Hello Adapted PE(APE) podcast listeners! The podcast has been going extremely well and I am enjoying all the feedback that I am receiving from all you out there! I am excited to bring our third exciting episode on adapted physical education to you!Brad Weiner, 2013 NationalAdapted Physical EducatorOf The YearFor the third episode of What's New in Adapted Physical Education, we were joined by the exceptional Brad Weiner, the 2013 AAPHRED Adapted Physical Educator of the Year. Brad has been an amazing asset to the field of APE for many years and has made many contributions to our field. Brad has created and published original assessments for children with special needs, founded Camp Abilities Maryland, is the Vice President for the National Consortium For Physical Education For Individuals With Disabilities(NCPEID), and has presented on the topic of adapted physical education at conferences all across the country. During our interview we discussed a variety of topics including how he became an APE teacher, what the NCPEID is and how it benefits APE teachers, inclusion for kids in a PE setting, and some of the biggest obstacles APE teachers come across. Please check out the NCPEID website and get involved with the association! Brad discussed with us that the consortium gives everyone a voice and is a bridge between teachers and legislators. Here is an excellent video of Brad working with students with severe and multiple impairments and the adapted equipment he uses to work with them. I will have another podcast coming up shortly. I am moving to Texas to start the PhD program at Texas Women's University next week so wish me luck! Once again, please keep the comments and feedback coming!   Until next time,The APE ManScott McNamara

A recent article in the Independent: ‘Accenture: One of world’s biggest companies to scrap annual performance reviews‘ Apparently this decision has been based on the realisation that trying to measure the value of employees’ contribution and ranking them is in fact costly, an administrative burden and most of all not effective in improving the performance of employees. Many top companies have moved away from performance reviews to take up a model of supporting and positioning employees to perform better. It is surprising that more companies have not moved away from this model of performance review that evaluates one employee’s performance against another, whether those employees are administrators, trainers, sales people or management. Does this model really motivate employees to perform better or develop an organisational culture of employee support and value? But, should annual performance reviews be scrapped altogether? In my experience employees’ value performance reviews when they are seen as an opportunity to spend quality time participating in discussions about not only performance, but their perspective on their role, progression and the company they work for. On-going feedback on performance and support, and obtaining the employee’s perspective on performance is very valuable, but there needs to be some sort of formalised process to evaluate progress. The review/appraisal is about getting the best from employees by evaluating performance against personalised objectives that are based on overarching business objectives, and an individual’s aspirations. It’s understandable that in some sectors competition to achieve the best outcomes against KPIs is an effective motivational strategy that is expected and welcomed, as in sales roles. However, there is more to the value of an employee than meeting targets. In the last year there has been a large body of evidence published saying how much employees value professional development. Employees are more likely to stay loyal to a company if they are offered training and opportunities for career development. The Temkin Group’s Employee Engagement Benchmark, 2015 found that engaged employees demonstrate a higher commitment to their work, take less sick days and are less likely to look for a new job. Training, coaching and feedback are one of five competencies they cite for employee engagement. Employee professional development cannot just be offered on a whim or an informal request, it should be based on a structured process to ensure that agreed development is in line with budget allocations and organisational objectives, as well as personal aspirations. The Accenture CEO said that employees should be given the "freedom, the authority, the delegation to innovate and to lead with some very simple measures", which sounds very empowering, but hopefully won’t be at the expense of performance and aspirational discussions between the employee and manager. Author: Carolyn Lewis, Managing Director of Elearning Marketplace Ltd and learning technology consultant.  

Webinar software provides a great opportunity to deliver training to geographically dispersed learners that is effective, flexible and cost effective. Despite this many trainers are yet to engage with webinars as a tool to deliver virtual learning. For those who are planning to add webinars to their delivery methods it can be rather daunting when presented with so many suppliers and different options. As with all effective training, planning and preparation are key to success. There are also a number of things that need consideration prior to jumping in with your choice of webinar software, which can save you a lot of time and money. Tips for effective webinars Tip 1: Decide what your objectives are for delivering training virtually. The most important and obvious ones are to provide learners with an engaging learning experience and for them to achieve the learning objectives. To achieve an engaging session which learners will learn from you need to consider the type of content, how it will be best delivered and what devices learners will be using. You might also want to record your webinars so that other learners can view them at a later date. For example do you want to be able to: deliver information to learners using a PowerPoint presentations? engage learners in discussion? ask them to interact with the screen? encourage learners to ask or answer questions? show resources on your computer? ask learners to select an answer from multiple options? take learners out of the webinar to another online portal to complete an activity? In addition there are the wider organisational objectives such as do you require webinar management as part of the functionality. For example Outlook integration, email invites, automated registration, recording attendance, participation statistics, email reminders and evaluation surveys? Tip 2: Try out a variety of free webinar software before buying into one particular supplier. Many webinar applications offer a free starter account for small attendee numbers and its worthwhile trying out a few to get the feel for usability, functionality and the learner experience. This will give you a better idea of the possibilities for fulfilling your objectives. You may well find when you try a few free ones that you change your view on what functionality is right for your organisation. Try and get as many members of staff as possible to try out the roles of organiser, presenter and attendee. It is really important that the software has good usability and feedback on this should come from those delivering and those attending. Tip 3: Decide on the webinar functionality you require to meet your objectives You may be surprised at the range of functionality that can be offered using webinar applications. Wikipedia has a comprehensive Comparison of Web Conferencing Software but it can be rather daunting. This is why we suggest starting with your objectives and sourcing the functionality to meet those objectives, rather than putting the technology first. Tip 4: Identify the skills required to deliver effective webinars and up-skill staff Don’t expect staff to be able to login and deliver a webinar that meets all your objectives without any training. Delivering online requires practice with a cycle of feedback and improvement. In particular feedback from attendees is vital to understand what makes a webinar engaging and effective. Once you have established the knowledge and skills that staff will require, draw up a development plan and follow-up with on-going evaluation of delivery. Tip 5: Consider group size One primary consideration might be cost and generally speaking the larger the number of attendees at your webinars, the more you will pay, but the less functionality you will need. However, from a teachers perspective managing and delivering the session effectively is the most important thing and this is much harder with big groups. Having decided what your objectives are you will be able to identify the maximum number of learners joining a session. For example, if you want learners to be able to contribute with audio and interact with the screen using the whiteboard you won’t want large groups as this is not manageable. However, if your objective is to relay as much information as possible using a presentation with little interaction required from the attendees then your group size can be multiple hundreds. Tip 6: Put together a procedure, which includes a checklist, for staff delivering webinars to ensure quality and consistency of delivery. Tip 7: Evaluate all webinars using a learner survey and use the information to continually improve and develop webinar delivery. Effective Practice for Engaging Small Groups In summary, webinar software has so much to offer the training provider who wants to establish a flexible and cost effective approach to blended delivery for learners and employers.

Are you a confident presenter or do you shake at the knees just thinking about it? Giving a presentation, or even a one minute elevator pitch, to a group is a terrifying experience for many people. We think that we’ll be judged by the audience whether it’s our colleagues, who we might know very well, or complete strangers. Those worst affected get a pounding heart, trembling knees, feel nauseous and short of breath, and their mind goes blank; in fact pretty much like a panic attack. Even those who are experienced presenters generally have some nerves before they start, and it’s often said that a few nerves make you perform better, but this is very different to the feeling of sheer terror experienced by many presenters. There are many occasions in our working life when we might be required to give a presentation and on some of these occasions the outcome of the presentation can affect our future and that of our employers. These presentations can be: during a job interview part of a sales pitch to win an award tendering for a project pitching for investment If our presentation is poor, work contracts and job opportunities can be lost, and our self-esteem shattered. Unfortunately, we are surrounded by examples of terrible presentations. It is all too common to be bored to death by the poor use of PowerPoint; to feel as though the speaker just wants to blurt out their material and leave as soon as possible; and to feel confused by a deluge of unnecessary data. How often have you sat through a boring and endless PowerPoint presentation which is bullet after bullet of text? You might even be one of the 13% of workers that have admitted falling asleep during a presentation, according to a survey of office workers conducted by Sharp Europe. 44% of those surveyed said that they had seen someone else nodding off during a presentation. Not surprisingly the top two reasons for disliking presentations are that the talk is too long and the presenter is boring. The good news is that we can all become more confident in giving presentations and standing up to speak in a group. We can develop our presentation skills and engage our audience so that it’s a positive experience for both us as the speaker and the audience. John Ellwood, Managing Director of 3E Training, says "to be a great presenter you only need to do two things well. You must prepare properly, and manage your behaviour. It sounds simple and it can become so". John goes on to say, "Sadly, very few speakers are given adequate training, and their first response, when asked to present, is to seek refuge in PowerPoint. This is the worst way to plan! PowerPoint is a possible method to enhance the presentation but should not be the central focus during planning or delivery. You are the most important visual aid, and You must take control! That means that you need to develop and monitor key elements of your behaviour. The most important ones relate to the speed of your voice, your eye contact, and your position in the room. When you can manage these you will have the opportunity to react and respond to the needs of the audience as you make your points". Whether you’re just starting your career or you have been working for many years, developing your skills to present confidently and professionally is a valuable thing to do, so when the time comes you can deliver a presentation without those trembling knees. If you’d like to develop your presentation skills why not consider an online course, such as Powerful Presentations, and learn at a time and place that suits you.

Why are fitness bands so intuitive? Ambient Intelligence. Read what Dorsey Dixon has to say about using ambient tech in everyday life.

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