Tag Archives: mobile learning

A Quick and Easy Way for job Seekers to Gain Valuable Soft Skills Qualifications

Posted on December 10, 2013 | 2 comments

The Academy of Vocational and Professional Training (AVPT) is pioneering a way for people to gain valuable new training with the focus on the soft skills that can often be the deciding factor when it comes to a potential employer’s decision after an interview.

avpt-double2- bored broke brainy girl ok magAll AVPT’s training can be done through a mobile phone or tablet meaning it’s easy to study on-the-go. The tutor, course material and everything else can easily be accessed whenever is convenient. This drastically cuts down on the time it takes to qualify.

Mobile learning is the way forward as 56% of all people on Earth have a smart phone with 50% of those people using mobile as their primary gateway to the Internet (State of Mobile Survey 2013). Because most of us have a phone or tablet glued to our hands at all times, it makes sense to use that time wisely and invest in our own futures.

This sort of learning allows people to gain new qualifications in a matter of weeks with AVPT’s Express Courses and supportive online Virtual Tutors for each student.

Diane Shawe the CEO of Academy of Vocational and Professional training says “The whole country needs to invest in ways to help up-skill every individual so that they can either find work or generate their own income from supplying a service or product” she goes on to say “we need to utilise technology, embrace more adaptable ways of empowering individuals to lead a responsible, inclusive and financially rewarding life so as to buck the increasing trend of unemployment”

Delegates can learn anything from leadership and project management skills to social media and care to skills, hair and beauty through to Security and hospitality.

With so few jobs around at the moment, it’s these skills and certifications that could mean the difference between a job offer, resuming the job hunt or a better change at succeeding in business. Experience and references might tell the story of these skills but it’s accredited certifications that prove their existence.

AVPT understands the competitive job market and has created these courses to help people improve their skill set in the most efficient amount of time possible.

About the Company

AVPT is the only UK Globally Accredited online and workshop based provider of over 390 Soft Skills courses using a cutting edge, proprietary online Learning Management system.

It takes an awful lot of time and effort to create a training course; Designing, researching, writing, and appropriately presenting it. Especially difficult though, even more so is the time taken to create an on-line learning system to work fluently and securely with various technologies. We know this because we have done just this.

What most people, employers, entrepreneurs and even some educational institutions do not have in today’s current environment is time the necessary resources and the infrastructure they need to support and achieve their learning objectives. Both our online and workshop based courses are a cost effective way to deliver and up-skill a wide cross section of our society. Designed to be student (user) centric and time sensitive. We believe that online courses can save time, are easily scalable, reduced acquisition costs per person, measurable, provide a flexible virtual support system, Less paper/ink (environmentally green!) and are generally less stressful owing to their user led flexibility!

Mobile LMS

Learning Management Solution (LMS) & Portal Hub

The Academy of Vocational and Professional Training has a sophisticated LMS solution that is not built on a static system. Yet the user interface is clean, clear, accessible, and easy to understand and work through. It uses little bandwidth, making it quick to load and use, and accessible on a scalable model. Globalisation has changed the way we communicate, do business and relate to each other and technology can help to up-skill a far wider audience.

In today’s ever changing environment, the real promise experts say, is providing learning experiences that are more tailored to individual students that enables more “learning by doing,” which many students find more engaging and useful. Our ‘Chunked’ teaching approach revolutionises the learning experience.

Social Impact

The importance of transferable skills. There can be no doubt about the importance of a degree and a solid academic background but it’s not the only thing that employers will be interested in. Especially where there is strong competition for entry to a job, employers have to find a way to choose. Educators must focus on the personal qualities and skills that can be developed while studying, and acquired as information in mutual exchanges of information. In a competitive employment climate, these can be just as (or more) important to employers as a degree certificate. Employers are looking for people with transferable skills.

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Social Media – Delivering targeted messages Part 1:

Posted on October 29, 2013 | 32 comments

 Localise, segment and personalise your social media engagement for more effective marketing

By our Guest Blogger:  Tamsin Oxford on Sep 24, 2013

For organisations to effectively engage with their consumers, segmenting and then personalising social media content is vital

The core of any business is the customer. What corporations and their brand stakeholders have realised is that the traditional broadcast model for engagement is no longer effective or efficient.

Organisations need to gain insight into audiences, segment their social engagement into specific groups and appeal to a diverse demographic without compromising brand integrity or messaging.

This feature is the first of three examining how to create customised experiences for customers across different platforms. In this feature we are considering how a business can accurately identify core groups, get to know their audiences and segment customers into niche collections. Sound complex? Not necessarily.

“Social media offers interaction that traditional media could never give to the marketer,” says Devon Stanton, PR and Promotions Manager at Megarom [www.megarom.co.za], “In addition, there is an impressive range of toolsets available that can analyse your social media audience and pull out vital demographic and interaction data. By utilising this information, you’ll be able to craft your social media to best suit your audience.”

A white paper by Experian offers a superb breakdown as to what segmentation is and why it is of value to the business. They define it as “the process of dividing your database into groups based on single or multiple criteria.”

This offers value in that you can drill down into the essentials of the client for improved targeting and flexibility. What better way to locate and address the most profitable customers and ensure that there is relevance in this communication? The right message to the right people at the right time – it works, that’s why it’s a cliché.

The business can no longer afford to be generic. A bland message directed across all social platforms may hit one or two people along the way, but it is unlikely to generate brand loyalty or encourage customers to identify with the brand itself.

“Take the time to understand what motivates people to share and talk about topics,” says Scott Gray, Head of Planning at Quirk [www.quirk.biz], “Interests are so fragmented that being generic doesn’t work anymore. To get messages to spread across social networks, brands have to have a point of view and get this to the most relevant group of people. If you’re not relevant, you’re dead.”

Steps to segmentation

Jeremy Waite, Head of Social Strategy at Adobe EMEA, offers a four-step process by which organisations can identify core groups and segment them efficiently that include:

  1. Influence – build relationships with key influencers
  2. Data – data helps brands identify which content drives conversation
  3. Optimising content – using this information helps to streamline content development that says the right things
  4. Measuring impact – stay aware of the impact of social efforts to continually drive conversation and stay relevant and targeted

The many faces of influence

“Building relationships with key influencers is vital,” says Waite, “Data shows that only 6% of fans regularly engage with companies they like on Facebook. By identifying the people most likely to drive conversation, and the types of posts and messages that engage these influences, this helps to increase engagement.”

Veronica Gross del Rio, EMEAI Social Media Manager at Interface  [http://www.interface.com/neteffect], agrees and adds, “Begin determining which social sites you should participate in and what topics are trending or popular. Track how your customers are using social media. We are a B2B company that designs and makes carpet tiles, for us interior designers and architects are the key people who specify our products so we need to convince them more than we need to convince the final buyer. Having the most accurate profile of them on social media is vital.”

It may be obvious that a business needs to identify its core markets and platforms to ensure it markets products effectively, but social media analysis and communications are not the forte of every organisation. It is here that solutions such as Quirk, Codestar and Adobe Social come into play. These companies have made it their business to understand the market and what the organisation needs in order to effectively understand, track and target their customers.

“Successful brands like Starbucks, Xbox and Dell have reduced most of their reporting to only one page that includes all the relevant metrics and information that they need to know about their customers,” says Waite, “These are known as the five ‘W’ – a strategy that Adobe Consulting has also adopted.”

These five ‘W’ are:

  • Who
  • What
  • When
  • Why
  • Where

Who are people talking about, what are they saying, why are they talking about you, when did the conversations begin and where did they take place.

“We design specific apps and landing pages for various products and services advertised on Facebook and often for specific consumer groups,” says Vinny Pianna, Director of Facebook specialists Codastar. “We find that ads for specific customer groups are far more successful than general ones. To segment this effectively we have looked at where we are successful and worked hard to build on this. The key to success is to tailor your messaging, advertising and landing pages for each group.”

Understand the core

To succeed in creating an effective marketing strategy across social media your organisation must ensure it is relevant, targeted, on trend and specific. To do so you need to listen to your customers and understand what they are interested in and make sure that you are communicating with them on the right platforms.

“The web has allowed people to form groups and communities around common interests,” says Gray, “If you’re into dressing up like Batman and singing karaoke, there’s probably a community of people like you. I think that more effective targeting is driven along lines of interest and passions rather than race, gender or age. People are the new conduits of media.”

Interface used these tactics to develop a targeted social media campaign to launch a new product. They created specific content for each social media channel that tapped into their unique qualities and the campaign has been a huge success as a result. Gross del Rio believes that it is this very targeted approach that has made all the difference to the success of their campaign.

“I think that knowing who your audience is and understanding the goals of the campaign will net you far better return on investment,” concludes Stanton, “The data is there to help you make better marketing decisions so use it to maximise results.”

In part two of this series will ask the experts how to take this concept one step further to tailor social media messaging to ensure you appeal to different needs, motives and preferences.

The 4th annual Corporate Social Media Summit Europe

Dec 4, 2013 – Dec 5, 2013, London

Become a social business: For superior marketing response, sharper corporate decision-making, enhanced innovation and a happier, more loyal customer

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We mean to help you so that in turn you help us

We mean to help you so that in turn you help us

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Can the Law of Reciprocity Make or Break Your Business?

Posted on October 29, 2013 | 28 comments
We mean to help you so that in turn you help us

We mean to help you so that in turn you help us

Understanding the Law of Reciprocity

article by: Tim T Dingle BSc (Hons) MIBiol PGCE MBA
CDO  Academy of Vocational and Professional Training

Have you ever wondered why some people seem luckier than others? Have you ever been (mildly) annoyed that others attract more referrals than you? There has got to be a reason, hasn’t there? Well a good definition of ‘luck’ is when action meets opportunity. People that help other people every chance (they get) almost always come out on top. I am amazed by the simple gestures of holding a door for someone, returning a lost wallet and giving someone a referral produces 2 things:  First, the feeling that the person on the receiving end of your kindness is compelled to reciprocate; and second, you create a positive thoughts/feelings about your self-image. There’s something very powerful at play that causes this phenomenon.

Psychologists call it The Law of Reciprocity and it says that when someone does something nice for you, you will have a deep-rooted psychological urge to do something nice in return. It is buried deep inside our DNA and is an evolutionary survival mechanism. As a matter of fact, you may even reciprocate with a gesture far more generous than their original good deed. You can try and resist this law, but your DNA will intervene and you will more than likely still feel that you need to respond in kind to a good deed. If that’s true (and it is) then it would be to your advantage to understand the right way – and the wrong way to take advantage of this powerful law.

Do you think that the Law of Reciprocity can make or break your business?

Diane Shawe the CEO of the Academy of Vocational and Professional Training states “the law of reciprocity is like a karmic “piggy bank”. What you broadcast into the universe, whether it is positive or negative, is a deposit due to be returned to you. Your deposits may be returned quickly, without the effects of past and future deposits added”  but then she goes on to say “How then do we define the purpose of Business Etiquette?”  interesting combination.

For this reason, it is wise to bank positive deposits often.

As someone who is running (or is aspiring to run) their own business, there are a couple of ways you can invest in the use of reciprocity: the Constructive Way and the Destructive Way.

The Constructive Way

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One of the hardest parts of a new business relationship is building trust and rapport. To do that, there are some things you have to establish up front with a potential client to show them you’re one of the good guys. These fall in the area of intent, empathy and credibility. So, if you really are one of the good guys, you can show people what you’re made of simply by being friendly, honest, and helpful. That’s the idea behind a lot of the freebies that bloggers give away all the time. By giving something that’s of legitimate value away with no expectation of compensation, you’re achieving several things.

  • If the material or help you’re giving away is of high quality, you’re establishing yourself as a person of credibility – someone who knows what they’re talking about.
  • You’re demonstrating empathy by showing the recipient that you understand they’re looking for answers. You understand that they need help – and you’re someone who’s willing to give it to them.
  • You’re showing that your intent is not just to get into their wallets – but to sincerely help.

In the process, you stimulate the DNA program of The Law of Reciprocity. When you establish yourself as an honest, sincere, and giving person – you make it much easier for people to buy from you when you have something to offer. It is at that point they already like you, they have seen that you know your stuff, and they trust you. All that makes it much easier for them to choose you.

The Destructive Way
3 HR JUMP START BUSINESS BOOTCAMP WITH GEWUK 18 NOV 2013While responding to The Law of Reciprocity is hard-wired into us, most people aren’t stupid, but can often be inexperienced or too trusting. If the Law is exploited as a tactic, they often experience a lot of discomfort and dis-ease about the situation. Even though I use the word ‘exploiting’ ( I don’t believe that most people conspire to use this law) you might best understand it as someone being false’ pretense, a front; you are pretending to be sincere and helpful, therefore only to trick people into feeling a sense of obligation. Poor salespeople are easy to find – and when someone is using reciprocity as a pressure tactic, it’s obvious. You’ve been there as a consumer.

I’ll bet you don’t have to go back very far in your memory bank to remember a time when someone seemed a little too nice. Even though they were doing something positive for you, you still instinctively didn’t trust them. That’s because their intentions weren’t sincere and you sensed it. Using the Law that way may trick someone from time to time, but it likely won’t lead to repeat sales, good will, or referrals. Pressured prospects tend to disappear quietly.

So the right way to gain maximum benefit from the Law of Reciprocity is to use it sincerely and for the right reasons: to help others and to grow your relationships. There are a lot of aggressive sales and marketing people out there, but listen to them with caution. Consumers are smarter than ever before. Being aggressive tends to offend and alienate. Instead, aim for active and inclusivity. What’s the difference? Aggressive is relentless and pushy. Active and exclusivity is, well, active listening and keeping them involved.

If what you’re selling is truly of value, you don’t have to be a bully to get people to buy. You just have to work hard to get your name out there and develop your brand. Since you are one of the good guys, ask yourself; What small thing can I provide today that my customers can really use?

When you come up with an answer – give it to them. It’s the right thing to do – and because of The Law of Reciprocity, your customers will gladly return that generosity when you do have something to sell.

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BYOD! The change is here.

Posted on July 24, 2013 | 2 comments

Bring Your Own Device

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

AVPT Global is issuing a technological tsunami alert; feel the force of a very real wave of BYOD / BYOT and new mobile learning and learn how to avoid being swamped.

Here at AVPT Global we like to bring you some advanced news and perhaps a serious warning of impending change. I have worked in the education sector for 25 years and seen many changes in technology during that time. There is a clear and present need to improve the soft skills and learning of individuals- whether at School, University or in business. Already at AVPT we are using the latest technology to improve training and it is clear that mobile learning is massive. I came across the term bring your own device (BYOD) in a recent workshop for employers. It means the policy of permitting employees to bring personally owned mobile devices (laptops, tablets, and smart phones) to their workplace and use those devices to access company information and applications. The term bring your own technology (BYOT) is being used more frequently in an educational context. It is a part of a supplementary school technology resourcing model, where the home and the school collaborate in arranging for use their own digital technology to be extended into the classroom to assist their teaching and learning and the organisation of their schooling.

The BYOD / BYOT ‘tsunami’ is rapidly coming over the horizon for educational institutions and businesses. BYOD is making significant inroads in the business world already with about 75% of employees in high growth markets such as Brazil and Russia and 44% in developed markets already using their own technology at work. In most cases, businesses simply can’t block the trend.

We believe that BYOD may help employees be more productive and become genuine Life Long Learners. It can and should increase employee morale and convenience by using their own devices and makes the company look like a flexible and attractive employer.  Many feel that BYOD can even be a means to attract new staff (and we all know how hard it is to get the right person on board): 44% of job seekers now view an organisation more positively if it supports their device.

AVPTGLOBAL almost 400 courses all globally accredited

AVPTGLOBAL almost 400 courses all globally accredited

We have found at AVPT that if businesses are to survive they will need to be proactive and really note and respond to the trends.  They will need to shape the largely inevitable development to the best advantage or try to surpass the deeds of King Canute and prevent the wave from swamping their institutions. Perhaps not surprisingly at this very early stage many of the early BYOT moves are making this mistake, are naïve, simplistic and preoccupied with the relatively mundane, showing little appreciation of what BYOT could entail.

We believe at AVPT global that there are least six global megatrends coming together that will impact on all businesses, schools, institutions to some form of BYOT. These megatrends relate to the normalised use of personal digital devices in every facet of life, the burgeoning digital and educative capacity of the student’s homes, cloud computing, parent digital empowerment, government’s increasing inability to fund state of the art personal technology for all and the inexorable evolution of schooling from its insular paper-based mode to one that is more digital and networked.

Fundamental to BYOT is that personal choice of the technology by the individual (whether in School, Higher Education and Business). While businesses /schools might and probably should provide advice, the final choice should rest with the individual. The will give an enhanced facility for the personalisation of learning in and outside the business and educational premises. That is the secret of the success of online mobile learners. In our online Learning Management System that can be used by the owner of device, at home, work or on the move (found out VTF are driving this change).The individuals are having their ownership of the technology and the information respected and absorbed.

Get qualified whilst on the move with AVPT

Get qualified whilst on the move with AVPT

So the future that BYOD / BYOT is creating will cause a profound educational change. It has immense potential that will assist change in the nature of schooling, teaching, learning and the relationship with homes and work. However, to realise this potential there has to be really strong leadership in education and businesses management. It has to change thinking and begin to understand what is needed terms of the power of mobile learning. Leaders have to take charge of the process, understand the possibilities and appreciate what is required for sustained success and development. At AVPT we see leaders training who are training to be proactive, learning about the forces impelling institutions to some form of BYOT. We see the need to appreciate the real potential for society in educational, social, economic, technical, administrative and political terms.

At the Academy of Vocational and Professional Training we believe these are still very early days with BYOT / BYOD. There isn’t much out there being written about these changes to mobile learning except in some pioneers in the field. The focus of most business and institutions is technical with little thought given the wider educational or financial implications. The greatest challenge with BYOT / BYOD will be human. The technical aspect is easy- and always will be. The key is to understand the historic significance of this development and to recognise that we are moving to a new model of mobile learning, teaching and institutional resourcing where everyone collaborates, facilitates and genuine accepts these changes.

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Importance of developing a strategic approach to learning and harnessing the internal skills

Posted on July 12, 2013 | 1 comment
Download your free copy today

Download your free copy today

Corporates, enterprises and charities all wish to run their operations at the minimum costs allowed.

Article  by Diane Shawe M.Ed
CEO of AVPTGLOBAL

We all recognise that in today’s environment, business moves faster than ever. Most organisations now recognise the importance of developing a strategic approach to learning and harnessing the internal skills of their teams. Moving away from more tactical based activities associated with training such as measuring skills-based behaviours, to focusing on acquisition of knowledge and learning transfer that result in individual and organisational performance improvements.

E-learning has the potential to fully integrate the benefits of personal freedom with connectivity (belonging to a purposeful group of learners). From an educational perspective the “e” in e-learning stands for more than electronic; it can also stand for extending and enhancing the learning experience.

Quote by Darwin rapid-technology-social-changeNew market opportunities open and close at blinding speed, new competitors emerge overnight, product life cycles are getting shorter, and customers are more knowledgeable and sophisticated. This fast-changing environment has led to requirement to change learning and training.  However more often than not, the task of aligning the learning organisation to the business can be challenging and the perception of how the business views the learning organisation in terms of aligning to strategic initiatives is different to how the learning organisation perceives itself.

Downsizing has resulted in a mass drainage and outflow of skills as employees or contractors are let go.  To ensure that an organisation can compete globally and remains at par with the technological changes in the global market committing to the investment of on-going skill training is often viewed as a potential unnecessary incision into the bottom line.  This continued way of thinking comes at a cost because of the risks involved in

developing the professionalism of the staff (Lucey, 2004). The fear of poaching of the staff by other companies after significant investment has been made in upskilling and training from the said company is of real concern, because skilled, experienced staff when pulled in can respond faster to problems brought forward by the customers and ensure high productivity and efficiency in the long run (Corbett & Huggett, 2009).

With the explosion of mobile technology, organisations need to take advantage of the benefits, scalability, and viability of using mobile e-learning, using smart phones, tablets, and notepads that offer a blended solution  to read more click to download white paper…

AVPTGLOBAL almost 400 courses all globally accredited

AVPTGLOBAL almost 400 courses all globally accredited

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12 Benefits of Mobile Learning

Posted on June 22, 2013 | 6 comments
Next generation of mobile learning

Learning on the move with
http://www.avptglobal.com

Rapid technology change is here to stay.

article by Diane Shawe M.Ed  CEO Academy of Vocational and Professional Training.

No sense in trying to change the way the world wants to learn. Access to broadband, smartphone, the growth of the mobile tablet has changed the face of how we access knowledge.

But rather than simply program designers and consumers–or even ecological threats–this kind of change also introduces significant threats  or should we say opportunities to education. Throughout the Industrialised delivery of education, there is likely very little that can be actively done to reduce the perceived threats by many faculty heads, especially as the advancement is firstly driven by economic issues. But we can begin to understand them better and view them as opportunities.

Watch the Hard Facts behind Soft Skills by Professor James Heckman

As learning practices and technology tools change, mobile learning itself will continue to evolve. For 2013, the focus is on a variety of challenges, from how learners access content to how the idea of a “curriculum” is defined.

The rapid growth of Technology like tablets, smartphones, apps, and access to broadband internet are lubricating the shift to mobile learning, but a truly asynchronous mobile learning environment goes beyond the tools for learning to the lives and communities valued by each individual learner.

PA9C1822
Training for the jobs yet to be created

It is only within these communities that the native context of each learner can be fully understood. Here, in these communities that are both local and digital, a ”need to learn” is born, knowledge accrues incrementally, progress resonates naturally, and a full picture of each learner as a human being fully emerges as we embark on the true essence of Life Long Learning.

1. Access – Aids voluntary and active learning

A mobile learning environment is about access to content, peers, experts, portfolio artifacts, credible sources, and previous thinking on relevant topics. It can be actuated via a smartphone or tablet, laptop or in-person, but access is constant–which in turn shifts a unique burden to learn on the shoulders of the student.

2. Metrics – Performance of Knowledge

As mobile learning is a blend of the digital and physical, diverse metrics (i.e., measures) of understanding and “performance of knowledge” will be available. It is important that mobile learning supplies and validate that learning has taken place.

3. Cloud – Increased collaboration

The cloud is the enabler of “smart” mobility. With access to the cloud, all data sources and project materials are constantly available, allowing for previously inaccessible levels and styles of revision and collaboration. This also reduces the burden of data storage in the immediate device enabling speed of access to be maintained. Also no complex disaster recovery procedures.

4. Transparent

Transparency is the natural by product of connectivity, mobility, and collaboration. As planning, thinking, performance, evaluation and reflection are both mobile and digital, they gain an immediate audience with both local and global communities through social media platforms from twitter to facebook, linkedin to Pinterest.

5. Play – Learning by doing

Play is one of the primary characteristics of authentic, progressive learning, both a cause and effect of an engaged mind. In a mobile learning environment learners are encountering a dynamic and often unplanned set of data, domains, and collaborators, changing the tone of learning from academic and compliant to personal and playful means that soft skills training is becoming even more apparent.

6. Asynchronous Learning

Among the most powerful principles of mobile learning is asynchronous access. This unbolts an educational environment from a school floor and allows it to move anywhere, anytime in pursuit of truly entrepreneurial learning. It also enables a learning experience that is increasingly personalised: just in time, just enough, just for me reducing the length of time one can qualify.

7. Self-Actuated

With asynchronous access to content, peers, and experts comes the potential for self-actuation. Here, learners plan topic, sequence, audience, and application via facilitation of teachers who now act as experts of resource and assessment.

8. Divergent Thinking

With mobility comes diversity. As learning environments change constantly, that fluidity becomes a norm that provides a stream of new ideas, unexpected challenges, and constant opportunities for revision and application of thinking. Audiences are diverse, thinking is diverse, as are the environments data is being gleaned from by both the student and the teacher.

9. Curation – Evidence storage and Management

Apps and mobile devices can not only support curation, but can do so better than even the most efficient teacher might hope to do. By design, these technologies adapt to learners, store files, compare and evaluate, publish thinking, and connect learners, making curation a matter of process rather than ability.

10. Blending the Learning Styles

A mobile learning environment will always represent a much better path to the whole concept of blended learning. –physical movement, personal communication, Learning styles and digital interaction.

11. Always-On – Classroom never full

AppleAVPTGlobalLogo516Always-on 24hr learning is self-actuated, spontaneous, iterative, and recursive. There is a persistent need for information access, cognitive reflection, and interdependent function through mobile devices. It is also embedded in communities capable of intimate and natural interaction with students.

12. Authentic Learning

All of the previous 11 principles yield an authenticity to learning that is impossible to reproduce in a classroom using the industrialised teaching methods. They ultimately converge to enable experiences that are truly personalised changing the way we think about learning and teaching.

AVPTGLOBAL almost 400 courses all globally accredited
AVPTGLOBAL almost 400 courses all globally accredited

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Manisha Gaur discusses why Global Accreditation is leading the way to unified integrated accreditation

Posted on June 13, 2013 | 18 comments

The rise of International Accreditation

News Title

by AVPT Global

For decades, regional accreditation bodies had been granting educational institutes with primary accreditation after evaluating them on a regional scale. However, as globalization grew, it became extremely important for educational institutes to be acknowledged world over so that when students look for credit transfer and international job opportunities, it does not stand in the way.  This gave rise to International Accreditation. This topic was represented by Ms. Manisha Gaur, Director Operations at Venkateshwara Group of Institutions, India.

She discussed how globalization has affected today’s education systems and the education providers are looking forward to establishing a centralized education system.

The phenomenon is occurring, but at a very slower pace and this is where the accreditation agencies have to play their role. They need to set up a unified and integrated accreditation system for all the educational institutions globally so the standardisation of education can be done successfully.

A smarter way to study with www.avptglobal.com

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

Regional accreditation bodies have existed and also evaluated education providers on a regional scale, thereby granting them Primary accreditation.  However, the rapid growth of globalization calls for a global entity which can evaluate them against internationally proven standards of education and grant them an internationally recognized Secondary Accreditation.

This secondary accreditation is basically known as International Accreditation. With international accreditation, the school, college or university will be internationally accepted. Students of such educational institutes can further study in the educational institute of their choice in any country without the tension of their credits transfer and also, work with any employer without the tension of their degree acceptance.  For these reasons, it has also become a major deciding factor by students when selecting their higher educational institutes/ universities. Additionally, it has also become important to employers. Employers globally feel more comfortable hiring students from internationally accredited institutes.
Based on this information, she presented why international accreditation is needed globally and how, in the last couple of years, it has gained massive importance, even more than national and regional accreditation bodies. Her topic also informed the participants as to how International accreditation bodies evaluate the institute on the basis of their academic and organisational management and provide them with international accreditation. This international accreditation not only enhances the institute’s profile regionally but also internationally which is why, today, we see a majority of the students and institutes around the world demanding international accredited programs.
About the Speaker

Manisha Gaur is a highly respected member of the Indian education community. She is not only involved in the teaching of the students but she takes it as a responsibility where she wants to develop students into becoming pillars of the society. She has been associated with the Indian Education Board and the National Accreditation body where she has conducted various presentations and has published various researches. She has also received numerous awards from the regional and international community for her services.
AVPTGLOBAL almost 400 courses all globally accredited

AVPTGLOBAL almost 400 courses all globally accredited

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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

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 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.

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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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E-learning growth ‘set to rise to £19 billion by 2015

Posted on November 19, 2012 | 8 comments

Get qualified whilst on the move with AVPT

article by Diane Shawe M.Ed.

Academy of Vocational and Professional Training (AVPT) finds that the market for e-learning just keeps growing and growing, according to various research and sales figure surveys

A survey by Ambient Insight Research has showed that the worldwide market for e-learning products was $32.1 billion (£20.5 billion) in 2010 and is expected to rise to $49.9 billion by 2015.

Products and methods of online learning that were deemed the most successful in sales rates included “how to” videos, step-by-step interactive guides and course notes which have multi-media inserts and annotations which directed learners to other resources.

Writer for Gadget magazine, Andre Joubert of MWEB Business said that he thinks the availability of media-rich, interactive e-learning content on the internet – and the advent of uncapped, business-strength broadband connectivity is changing the face of e-learning. He based his analysis on South Africa, but his principles apply worldwide as global sales figures show.

We noted from our research that Mr Joubert said: “E-learning has long been recognised as offering considerable advantages over conventional classroom-based training when it comes to training employees and management quickly, efficiently and conveniently.

So what about the Virtual Classroom?

We see 2012/13 as being the breakthrough year for virtual classrooms, as organisations move on from webinars (which are increasingly commonplace) to more interactive environments offered by virtual classrooms.

I am certainly excited by our  online courses which are recognised and accredited in over 200 subject matters.  As  result of this growing trend AVPT has launched the first globally accredited Virtual Tutor Facilitator course. To train

A New Career Opportunity as a VTF

professionals in becoming a qualified online Tutor who want flexibility and positive earning potential to assist individuals gain a professional recognised certificate  using a mobile learning Management solutions through facilitating their online learning.

Training through online learning is now widely available on the internet and can be beneficial to anything from flower arranging, PowerPoint presentations through to health and safety.

Soft skills is now becoming the new hard skills and offering mobile training and  advice  through e-learning are valuable to many people and a range of businesses globally.

Tim Dingle AVPT Chief Development Officer cited many benefits of the virtual classroom, such as convenience, relevance, immediacy, affordability and ease of use. He added that beginning the learning experience can be as easy as starting up an internet browser.

According to research by Key Note from last year, instructor-led training represents the largest sector of the market, although e-learning teaching – which includes blended learning – showed the highest growth over the review period between 2005 and 2009.

Mobile Learning forging forward.

A 2009 research report summarised that they thought mobile learning could be a “maybe just maybe”, In 2010  a definite trend was being recorded and in 2011 they saw mobile learning as a major driver for the growth of the e-learning market.

The driver is not one of simple learning enhancement and support but driven by a requirement for portability and availability made possible by smart phones and tablet devices, the learning “additionality”. The PC might still remain key to many learners for some years to come but I believe that the call for mobility, flexibility and the trends to workforce mobility will win the day.

We are particularly taken with the concept of second screen learning, in that learners will use mobile devices i-pads, smart phones etc… in conjunction with other forms media such as skype, bluetooth and appliances imbedded in a variety of devices such as the TV, car or even on your fridge.

I do not see mobile learning as a straight replacement to existing genres, and accordingly iIdo not advise organisations to rush headlong into mobile learning solutions because they can be an expensive option if not properly planned out.

Mobile learning in appropriate additional ways  can be used to enhance the learning mix. One principle game changer is our ability to upload current or new courses into our LMS, cutting down on project development planning time and costs and enabling a blended Learning proposition to commence not only laterally but securely, scalable and in real time.

For instance the unemployed, people of disability, prison population, senior citizens and excluded children from the educational system could all benefit in real time whilst keeping the overall unit costs down by scaling and up-skilling with an emphasis on inclusion and virtual support.

Content can now increasingly be authored or in many cases converted to become fit for all purpose all range device delivery and in real time.

HTML5 coupled with Cloud based services will further embed e-learning into the all- pervasive always on internet. Indeed the terminology of mobile learning/ e-learning will lose differentiation, as will the nature of the device that the learning is undertaken upon.

Technology coupled with the growing importance of social media learning will lead to greater learner acceptance. I for one have seen a pattern stemming from the services we are offering to date and look forward to 2013 as we believe it is going to be a bumper year for mobile learning.

Visit us on http://www.expresstrainingcourses.com or call us if you would like more information on 0203 551 2621.

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