Good Day Everyone! I am so happy that the podcast is still thriving and continuing to grow. For this podcast we were lucky enough to have on a professor who focuses his research and teachings on APE from Old Dominion University, Dr. Haegele. This interview runs a little differently than some of our past podcasts. We have a longer interview that will be out soon but we were in the midst of some great conversations that didn't quite flow with the rest of the interview. So we decided to give you this quick 8 minute podcast on using Facebook as a teacher and I talk a little bit more about myself. The other portion of the podcast with Dr. Haegele dwells of the topics of working with para educators and how someone ends up choosing a PhD in adapted physical education. We will be getting that you soon as well!Continue reaching out to us and we hope to continue to grow! Until next time!

Hello podcasters and welcome back for another episode of What's New in APE! For this episode we had two special episodes with Dr. Haegele from Old Dominion University. For this episode we discussed Dr. Haegele's path to getting his PhD. We also discuss in-depth how to work best with your para educator. In the interview we also discuss some funding opportunities for Adapted Physical Education students at the Master's level and at the PhD level at Old Dominion University. To learn more about the Mater's and PhD APE program please email Dr. Haegele @ jhaegele@odu.edu

Camp Abilities has been mentioned on this blog and in my podcast several times. For the last few years I have had the pleasure of being apart of the sports camp for children with Visual Impairments in Michigan.This last week, the original Camp Abilities was spotlighted on Real Sports on HBO. So far it has been a major success for getting the word out to parents and other organizations about the importance Camp Abilities has for children with Visual Impairments. Please go to my website Camp Abilities Michigan to find our information or any of the other camp's information. I am thrilled to share with you a product from the hard work of Dr. Lauren Lieberman and countless other people that make Camp Abilities work.

People who suffer food allergies have to be extremely careful about what they eat, sadly we hear all too often about someone suffering an extreme allergic reaction having eaten something while they are out, and not realising it contains an ingredient to which they are extremely allergic. Some five thousand people need treatment in hospital for severe allergic reactions each year in the UK, and some cases are fatal - causing an average of 10 deaths annually. Experts say the majority of these deaths and visits to hospital are avoidable, and some are a result of people being given incorrect information about ingredients. Labelling rules from European Directives ensure that all consumers are given comprehensive ingredient listing information, making it easier for people with food allergies to identify ingredients they need to avoid. In December 2014 the rules were amended, building on current allergen labelling provisions for pre-packed foods, introducing a new requirement for allergen information to be provided for foods sold non-packed or pre-packed for direct sale. It is now a legal requirement for caterers and restaurant owners to display information on 14 allergens, including rare allergies such as mustard seeds and Lupin or face fines of up to £5,000. There is a three year transition period to allow businesses to make the necessary changes to their processes and labelling designs in order to meet the provisions laid out in the legislation. Although these new EU rules are implemented to protect the general public their directive is causing much concern within the hospitality industry, with worries around curbing chef’s creativity and innovation, together with concerns over the cost implication of training an extensive workforce. Anyone working in the food and beverage industry whether they be in a kitchen of a hotel, serving sandwiches in a café, working on a market stall selling home-made produce or providing school meals in a canteen, will need to be fully trained to understand the new legislation. The hospitality and tourism sector employs 7% of the working population, or one in every 14 jobs. The latest figures show there were 181,500 individual business sites operating across the hospitality and tourism sector. The sector is predominately made up of small businesses; almost half (46 %) employing less than five people, and it is these small businesses that are often hit hardest by legislative changes due to administrative and cost implications. Hospitality and Tourism has always employed a high proportion of part time workers - nearly half of the workforce is employed on a part time basis (48 percent).  People traditionally filling these roles are largely transient and employers are likely to experience significant labour turnover and skills gaps. The sector also continues to rely on a high percentage of migrant workers (22%), often bringing language barriers. With such a diverse and transient workforce keeping up to date with important legal compliance training poses a continual challenge and expense. More and more businesses are now recognising the benefits of using e-learning to fill this training need. Employers can purchase courses such as the Food Allergies and Intolerance 2014 Online Course and enrol their staff immediately. The training can be taken at anytime, anywhere as long as the employee has access to a pc or mobile device with internet connection. Sources: Food Standards Agency. European Academy of Allergy www.peoplefirst.co.uk BBC Health

Virtual reality is an online environment that we can immerse ourselves in, exploring and interacting with the world it creates. Most people think of computer gaming when you talk about virtual reality (VR), but things are changing. Many industries are now using VR as a means of up-skilling employees in ways that not so long ago we would have thought impossible. VR doesn’t just provide a 3d training environment, it gives the user a real life experience which includes sound, vision, touch and motion. According to a report last year by MarketsandMarkets, the VR market is expected to reach more than 25 million users by 2018 so it’s far from being a new market or something that only a few have experienced. The growth in VR caused Facebook to sit up and take notice and resulted in them last year buying Oculus VR for $2 billion, due to its virtual reality headset, even though it was a relatively new company. So what are Google doing about VR? Well you might be confused by the VR related headline, ‘Google brings cardboard to the classroom’ and wondering why the classroom needs cardboard. Although I’m sure building models out of breakfast cereal boxes is still popular with kids in schools, in fact Google is actually taking virtual reality into the classroom. A year on from the launch of the cardboard DIY virtual reality headset, looking very like the old View-Master, if you can remember that far back, they are now available in a whole range of materials. What Google has done is to make virtual reality accessible to everyone with prices starting at around £13 or $20 for a Cardboard kit which gives you everything you need, with the exception of the iPhone or Android device, and accommodates smart phones with a screen size up to 6". For some time now I have been watching the wearable technology space for a meaningful move into education, however it hasn’t really happened, mainly I think because of price, but the inexpensive Google Cardboard has a lot of potential to make significant changes to education. Google is leading the way, as one would expect them to be, by launching Expeditions, which is a kit made up of a Cardboard and the phone to use in it, along with a tablet for the teacher. The teachers tablet and students’ phones synchronise and the teacher can take the students on a virtual trip to any place in the world. Where schools, universities and private training providers are using VR it has had an amazing impact on students’ learning experience. Watch the video below to see how children are using Google Cardboard. Examples of practice in industry and further and higher education tend still very much to be centred around engineering and health care, but I don’t think it will be long before we see more VR being used across other industries and in a larger proportion of educational establishments. Author: Carolyn Lewis, Managing Director, Elearning Marketplace and learning technology consultant. Sources: http://www.idgconnect.com/blog-abstract/9976/google-i-o-2015-some-cool-stuff-dull-overall http://www.digitaltrends.com/wearables/google-expeditions-announcement/ http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/9140.aspx http://www.forbes.com/sites/ptc/2014/08/27/could-virtual-reality-be-the-next-big-thing-in-education/

2015 Learning and Development Snapshot: 40% leave a job because of poor or no training Private sector learning and development headcount has increased in the last year Public sector learning and development headcount has decreased in the last year Learning and development training budgets have increased in the public sector and decreased in the private sector 65% of those surveyed in the CIPD L&D research said that internal coaching will grow in the next 2 years 59% of those surveyed in the CIPD L&D research said that the use of e-learning will grow in the next 2 years 19% of those surveyed in the CIPD L&D research said that instructor led training will grow in the next 2 years 52% of those surveyed in the ADP Workforce View in 2014/15 research said that talent gaps are a big threat to their organisation 48% of those surveyed in the ADP Workforce View in 2014/15 research said that cuts to training are a big threat to their organisation Of the 39% of surveyed respondents in the ADP Workforce View in 2014/15 who said that they would require training in the future, 48% said it is in the use of technology and new devices, 32% said it is in the use of social media and 20% said it will be to improve their numeracy skills IBM found that e-learning resulted in users learning nearly 5 times more without increasing time spent training In the ADP Workforce View in 2014/15 Report 61% of respondents said that in the next year they would be increasing their use of mobile technology, 30% said they would be replacing the core HR system and 40% said they would be moving their present HR system to a SAAS (software as a service) solution. In the ADP Workforce View in 2014/15 Report 45% of respondents said in 2013 that technology has changed their role and in 2014 this number went up to 72%. The Open University found that e-learning consumes 90% less energy than traditional courses The London Fire Brigade introduced blended learning, which improved the quality and consistency of training, and now saves them £700,000 per year.

Both the desire to provide learners with an engaging programme of learning and staff enthusiastic to embrace change and innovation are valuable ingredients in your strategic approach to blended learning. But success is rarely long term and organisational wide without some preliminary steps. The best foundations for successful planning and implementation of a blended learning strategy, whether the blend’s face to face element is in the classroom or workplace, are based on a knowledge and understanding of the opportunities available and where the opportunities can lead. Many people talk about the strategy being the first step in the process of implementing a blended learning model, but prior to a strategy come your business objectives. In reality you can only define your objectives and create a strategy if you have the appropriate knowledge and experience to draw on. Management understandably can struggle with identifying the organisation’s aim, if they don’t know what it is they are aiming for, and if there is an aim it can be challenging knowing how to achieve it. A strategy drawn up with this lack of knowledge and understanding is always woolly with a lack of clarity, preventing staff from identifying exactly what the organisation and they are aiming to achieve. If you’re starting your blended learning journey I would recommend a two stage approach. The first stage sets out how you will identify appropriate business’s objectives and the path to achievement of those objectives. The second stage is a meaningful strategy with action plans that can be embraced and implemented by staff. The familiar saying ‘put the need before the technology’, in other words don’t come across an aspect of technology and think I must use it somewhere in delivery, is generally correct. However, when a need is identified knowledge of what solutions are available is required. Sometimes you become aware of a solution that will enhance a process that doesn’t actually address a particular need. So although a good mantra for staff to encourage them to focus on the learner and organisational needs, don’t close your mind to opportunities that make enhancements you haven’t thought of. A common mistake made by employers is that they decide on one aspect of the infrastructure to deliver a blended model, which meets the requirement of one or two applications they have decided upon. They then find out a little later down the line that they have invested time and money into something that doesn’t work with the solution for the next step in their strategy. This has resulted in a lot of solutions being thrown out and a new approach adopted, which can be hugely costly. Let’s consider the factors that can have a significant influence over the success of writing, implementing and developing an effective blended learning strategy: Demonstrating to staff a blended model in action so they understand what the organisation and staff are working towards. It may well not be the perfect blended model for your provision, but discussions on how your organisation would do things similarly or differently with a real model as reference can make all the difference to staff engagement. Having an understanding of where the organisation is heading is critical to success as too are your staff, so you need them on board. Finding an example of a blended model in action, and not just the demonstration of a learning management system (LMS), isn’t always easy. A good option is to get all delivery staff to undertake a third party blended learning course themselves, but this may be difficult due to financial or time constraints. An alternative way to achieve this is to enrol the member of staff who is going to be leading your development in this area onto a blended learning course. On completion that person then develops a short blended learning course for all staff.If your organisation is a member of a network then find out if other members are prepared to offer a demonstration and pass on their experience of other points such as the pedagogical implications for staff. 2.  Having a good understanding of a range of technology solutions in use for delivery of blended learning, including hardware, software, cloud services and applications. Start with the learners needs: ensure content is engaging and user friendly and meets learning objectives. Don’t make decisions before you have formed the bigger picture: For example, don’t decide on the online portal for content access until you know what type of content you want to provide to your learners and how they will access it. With your requirements in mind learn from others as to what has worked and what hasn’t worked for them. These are likely to include free and paid for solutions; don’t dismiss the free options as some of the best content creation tools are free. Sources of information can be found at relevant conferences, blogs, e-newsletters, networking, webinars, workshops and peer support forums. A good option is to post questions on a relevant social media channel or group asking members to contribute suggestions for good practise and recommended applications. The other good source of advice are websites that have a focus on offering information and advice on technology for education such as the Centre for Performance and Learning Technologies and Edudemic. With your requirements in mind learn from others as to what has worked and what hasn’t worked for them. These are likely to include free and paid for solutions; don’t dismiss the free options as some of the best content creation tools are free.Sources of information can be found at relevant conferences, blogs, e-newsletters, networking, webinars, workshops and peer support forums. A good option is to post questions on a relevant social media channel or group asking members to contribute suggestions for good practise and recommended applications. The other good source of advice are websites that have a focus on offering information and advice on technology for education such as the Centre for Performance and Learning Technologies and Edudemic. 3. Sharing your research with all staff who will be involved in implementing a blended learning strategy.  Get them to have a play with solutions that you have identified and collect their feedback. Getting staff to share experiences and ideas with colleagues is a good way of getting them engaged in developing new skills, and planning and developing their blended programmes of learning, which will be required to move the organisation forward with a strategy. Having the opportunity to ‘have-a-go’ without fear of failure is empowering. It’s amazing how many staff disengaged in the whole idea of blended learning get inspired to provide their learners with the same positive experience they have had. When it comes to applications that provide the mechanism for delivery, such as an LMS or webinars for live delivery of training, there are many free versions of cloud based services and applications that will give you a good idea of how different types of solutions work. So spend some time evaluating them as to whether they will be appropriate for your provision now and in the future. Set some target dates for trying out a selection of content creation applications. You can ask staff to identify a paper based learning resource and then choose one of the applications under discussion to develop an online enhanced version of that resource. If a team uses a selection of applications, gives feedbacks and shares the resource with colleagues a lot of useful information can be collated as to what you will take forwards as an organisation. It may seem a significant investment of time just to get to the point of being able to confidently identify the medium and long term blended learning goals for your organisation, however it is time well spent. You’re staff are more likely to be engaged in the journey to meet your objectives, and will have the confidence to continually evaluate their own and the organisation’s progress. On-going evaluation and development of your strategy is important as the blended learning model is never complete it continues to evolve. With everyone contributing to on-going developments and objectives it ensures that your strategy accurately reflects an achievable vision for the future.

Mindfulness is rapidly becoming a global phenomenon, supported by more and more rigorous scientific research, and driven in part by a desire to find new ways to help solve the challenges that threaten our health. Last week a landmark British report from Mindful Nation UK laid out recommendations for the provision of mindfulness across many public policy areas. The World Health Organisation has warned that mental ill-health will be the biggest burden of disease in developed countries by 2030. Staggering figures show one in five employees is likely to be affected by depression at some point in their lives. Already, mindfulness training has been shown to reduce the risk of relapse of recurrent depression by one third. In a two-year clinical trial, led by researchers from Oxford University, people already taking antidepressants were assigned to a Mindfulness based Cogitative Therapy programme with a view to reducing or stopping their medication, or were asked to continue antidepressants alone. With support from their GP and therapist, around 70% of the mindfulness group were able to stop taking antidepressants. But what is Mindfulness? According to Reachout:  Mindfulness is about training yourself to pay attention in a specific way. When a person is Mindful they: Focus on the present moment Try not to think about anything that went on in the past or that might be coming up in the future Purposefully concentrate on what’s happening around them Try not to be judgmental about anything they notice, or label things as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ There is more and more evidence that the practice of Mindfulness can be effectively transferred to the workplace particularly with regard to training. High profile businesses such as Google and Toyota have already introduced the concept of Mindfulness to their workforce. An engaged workforce is a productive workforce and implementing Mindfulness practices can help employees to be fully engaged with their work, increasing their focus and decreasing their stress levels. Some of the obvious benefits include: Less stress and anxiety in the workplace means less absenteeism. According to CIPD & Simply Health Absence Management Report 2015 31% of employers have seen an increase in so-called ‘presenteeism’ in the last 12 months. This is largely a result of   more and more businesses seeing employees working long hours as the norm. Focusing the mind and increasing concentration is shown to boost productivity. A relaxed workforce are far better prepared to be able to cope with stresses of the working day. Can prevent burnout and prevent job satisfaction Interestingly, Steve Jobs placed huge importance on meditation following his time travelling in India. He was a pioneer of "mind technology" the use of Zen mindfulness meditation to reduce his stress, gain more clarity, and enhance his creativity. In Walter Isaacson’s 2011 biography of Jobs, he quotes the computer genius as saying: "If you just sit and observe, you will see how restless your mind is. If you try to calm it, it only makes it worse, but over time it does calm, and when it does, there’s room to hear more subtle things. Your mind just slows down, and you see a tremendous expanse in the moment. You see so much more than you could see before." As a result of the increased demand and access to online learning there is a wealth of learning material on Mindfulness available at a touch of a button. We asked Libby Seery from Renaissance Life Therapies her views and she told us: "The market for self-help literature that teaches you how to deal with depression or navigate the trials of life in a more adaptive way is massive. Using rich web-technologies such as videos, podcasts and interactive forums and quizzes we can now turn a "passive" learning experience into an actively engaging one. Thanks to technologies like Skype we can also now include the one element that is sorely missing from self-help: on demand personalized support". So as more and more businesses recognise the workload and time pressures of their team could they work smarter by commissioning Mindfulness training for their staff? If you’re interested in undertaking a course in Mindfulness then take a look at this online Mindfulness course. Sources: Guardian Renaissance Life Therapies Reachout.com HR Magazine Action on Depression Walter Isaacson’s 2011 biography of Jobs

It’s that time of year when we scratch our heads and think what on earth am I going to buy Granny or Aunty Sue or young Johnny for Christmas this year? Trawling round the shops desperately looking for that perfect gift can be timely and frustrating so this year why not be inspired and buy them something that they will really appreciate? Did you know that online learning is rapidly increasing in popularity with hundreds of thousands of people now learning online? Some great reasons to choose the gift of e-learning this Christmas: E-learning covers a wealth of subjects from photography and languages; yoga and mindfulness to computer skills and web design amongst the many choices there will be a course to suit everyone; The learner can choose to learn at a time and place suitable to them, all they need is a mobile device and access to the internet. Being able to access the learning at a time and place to suit is very welcome; With people living longer they have more time in retirement and many are looking to learn a new skill, so perhaps now’s the time to become fluent in French for all those retirement holidays; Giving young people additional skills will open up opportunities for the future - if you know a budding entrepreneur why not give them a course on web design to help them get a foot on the ladder; Whilst many people think about trying something new how many actually have the confidence to go ahead, by buying an online course in the subject they are interested in you may just get them to give it a go; Challenging the mind has significant health benefits helping to prolong the quality of life and fight the onset of illnesses such as Alzheimer’s and dementia. E-learning could be just the present needed for older loved ones; E-learning is fun, many courses are very interactive and colourful and include interactive quizzes and games; The gift of learning is something which lasts a lifetime unlike may Christmas gifts which are forgotten by the time the decorations are dismantled. So why not choose an inspirational gift this year and make it a Christmas to remember with an e-learning course. Click on the image below to look at some of the great courses on offer and take advantage of our Christmas Offers.

A little bit of forethought goes a long way.