And they can become drug resistant. Silibinin doesn’t only reverse drug resistance in these cells… It causes natural cell death in cancerous lung tumors.2 You can find milk thistle extract pills in health stores and online. Organic milk thistle tea is another option.

2. Fiber: Oddly enough, fiber is critical to your lung health. It may help relieve symptoms of–and even prevent—asthma.

A high-fiber diet changes the makeup of your gut bacteria. The good bacteria feed on fiber. When you keep these bacteria well-fed, they produce short-chain fatty acids. These fatty acids reduce inflammation and irritation in the lungs. But don’t add grains to your diet for more fiber. They actually increase the amount of inflammation in your body—including your lungs. Instead, eat more organic artichokes, peas, raspberries, and blackberries.

3. Ginger: It’s full of antioxidant power. But two of these antioxidants in particular protect your lungs against inflammation and damage. Gingerols help clear your lungs by reducing the amount of mucous they produce.3 And 6-shagaol, the compound that gives ginger its flavor, stops bronchial tubes from tightening.4 This keeps airflow open and easy.

Ginger can be pretty intense if you aren’t used to it. Add it to your diet slowly if you don’t eat it on a regular basis. When it comes to ginger, fresh is always better. Cutting up some fresh ginger and adding it to a meal gives you antioxidant power and extra flavor. You can also juice with it or use it to brew your own tea to help soothe your lungs when you have a cough.

4. Broccoli Sprouts: Broccoli sprouts are rich in vitamins A, K, and C. But they also contain sulforaphane. It’s a compound that helps you fight the inflammation that causes asthma. One study found that it helped restore defective white blood cells in the lungs. More white blood cells mean less bacteria and inflammation.5

Broccoli sprouts have about 50 times more sulforaphane than regular broccoli. But you may not be able to find them at your grocery store. If that’s the case, look at your local farmer’s market. Or you could grow them yourself. Try them steamed or throw them raw into a salad. For convenience, you can also find broccoli sprout extract as a supplement online.

5. Bromelain: It’s an enzyme used to reduce inflammation of the sinuses after surgery. But it’s also a natural way to treat pulmonary edema.6 This condition prevents the fluid from draining out of your lungs. The result? Shortness of breath. If left untreated, it can cause deadly infections. One study found that bromelain reduces the amount of inflammatory neutrophils in the lung by up to 85 percent.7

The best way to start getting more bromelain in your diet is by eating fresh pineapple.8 And lots of it. Most of the bromelain in a pineapple is in the stem. Or you can supplement.

Pollution and secondhand smoke aren’t the only things that can irritate your lungs. Inflammation is a major factor in the development of most lung disease. Lowering it will help ensure that your lungs are working at their best. Using these five natural solutions will help keep you free of disease—and breathing a little easier.

So you can see the benefits of preparing a workplace wellness program.

Creating a Workplace Wellness Program

Whether you are creating a workplace wellness program from scratch, or enhancing what you already have, you’re already on the right track! With increasing costs of health care, a shrinking workforce, and aging workers, a savvy workplace understands the value in supporting workers to improve their conditioning and to live a fitter lifestyle. We have a  two-day course includes all aspects of designing or upgrading a workplace program, from concept through implementation, to review.

AVPT’s two-day workshop will help you  to:

o   Describe the necessity of workplace wellness programs
o   Create program elements that reflect the needs of employees and the objectives of the organisation
o   Select program elements that fit the context of current operations
o   Establish implementation and evaluation strategies

Getting you qualified in days not years!

Getting you qualified in days not years!

 

 

 

 

 

 

other article you might be interested in : Dangers of Hypertension to Founder owners of SME.

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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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Revision? Forget it

Posted on February 11, 2013 | Leave a comment

How to Massively Improve Your Chance of Success, Now!

Become a VTF with AVPTGlobal

Become a VTF with AVPTGlobal

article by Tim T Dingle BSc (Hons) MIBiol PGCE MBA, Chief Development Officer at the Academy of Vocational and Professional Training (AVPTglobal)

I sometimes wonder what an alien might think if they were monitoring our schools, downloading training course and looking at how students try to learn.  They would be forgiven for thinking that they have been artfully designed to train students in the art of forgetting. Throughout the time you take most conventional courses (excepting, of course, the cutting edge ones at AVPT  www.avptglobal.com) it may seem that you spend your time ‘learning’ and ‘revising’ for tests. What then follows is extraordinary; we forget that information within weeks.

This pattern seems continue throughout schools, professional training cycles and college courses. This heroic shuffling in and out of knowledge from our cerebral hemispheres seems to be a constant cycle. Then students are tasked, days before a crucial exam, with relearning everything that they have managed to forget over the course of the year. This is the classic ‘summative assessment’ situation with a history of failure in so many cultures.  This often takes almost as much time as if we were doing it from scratch. It seems that the UK Education Minister, Michael Gove is known to be an admirer of this system.

The reason that forgetting is so common in traditional learning cycles is that the way we are taught to encode and recall memories, causes fading over time. Those memories that can be recalled are the one that get repeated and are strengthened. They are prepared for the long term and placed within the Long Term Memory System (LTM). This is important because (from an evolutionary point of view) repetition correlates with importance. Meaningful or important things tend to happen again; random things tend not to.

One of the problems with most learning systems lies in a distinction between two ways to go about this repetition.  It can be separated into ‘spaced learning’ (SL) and ‘massed learning’ (ML). Massed leaning is sometimes called cramming. You may remember those long sessions; students love them and believe the longer they stare at their notes /books, the more it is effective. The spaced repetition method is where the repetitions are spaced out over a period of time. The best analogy is to think of memories as plants in the garden of your memory; then think of repetition as watering with your watering can.

The ML system is like watering a plant by emptying the whole watering can all at once; then failing to do so for months.  The mechanism for SL Learning is to imagine watering the plant once a week in measured amounts from the can, over a period of months. This regularity, combined with a systematic  approach and by using a ‘chunked up’ seems to be crucial to success; an approach that, we believe at AVPT, is how all online learning must develop. The long term effect of these totally different techniques of watering (but the same total volume of water) results in two very different plants (one is probably dead).

Now imagine something else that can radically improve memory and success. Incredible as it seems the greatest advances in improving our chances of success can be had for free, right now. I’m talking about improving your brain from the outside in. If you take it seriously it can and will lead to faster and more accurate decision-making. It will yield greater productivity and inspire innovation. If you want to be mercenary about it, it’s the kind of smart that starts making money.

All you need to ‘invest’ is approximately 30 minutes a day.  And maybe a decent pair of trainers. Over the last 30 years I have seen many articles describing how aerobic exercise is beneficial to health. There is no doubt there is a lot of truth in what has been written.  Improving oxygen distribution in the body… reducing the chances of heart disease… losing extra pounds… exercise has many benefits. But cardiovascular exercise goes way beyond reducing blood pressure and cholesterol.  Current research shows that exercise can alter the very structure of the nerve cells in the brain. You could read the evidence in (fairly dull) scientific papers, of which over 1000 have been produced in the last 12 months.

There are many people like me who recognise the impact that cardiovascular exercise has had on their career and every aspect of their life. It may surprise you that there is a growing cohort of business people and entrepreneurs who credit exercise not as just a component of their successful lives, but as the biological catalyst in all of their achievements.

In very basic terms, our brains function due to groups of chemicals ‘jumping’ between the neurons (nerves) within.  My research indicates that BDNF – Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor – is one of the most significant of these chemicals. BDNF is a protein that is controlled by the BDNF gene in our DNA.  BDNF acts on brain cells by encouraging the growth and differentiation (dividing and deciding what they want to be) of new neurons and synapses.  The neurons start growing new connections on their branch- like ends (called dendrites). The more dendrites that grow, the more connections are made.  The more connections you have in your brain, the greater your capacity to think: using another plant analogy, BDNF is a ‘miracle grow’ for your brain cells.

It works in the areas of the brain vital to learning, memory, and higher thinking.  BDNF itself is important for long-term memory.  Which is why it makes you smarter. So, exercise increases BDNF – great!  But… when you are stressed, you release the hormone corticosterone.  This has been shown to decrease the amount of BDNF!

In other words, being stressed makes you less smart and less able to make good decisions.If your exposure to stress is persistent, this can cause an area of the brain called the hippocampus to actively shrink.  This has been shown to take place in humans suffering from chronic depression. The secret of creating change within the brain that can boost your intelligence, memory and decision making qualities (as well as relieving depression) is

The optimal amount seems to be 30 minutes of aerobic activity a day.  Running, swimming, active walking – they’re all good as long as you do them regularly. I’m always interested in finding new ways to learn better and faster. I am a busy and driven individual.  I try to read one book every day on top of a full time business career.  The amount of time I have available to spend learning new things is limited.  It’s important to get as much educational value out of my time as possible, so retention, recall and transfer are critical.

I need to be able to accurately remember the information I learn, recall it at a later time and utilise it effectively in a wide variety of situations. One sure-fire way to become a more effective learner is to learn new things and keep practicing them. The Science backs this up.  A 2004 article in the journal Nature[1] reported that people who learned how to juggle increased the amount of grey matter in their occipital lobes, the area of the brain associated with visual memory.When these individuals stopped practicing their new skill, this grey matter vanished.

So if you’re learning a new language, it is important to keep practicing the language in order to maintain the gains you have achieved. This ‘use-it-or-lose-it’ phenomenon involves a brain process known as pruning. Certain pathways in the brain are maintained, whilst others are eliminated.  If you want the new information you have just learned to stay put, keep practicing and rehearsing it.

One of the key secrets of memory is how brain cells connect without actually touching.  The gaps are called synapses – remember those chemicals that ‘jump’ across the gaps?  Circuits are formed that retain memory, but they disappear if they are not used over and over again.

So go juggle right now!

http://www.avptglobal.com

[1] Draganski, B., Gaser, C., Busch, V., & Schuierer, G. (2004). Neuroplasticity: Changes in grey matter induced by training. Nature, 427(22), 311-312.

 

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The ‘Multi-Generational’ workforce and m-learning

Posted on July 31, 2012 | Leave a comment

article by Diane Shawe BBA., M.Ed IEEE  CEO Academy of Vocational and Professional Training Ltd

Social Media, New media and e-Networking, whatever we want to call it,  has certainly changed more than the way we work, the way we share and consume knowledge and even complain. The context in which we work is faster and faster, and result can almost happen in real time around the world.

Well they have come up with yet another gadgetry word, wait for it…  The workforce of the 21st century is now being referred to as the  ‘Multi-Generational Workforce’ because it consist of a mixture of baby boomer’s and generation Y.

Generation Y differs from the baby boomer’s because they were brought up in the digital era. They are familiar with the internet and social media and easily post a question into their on-line network and receive all types of answers in seconds!

With this in mind, we see a lot of the old ‘Tanker’ type organisations refusing to initiate, release, set free the use of this new powerful media throughout there organisation because of speculative fear mongering proposed by their IT departments!  I guess these guys need to safeguard their jobs!  I know the truth hurts.  They say a tanker takes a much longer time to turn than a speed boat.  Look at the graveyard of large tanker companies who just did not heed the writing on the wall.

This unstoppable social media era has taken a few large employees by surprise because smaller leaner business have taken the reins by freeing and empowering all their staff to become ambassador’s for their company  enabling not one but many to respond to change and  guarantee online responsive service and  quality to the every fast moving consumer who can complain in nano seconds around the world!

The investment of continuous education (lifelong learning) of any work force is imperative. With more and more titanic type organisations downsizing, multi skilling the remaining staff efficiently is a no brainer!

Research of Harvard shows that in 1986 when the first baby boomer’s started to work they had to rely for 75% on their own knowledge. The other 25% came from sources such as manuals. In 2009 people were relying on only 10% on their own knowledge and on 90% on information from third party sources such as social networks. New media did not merely change the way we work but primarily the way we share knowledge and learn. Therefore, companies need to make sure their workforce knows how to navigate the vast online environment.

In this sense, m-Learning is more than just a cost saving method but a strategic tool to avoid damaging the company’s reputation and to project a positive brand image.

Social Media and employees
One single negative post or tweet of an employee can have a devastating effect on the image of an organisation. For this reason, many organisations have implemented policies which offer support and guidance on the usage of social media. This empowers employees to use social media when necessary while still avoiding the pitfalls that can generate negative PR fallouts. But merely setting up these policies will cut short of these goals. That is why, increasingly, organizations use m-learning to communicate these guidelines and rules in an interesting and interactive manner. There is another major advantage to use m-Learning versus traditional training methods: the costs. Academy of vocational and Professional Training can assist any company deliver to their entire workforce  courses that are significant in  a scalable way. m-learning provides a solution which can be accessed from the desktop, iPad, Tablet, notebook or smartphone at any time and be kept up to date in real time with changes.

mobile-learning
m-Learning is increasingly used for specific training purposes, such as communicating the social media guidelines, but it can also play a major role in the broader development and training of personnel. One of the key characteristics of well-designed m-learning solutions, is that they create a space where workers can be active and inquisitive in their learning.

What’s next?
On the modern work floor we encounter a mix of various generation groups. In the year 2012 knowledge is not the ultimate goal, because knowledge is just a few mouse clicks away. It is about how one is able to apply this knowledge and provide an added value. There are several ways to make learning more interesting for both young and mature workers. Simulations, e-coaching and online peer-to-peer learning can help bring together the generation gap. Below we provide some ideas on how we can help to accelerate learning within the organisation:

1. Keep it simple.
By adding a variety of  layers, a blended learning approach meets the various learning styles with tool that are relevant and challenging for each employee. Keeping it light by a combining video, images and text without eating too much data.  Encourage employees to share experiences and let them contribute to the improvement of m-learning, so that they experience blending learning as one coherent experience.

2. Work with real-life cases
Real-life cases are recognisable and will therefore be motivating. Employees should be encouraged to collaborate and share knowledge and ideas. This can be reached by integrating a familiar environment. Many employees love to learn if this will assist them to execute their daily work.

3. Mirror reality
Learning is most effective when simulations are as closely related to reality as possible. We know that Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn are the new game shifters in online communications and could be used most effectively in a controlled environement. Competitions or games could help challenge and stimulated the employee to make certain choices or come up with ideas. Be recognised and awarded. These are the most concrete experiences one can gain.

4. Make progress visible
People must be motivated to continue to learn. It is important that one can measure their progress in adopting new ideas, knowledge and behavioural changes. By acknowledging progress, the incentive to continue grows. By creating a competition element, one adds value. The employee can measure the success of the decisions made when they lead to a comparable and competitive result.

In many organisations, there is much to improve in terms of development and training. Sometimes employers forget that the whole organisation could suffer from economic and emotional depression, especially whey no energy is put into real motivation or stimulation.

While everyone knows that knowledge, development and involvement can make all the difference for a company to increase performance. Introducing an m-learning tool to reflect and inspire a higher order of thinking skills which incorporate communications, could reinforce each and every member of staff throughout an organisation.  After all it is not the size of the dog, but the fight in the dog that will set the new trendsetters apart. So  Let’s get to work! Let’s help your organisation stimulate on a scalable and cost effect way with our no nonsense approach to m-learning, courses and certificates that count globally.

For more information about our services visit www.academy-of-vocational-and-professional-training.com or call us on 0203 551 2621 to discuss our bespoke or white labelling services.

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The kind of Leaders people want to follow by Diane Shawe

Posted on July 2, 2012 | 2 comments

Get the skills you need to lead today

article by Diane Shawe M.Ed

Leadership can possibly be defined as the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organisations of which they are representatives. Leadership is not dependant on title or formal authority and is often feared by some management teams as a potential threat to their job if opened up to other members within the team.

All too often we think of leadership as a higher order of management, something we will develop and apply subsequently rather than earlier in our profession.

This applies to both leadership within our chosen occupational discipline and leadership of our profession. In the early stages of a career, most people naturally focus on the practical aspects of their career. They begin their careers applying the vocational disciplinary information and skills they acquired in college or university and focus on those aspects that will ensure a job, promotion  and success early in their career. However Leadership is something that should be considered and fostered early and often throughout our entire professional career.

Leadership is a subject that has been studied, discussed, and debated across a wide variety of disciplines for centuries. There are numerous books, articles, and self-improvement courses on the subject – so many that the interested student on the subject of leadership might at first be discouraged.

The purpose of this article is not to be exhaustive but instead to signpost you to  a practical on-line training course that will introduce to you a fundamental training that forms the foundation for both the theory and practice of leadership and to outline some of my own tips.

So  what are my seven tips on The Kind of Leader Others Want to Follow

Well before I set out my tips, The key to becoming an effective leader is not to concentrate on making other people follow, but on making your own self the kind of person they want to follow. You will need to become someone others can trust to take them where they want to go.  The seven following tips are also useful:

1. Find out if your ego is getting in the way.

The truly great leaders are not in leadership for personal gain. They lead in order to serve other people.

2. Become a active listener.

Rare is the effective leader who didn’t learn because they could not effectively listen. There is a lot to be said about becoming an effective follower in order to become and effective leader, but you cannot achieve this without listening.

3. Being negative just does not cut it.

Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less. If you spend time using that influence to cause a destructive and negative result to an organisation then your potential leadership quality is flawed.

4. Work with excellence.

No one respects and follows mediocrity. Leaders who earn the right to lead give their all to what they do. They bring into play not only their skills and talents, but also great passion and hard work. They perform on the highest level of which they are capable.

5. Rely on intellect and discipline, not emotion.

Leadership is often easy during the good times. It’s when everything seems to be against you– when you’re out of energy, and you don’t want to lead– that you earn your place as a leader when all around you is flagging.

6. Added value, added value and more added value.

Men and women who helped people to live better lives and reach their potential are often revered long after they have gone. That is the highest calling of leadership– and its highest value.

7. Don’t hog your  power.

Leaders are like a river, not a reservoir. If you use your power to empower others, your leadership will extend far beyond your grasp.  People cannot live with air!

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Education and the mLearning generation by Diane Shawe

Posted on June 28, 2012 | 1 comment

Education from the Cutting Edge

Article by Diane Shawe

Things are happening very quickly out there. It is changing. Harvard, MIT, Cambridge and Oxford are doing it. Companies, both big and small, are doing it. Solopreneurs are doing it. And some teachers have been doing it … they just haven’t been making any money at it. It’s a trend that many in education saw coming 10 years ago. The “It” is on-line education — and it’s gone from being an interesting sideline to a major social and economic trend.

This trend’s going to be around a little longer than some online trends. Because there are some very solid factors underlying the shift to online education … and they’re only getting stronger. Online education is at a tipping point. And that’s brilliant news if you’re into education and have a mobile device and go to www.shortcourses.expert . Let’s talk about why.

Online education is now a massive juggernaut; more than 8.1 million current college students took a Web-based course beginning September 2011. According to recent research in the US (published in the Boston Globe), nearly a third of students have taken one during their college careers.

You see the traditional model of get a degree and land a great job just isn’t working any more, at least in most professions. I’m still a huge fan of universities, but we have to face the fact that they’re quickly becoming a pricy luxury in the UK and other developing nations. Indeed even with a good degree many students are taking ‘McJobs’ to earn money and are frustrated by the lack of real opportunities. I know many that are angry with unpaid internships.

Students are looking for other ways to learn what they need to learn — without the six-figure price tag. You see normal people live online now! Is your father on Facebook? Mine is. And the weirdest thing about it is … it’s nice. It lets me keep up with what he’s doing, and share the exploits of my charming hooligan daughter.

I first got online in 1991. I remember how long it took me to ‘get online’….those strange handshake noises….and the joy of slow connections.  But the internet doesn’t belong to early adopters like me anymore. The internet, assisted by the smart phone and tablet is woven into our lives like it never has been. My father’s iPad is the new Silver Surfer must have accessory.

That means that normal people, not just web junkies, are willing to consider online activities that never would have occurred to them before. It means they look at online education and think, “Wow, I could do that.”

The world is changing faster than traditional education can evolve. As a former Headteacher, I know that the revolution is here. The (dial m for mobile) mLearning generation are about to inherit the earth.

Almost every aspect of our lives is changing. Making money, learning, socialising, family life and education. Certainly for education, we want it quicker (try just 4 weeks at The Academy of Vocational & Professional Training), we want it better and we want it to have some global ‘value’. All that change is coming faster than most people can handle. In the global economy with huge aspirations, we all need help with some aspect of the change that’s swirling around us.

Which means if you can master some element of the changing world, and stay on top of it, you can help customers do the same. Great businesses are built by solving tough problems. And mastering change is one of the toughest problems we all face … every day, and in every aspect of our lives.

Traditional education has a tough time with this. If you want to study ancient Greek, you should be set. (And more power to you, because I think that is cool.) But if you want to study technology, nutrition and fitness, marketing, communications, or any of the other myriad ways people make a living, you need the latest information. And the only way to do this is with the new Blended mLearning methodology.

You see, Online learners are … well, learning. None of this would matter if online education didn’t work as well as face-to-face learning. But it appears to actually work better. In a 2009 report based on 50 independent studies, the Department of Education found that students who studied in online learning environments performed modestly better than peers who were receiving face-to-face instruction.

Online learning allows students to go at the pace that’s right for them. When online education is well designed (and it really needs the thought process, the design and brilliant content), it gives plenty of opportunity to not only absorb the theories in the material, but to discuss it meaningfully and put it into practice. Put that with the best of interactive learning (Virtual Tutor Facilitators) and you have a winner!

Students can replay lectures if they need to. They can interact with other students online in ways that far surpass traditional classroom discussion. Even something as simple as being able to attend class when you’re at your most refreshed can make a huge difference. (I am pretty convinced that I learned exactly nothing from the early morning University lectures I attended). You don’t have to shuffle into a physical room with an instructor physically present to learn.

That we can take the very best education and make it widely available, instead of limiting it to a few hundred people at a time. That we can learn at our own pace, on our own time, when and where it’s convenient for us.

Top Universities will continue to do a brilliant job teaching law and microbiology. But you may very well be able to do an even more brilliant job teaching small business tax planning or sports nutrition. Or advanced NLP, Business start up, Hair extensions. Or how to get a novel published. Or take my courses in Stand up Comedy! All in 4 weeks. And all globally accredited.

Diane Shawe the CEO is very passionate about how we can extend and touch the lives of anyone wanting to learn through online training!  she says that the way online games have captured the attention of the young,  is what she would like Academy of vocational and professional training to do with online mlearning  sustainable education.

For me the mLearning revolution is here. Online and now.

Catch you there

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Can difficult or tough conversations be pre-managed?

Posted on April 12, 2012 | 2 comments

Managing difficult or tough conversation.

by Diane Shawe M.Ed IEBE

Unless you are on an island, it is not possible to avoid communicating with other people. Just stop for a moment, and think about how much time of your day you spend in conversation with other people? Whether in your car, in meetings, on the phone, by text message, e-mail or social media. Our days are frequently filled with short snippets of conversation and sometimes long exchanges.

Some people are better in conversation, while others prefer to write messages where they can take advantage of the delete key and work out the best wording. Have you taken some time to examine your approach? What are your results like; do you tend to have consistently peaceful conversations where people get heard and are listened to, or do they frequently de-compensate to a level of discussion that is argumentative or unpleasant or they just simply mis-interpret what you though you said or what they thought they heard?

Conversations can be a challenge, and we also have to be aware of the conversation going on inside our head at the same time. What if we say the wrong thing, or we are speaking carefully but our body language or voice is sending a very different message? How are we supposed to manage all that?

Fortunately, we can learn techniques to help prevent conversations from getting difficult and recognise what to do if they go off track. We can also learn how to get to the heart of a problem, move through a conversation, and keep it focused on the future instead of spinning in circles.

We can all benefit from a little education on dealing with difficult or tough conversations. Speaking and presentation coaches can help, but in the heat of the moment they aren’t perched on our shoulders whispering what we should be saying.

Our previous clients tell us that our courses are ideal for workplace training and development. They appreciate that our courses are up to date, relevant, and globally accredited. More than that, they are also excited to see that our courses are available in a format that they can use for e-Learning, either as the approach for the whole course or for a 1 day blended learning approach.

We have just released our Managing Difficult Conversations Training course. We believe that training courses need to be designed with busy people in mind. Our new training course include everything you need to help you, your staff or leaders hold challenging conversations!

From understanding the impact of body language and how your voice is projected, facial expressions, to formulating questions that get to the underlying problem. Our course provide information on many hands-on techniques and will also help you learn how to apply positive intent, how to use our process to plan a conversation, and how to implement and follow up on an action plan.

You can enrol on our course on line in our 4 week e-learning program, or you can opt for a 1 day intense learning experience workshops.

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Posted in educational apps, online colleges, online courses, online universities, Proximity Marketing, retailers loyality, shopping apps, Smartphones, Town centres, training courses

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Why smartphones & ipads are playing a major part in online learning

Posted on January 20, 2012 | Leave a comment
The World of education has changed, and this has impacted on personal trainers, teachers and life coaches on how they source and deliver training.
Institutions of higher learning increasingly embrace online education, with 65.5 percent of chief academic officers now calling online education ?critical? to their institution?s long-term strategy, an opinion that?s risen more than 15% over eight years.
67% believe academic outcomes from online classes are equivalent to those in face-to-face learning, but still, one-third of academic leaders think online classes are inferior. We do not agree with this but we do understand that resistance to change can often impede new growth.
Express Online Training Courses
A series of half day conferences will introduce you to the changing face of virtual education and how you can prepare and adapt yourself and business.
If  you interested in finding out what a virtual teacher, trainer or life coaches teaching style would be? The impact on online education and the changes? Then this event could be for you.
At this half day event you will understand more about the following:
  • Enhance your understanding of learning styles and trends for 2012
  • Reaction to Change, Early adopters and Diehards.
  • Learning Management Systems
  • Mobile legacy courses
  • Interactive content
  • Blogs and education
  • Digital publishing and learning
  • QR Codes and how it will benefit educators
  • Hosting Learning in the cloud
  • New Blended Learning in community, mobile, webinar and video
  • Augmented Reality related to mobile learning and diversity
  • Virtual Worlds multi learners simulations in 3D
  • Pocket Video Technology for informal learning
  • Social Media integrating across all devices to improve online collaboration
  • What is a Virtual Tutor/Trainer
  • Defining the growth of online Soft Skills Training
  • Benefits and Advantages for Virtual online Tutor/Trainers
  • Diminished environmental Constraints
  • The New Online E-Learning Process
  • The Opportunity
If you are interested in attending one of the several dates, just click here and register today.

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The rise of the Andriod Smartphones

Posted on May 29, 2011 | 1 comment
Smartphone are here to stay!  Whilst most people will bow down to the supreme way iPhone has dominated the market, lets take a look at the top 10 android smartphones.

After doing a little research on what’s happening in the market, i-send came across some info set up by  Street.com.

Street.com claims that Apple’s iPhone had a good run atop the smartphone league, but 10 Google Androids aim to bury the tuckered-out leader this year.

Motorola Mobility, Samsung, HTC and LG have promised to deliver supercharged, ultra-thin, 4G Android devices in the coming weeks and months.  (It’s interesting that they don’t mention any Nokia phones but let’s watch this space)

But not always. Before the mobile phone industry got all busy with design makeovers and tummy tucks, there were — and still are — some delightfully hideous phones that represented the other side of the beauty trend. The Street has gone back through the past decade to dig up some of the best examples of designs that make you wince and stare in disbelief. The clueless stylings, the flights of fancy into odd shapes, the obsession with square versus rounded — it is a wonderfully colorful history.

The giant Android attack features bigger screens, better cameras, faster processors and speedier 4G connections than the upcoming iPhone.

The Android’s phone screens, for example, start at 4 inches and go to 4.5 inches, advancing the size standard for this generation of touchscreens. By comparison, Apple’s next iPhone is expected to have a 3.5-inch screen.

The new Androids are 4G phones either on AT&T HSDPA-Plus network or Verizon’s LTE network, and four of the 10 will come with dual core processors.

Apple, on the other hand, is expected to upgrade to a dual-core processor this year, but the 4G LTE iPhone has been delayed to 2012, as first reported.

The presumed delay of the next iPhone from June to September, and the decision to wait a year on 4G LTE upgrade highlight just a few of the areas where Apple has been lagging behind the leaders in the Android pack.

“The processor and display quality improvement in the Android camp is proceeding at such a clip that Apple will be under a lot of pressure to deliver a substantial jump in iPhone specs next autumn,” MKM Partners’ analyst Tero Kuittinen.

“It’s not clear how Apple can battle the rapid Android evolution,” says Kuittinen, “unless it picks up the pace of its iPhone launches.”

Here’s a look at the top 10 Androids that could dwarf the iPhone:

More from
TheStreet.com : The Ugliest Phones of the Mobile Era 17 Products That Were Invented by Accident

10 Cities Unaffected by a Bad Economy
Nokia 3620
Samsung Nexus S

Samsung Nexus S, Sprint

This is Google’s second run at making its own phone, only this time Samsung is manufacturing the device and Sprint is selling it. Two years ago, the Nexus One was made by HTC and sold online by Google. It was an experiment in retailing that was far less revolutionary than Google hoped.

The Nexus S runs on Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system and works on Sprint’s WiMax 4G service. Because it is a phone built to Google’s specifications, it includes some of Google’s favorite projects including NFC or near field communications that may one day allow phones to make purchases with a swipe at a sales counter.

The Nexus phones are big among Android fans who see them as more purely Android than other versions in the market. The Gingerbread system has been a little hard to find and the Nexus S will continue to be among the most advanced Androids until Ice Cream Sandwich arrives as early as year-end.

Samsung Cleo
LG Optimus

LG Optimus

The LG Optimus is one of the sleeker members of the new Android class. Even though it has a 4-inch screen, the phone is nearly a third of an inch thick, and at 3.8 ounces, it is a full ounce lighter than the iPhone.

The LG Optimus runs on Android 2.2 or Froyo and is powered by a 1-gigahertz OMAP processor from Texas Instruments, one of the key wins for TI in the most recent round of Androids.

The LG Optimus is expected to debut in Europe this month and arrive in the U.S. later this year. AT&T and possibly T-Mobile will likely get the phone since it is configured for the HSDPA network.

Research In Motion BlackBerry 8700
Samsung Droid Charge

Samsung Droid Charge, Verizon

After a little delay, No. 2 phone maker Samsung finally gets into Verizon’s Droid franchise and continues the robotic theme for another year.

The Droid Charge runs on Android 2.2, has a 4.3-inch LED screen and is powered by a 1-gigahertz Samsung Cortex A8 processor. According to analysts, Samsung has built the phone to consume about half as much battery power than its 4G LTE predecessor the HTC Thunderbolt.

Another area where it exceeds the Thunderbolt is on price. Verizon has a $300 price tag on the phone with a two-year contract.

Nokia 3620
Samsung Function, Verizon

Samsung Function, Verizon

Samsung is pushing hard to get on the 4G LTE bandwagon where Verizon has a speedy lead over the rest of the telco field. The Function is a member of the Samsung Galaxy family and a follow up to the 3G Fascinate, which debuted last year at Verizon.

The Function is a truly muscular phone. It runs on Android Gingerbread, it is powered by a dual-core 1.2-gigahertz processor, with 1-gigabyte of memory and another 32-gigabytes of built-in storage. And the 8-megapixel camera shoots 1080p HD video.

The Function is due later this year, and depending on the timing, may be one of the more formidable opponents to the iPhone next iPhone.

Sony Ericsson t61z
Motorola Mobility Targa, Verizon

Motorola Mobility Targa, Verizon

Speaking of formidable, Motorola Mobility apparently wasn’t happy with how the Bionic was coming together and reworked the phone under the code name Targa. Bionic was expected to be the blockbuster 4G LTE phone for Verizon from Motorola, and aimed not just at the iPhone but at the Android superphones from Samsung and HTC.

There’s not much information about what powers the Targa, but the specs are likely to be similar to the Bionic. That list would include a dual-core processor, and an 8-megapixel camera.

Verizon and Motorola were expected to have the Bionic available by the end of June, but a revamped Targa will likely be a pre-holiday fall arrival. This would also pit it squarely against the next iPhone.

Motorola Nextel i500
HTC Sensation, AT&T

HTC Sensation

When and if it arrives at T-Mobile, the HTC Sensation promises to be a big step up from the HTC Thunderbolt. And that’s no small feat. The Sensation is expected to have one of the first dual-core 1.2-gigahertz Qualcomm Snapdragon processors, which holds big promise for Qualcomm.

The Sensation has a 4.3-inch display, a 8-megapixel camera and it runs on Android’s Gingerbread operating system. The phone has an aluminum unibody structure, a trend Apple started with its laptops.

The Sensation runs on the HSDPA network that AT&T and T-Mobile call 4G. The phone is expected to arrive as early as next month.

Motorola Flipout
LG Revolution, Verizon

LG Revolution, Verizon

LG’s focus on feature phones made it a weak player in the smartphone game, but the Korean electronics giant now wants to make up for lost ground in the super-phone category.

The LG Revolution is the heaviest of the five Androids, weighing 6 ounces. But it carries the weight well in a sleek half-inch-thick form with a large 4.3-inch display screen.

The phone runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 1-gigahertz processor and has a whopping 16 gigabytes of storage. It has two cameras, one front-facing for video chats and the rear a less-than-robust 5-megapixel shooter.

The Revolution is a 4G LTE phone that was expected to start selling at Verizon in the first quarter.

LG VX9800
Samsung Infuse, AT&T

Samsung Infuse, AT&T

Samsung seems to be trying extra hard to be the iPhone replacement for AT&T. By appearances, the Samsung Infuse looks very much like a large version of the iPhone 4, at least from the front.

Samsung had reasonable success with Android phones in its Galaxy series; with the Infuse, it hopes to take that one more step higher. The phone has a massive 4.5-inch super-AMOLED-plus screen that is designed to provide better resolution and easier daylight viewing.

The Infuse runs on a speedy 1.2-gigahertz Hummingbird single-core processor. Its front-facing camera is a wimpy 1.3-megapixels, but the rear camera captures 8-megapixels. The Infuse runs on the HSDPA-Plus wireless technology, which AT&T started calling 4G.

The Infuse, sort of like the 5-inch Dell Streak, attempts to push the limits of super-phone sizes in an effort to skirt the fringes of the larger tablet market.

AT&T starts selling the Infuse this spring.

HTC Apache
HTC Thunderbolt, Verizon

HTC Thunderbolt, Verizon

We got our hands on the HTC Thunderbolt when it arrived in March. Its speed is astonishing, but its battery life is terrible.

The Thunderbolt has the best name of the new crop of 4G devices that Verizon has introduced so far. The Thunderbolt looks very much like HTC’s popular EVO at Sprint, with the same convex back and kickstand.

The Thunderbolt runs on Qualcomm’s 1-gigahertz Snapdragon processor, has a 4.3-inch screen and a front-facing camera as well as an 8-megapixel rear camera. All those specs, by the way, are identical to its 4G WiMax brother, the EVO at Sprint.

The difference with the Thunderbolt is that it runs on Verizon’s 4G LTE network. The Thunderbolt arrived in March quarter and was hailed as the first Verizon 4G LTE phone.

LG VX9800
Motorola Atrix, AT&T

Motorola Atrix, AT&T

If there was one phone that caught the most attention at CES, it was the Motorola Atrix, which AT&T had been promoting like crazy.

This Atrix uses a dual-core Nvidia processor like its sister phone the Bionic, and has similar specs. But it also features 1-gigabyte of RAM, the same deployed by small laptops. And curiously, that’s how Motorola is pitching this device — as a pocket computer.

During the Motorola demonstration, the Atrix was docked in an empty laptop shell, which, powered by a keyboard and big screen, made the Atrix the core of a notebook computer. The Atrix is designed to serve as both your super-phone and through a docking system, your PC.

With processing power and memory comparable to a netbook, the Atrix may help push Motorola devices further into the workplace, bumping up against Research In Motion and Hewlett-Packard’s Palm business.

Well they all look very good, but I am a Nokia fan and I am looking forward to purchasing my N7.  It works so well for business users.
In the mean time, as we see the rise of the smart phone, every business needs to look at how they can cost effectively advertise within proximity.  Click here to learn more.
Research In Motion BlackBerry 8700
Samsung Droid Char

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British Leisure Show launch apps to connect exhibitors & visitors

Posted on March 5, 2011 | 1 comment

Welcome to the British Leisure Show who have launched there first apps to help promote their event and will be using Bluetooth location based broadcasting throughout the event to drive visitors to exhibitors stands.

By Diane Shawe

Click on the image below to Download the British Leisure Show Apps and find out more about the event.

This exciting, three day family friendly festival, provides entertainment and interaction for visitors of all ages. It’s packed with an exciting variety of things to SEE, TRY AND BUY, with the latest product models and accessories, competitions and demonstrations to watch and activities to try.

i-send will be holding a meeting designed to help business learn about apps and how it could help improve mobile marketing.

On of many events will be held throughout the year with the first one on the 10th March 2011 in London. Click to register

For a growing number of UK shoppers, the difference between off-line and on-line shopping will be no line at all.

What does this mean for retailers, sole traders, enterprise business and the retail sector?

Come join us at this free event when you will be able to listen, learn and ask.

With an inundation of new smart phone apps these hand held shopping tools are redefining the shopping experience and blurring the distinction between the in-store experience and the virtual world of information now available in the palm of your hand.

Advances in location-based technology, price-comparison apps, bar-code scanning apps and social-networking tools have turned the mobile device into a real-time third channel of commerce, empowering consumers while challenging retailers to rethink the way they do business.

The appetite for new apps seems voracious. A recent survey by comparison-shopping site PriceGrabber revealed that 36 percent of consumers plan to use their mobile phones for shopping-related activities this holiday season.

Around 4.2m of us in the UK are already using our mobiles to access the internet and browse retailer’s eCommerce sites.

This event will look at the pros of cons about introducing a apps into your business and all the pointers one should consider.  Specialist speaks will be available to give you golden nugget advise.

Introducing our Panellist Speakers

Andrew Lamont

Cllr Andrew Lamont ‘Access Champion for the Royal Borough of Kenisigton & Chelsea’

Topic:  Why Access & Apps go together

Partially sighted as a result of optic atrophy, Cllr Lamont is a seasoned campaigner on behalf of the blind and partially sighted. As a trustee of the charity BlindArt he has worked to remove barriers to the visual arts for all, inclusive of visually impaired people.

Andrew is currently the Access Consultant for i-send proximity and plays an important role in advising local authorities and Town Centre’s on managing the implimentation of Access.

Andrew is concerned about the new technolgy and feels that Apps and the new type of Smartphones should take into consideration access for over 2 million people throughout the UK

Diane Shawe

Diane Shawe Author of ‘How to Cyber kiss your business to Success’

Topic: Discovering the Pros & Cons for implementing Apps into your business

Project Director for i-send proximity, Diane has over 16 years experience in the Telecoms Fibre Optic and Microwave technology. Smartcard and internet audience measurement solutions.

Diane is often a guest speaker and training in business development and is currently working on several City and Town Centre Projects who want to build a PWAN Bluetooth Broadcasting Network.

The world of promoting your business has pivoted in a way that could leave a lot of  businesses behind if they don’t implement a structured apps program.

Jason Cobine

Jason Cobine Founder of  Beyond Networking runs a series of revolutionary, unique, branded workshop.

Topic: Apps & Profit and protecting infringed intellectual property rights.

Jason Cobine for the last 20 years have helped organisations around London with business insurance, indemnity insurance and reputation protection.

Jason has also helped businesses reduce the time and money spent finding new opportunities through business networking.

Jason is often a speaker and trainer at business related events and is going to shed some light on the protection of Intellectual property rights when using apps to promote your business.

Jason come’s highly recommended and will help you navigate yourself through this complex arena.

Abel Hussain Author Speaker

Abul Hussain Author of Grow your business with Internet Marketing

Topic:  Why SEO don’t work so for some businesses

A Managing Partner at the Middle Man Marketing Group,  Abul is an experienced marketing consultant, who consults with the marketing departments of many FTSE 100 companies.

His specialities include SEO, Pay Per Click Marketing, Social Media Marketing, amongst other marketing areas.

He often is a guest speaker at business association events and a guest author around the marketing blogosphere.

Abul will discuss the importance of implementing certain strategies to insure that localised and regionalised businesses can make better use of the SEO online strategy.

Jonathan Greensted

Jonathan Greensted Founder and CEO  of Sentient

Topic:Apps defining the shopping experience

Sentient has help many large organisations such as AstraZeneca, Virgin Holidays, Pfizer, Commerzbank, Microsoft, MCI and Centrica leverage IT to increase profits, optimise costs or increase their business agility.

Sentient’s innovation incubator has pioneered retail energy management (1995), web content management (1997), teleco billing (1999), social networking (2002), mobile software (2004), GPS tracking (2006) and Software + Services (2008).

He often is a guest speaker at business events.

Jonathan wil discuss the changing face of the retail business as the inundation of new smart phone apps enter the market.

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