This week’s Fierce resource was originally published on the Harvard Business Review and explores the link between sleep and leadership.Being an effective leader requires a lot of skills, including an ability to be present, communicate effectively, and a strong emotional intelligence. But before we can do all that, we first have to take care of ourselves. That means getting some much needed shut eye.And many of us aren’t getting enough of it. According to the article There’s a Proven Link Between Effective Leadership and Getting Enough Sleep, sleep deficiencies can undermine important forms of leadership behavior and eventually hurt financial performance.What is sleep loss costing you?"Sleep deprivation impairs the ability to focus attention selectively: Research shows that after roughly 17 to 19 hours of wakefulness (say, at 11 PM or 1 AM for someone who got up at 6 AM), individual performance on a range of tasks is equivalent to that of a person with a blood alcohol level of 0.05%. That’s the legal drinking limit in many countries."Read the article. The post Fierce Resource: There’s a Proven Link Between Effective Leadership and Getting Enough Sleep appeared first on Fierce, Inc..

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Most of the day I sit by myself staring at a computer.I believe all people seek connection and purpose. It shocked me that the highest score was about sitting alone at the computer. But that's the reality. Think of all the people at Starbucks, or on a plane or at an airport with their laptops open surrounded by many people and totally alone.  I am a person that needs my alone time, however, I need to be with others as much, a critical balance. The question is, how do we feed the need to connect as leaders in today's work environment? I recommend a book I read years ago.  Clearly you do not have time to read this book.  I challenge you to make time to read a chapter a week- how hard can that be? I also challenge you to buy a PAPER used copy to make it really tactile.  And I challenge you to challenge your staff to do the same, which will help you identify your high potential leaders: Love and Profit: The Art of Caring Leadership, James A. Autry. Here are a few other provocative ideas: Head, Heart & Gutsby David L. Dotlich, Petere C. Cairo and Stephen H. Rhinesmith. In this provocative book, the authors discuss how to move to Whole Leadership. A sample of the book is here. Here's what they describe: Among the qualities that distinguish the best leaders from others are emotional maturity, the capacity to create trust and the flexibility to work with a range of different types of people. In other words, the best leaders have heart, in addition to their other strengths. Effective leaders show tenacity, persistence and the ability to overcome obstacles that get in their way- what is referred to as guts. Of course, a leader who relies primarily on heart or guts is equally ineffective. Most people who achieve senior-level leadership positions in business today, however, are head-oriented individuals; the heart- or guts oriented managers tend to be stigmatized or eliminated before they make it to a top position, or they are relegated to a function best suited to their orientation. The best leaders balance all three. The authors go on to suggest that leaders must identify five boundaries: External, Vertical, Horizontal, Geographical and Personal, all of which move.  I compare this to identifying the very fluid stakeholder roles in a project.  Leading is not possible without a good view of the playing field.  To get things done will require a balance between both strategic and operational work.      The domain of emotional intelligence is one where we can grow our strength through practice any time we want.  It is not hard wired. Gratefulness is  a practice that moves us  to see, connect and have empathy for others which also draws us out of self. Consider some of these thoughts brought to me today by my trusted friend Carroll Nelligan who shared a post with me from DK Brainard titled "Gratitude and Belonging." I've selected some of the nuggets about gratitude:The world is changing, much faster than our ego/personality selves are prepared to deal with. Living creative, connected lives where we get to do more of what we enjoy with more people we enjoy doing it with is the desired outcome now.  The challenge, for many of us, is that we are so habituated to choosing  duty, frustration, and self-abandonment over joy that we find it very hard to believe the Universe will support us if we insist on choosing joy.There’s a leap of faith that must be taken. Soft landings are not guaranteed. Part of the challenge for those of us who are being pinned down by this transformational accelerator beam is that we don’t have a road map. I know I’ve received a stream of assurances from my guides that it’s safe to let go and trust. That not only will I be OK, this is what I’ve been waiting for my whole life. The Universe is answering my prayers, manifesting my vision of an abundant life, setting me free. I don’t have the map. Sorry. I believe what my guides are telling me. Partly because I’ve been here before and it does seem true that after each breakdown, break-up, or breakthrough episode, I always find myself in a better life. Belatedly grateful for the experience    ...it's the egoic mind’s reaction to  contemplating finally letting go of the habitual guilt and shame that motivate most of our choices and daily actions. To the egoic mind, spiritual freedom is tantamount to death. We no longer need those old voices of judgment and shame... realized later, is another form of the perspective I’ve been writing and talking about recently: Forgiveness is imagination in action. Gratitude is actually a form of forgiveness - of self, of others, of the world - because it changes the images in our mind…  Standing in the light takes some resolve...What I’m hearing, when I remember to be still and listen, is that we don’t need a map. We just need to be quiet and listen. And remember to be grateful for the light that is always here, in every moment.

To commemorate the 10 years of Freesound we are organising an event in the framework of the MUTEK festival in Barcelona. The Music Technology Group will have an Artist-in-residence that will create a musical work using Freesound. The result will be presented as part of an event dedicated to Freesound that will take place on March 3rd. The artist has been selected by Mutek festival through an open call. The program of the event is: - Introduction to Freesound and its use in the musical creation - Audition of the work "Paseo BCN" by Andrés Lewin-Richter - Presentation and live session of the artist in residence MUTEK [ES] - Freesound. Work created in real time using some applications created around Freesound. - Chromahelix ­ Live Act (https://soundcloud.com/chromahelix). Electroacoustic ensamble established in Barcelona, that expose the audience to different sound textures, combining soundscapes and minimal rythms. In this performance the audience will be able to interact with Freesound in real time. All the performances will use a surround octophonic system. You are all invited to come to celebrate the 10 years of Freesound. March 3rd, 2016 - 7PM Sala Polivalent Universitat Pompeu Fabra C/ Roc Boronat 138 Barcelona, SPAIN Free admission Organised by: Music Technology Group, Phonos Foundation, MUTEK[ES]

I have ported the famous VST Speek plugin for Linux : VSTSpeek on Ubuntu 12.04 (Renoise host) download it now !! - VSTSpeek for Linux 32 bit - VSTSpeek for Linux 64 bit it’s a Linux native VST and should work with : - Bitwig Studio - Renoise - Tracktion - Ardour - Carla - Energy XT please note that it’s a beta and could be unstable or suffer strange bugs. Note about the key press : Some hosts "steal" the keyboard focus, so you can’t type any words in the text zone. It happens with Ardour 4 for example : and VST effEditKeyUp / onKeyUp (and down)  are not yet implemented ("keypress are not sent to LINUXVST") in Ardour. That’s why i came up with a workaround : click on "Config" button then check "dirty hack". and now you should be able to type the words in the text field. VSTSpeek in Ardour 4

Just the other day, it seems like I held a huge Nokia phone in my hand, telling my friends how amazing it was to be able to play Snake, message my friends, and call anyone in the world.  How things have changed. Just a few years on, the whole world is in our pocket, access to anything and everything, on demand, just as Tesla predicted. By 2018,  more than fifty percent of users will use a tablet or smartphone first for all online activities [1]. Also, its predicted that by this time there will be more than one billion users of wireless Internet. The field of education and corporate training has a responsibility to stay on the cutting edge of these changes in technology. So far, the evidence suggests that we’re moving forward. 85% of organizations now identify just how important mobile is to learning, and are either implementing or planning to implement a mobile training strategy.[2] Clearly, mLearning is changing the game. So now we’re going to look at a few ways that mobile is already transforming the world of corporate learning.

Learning is a two way process. Delegates sign up to be trained, but the trainer needs to be sure that any information imparted is current, relevant and accurate. How many times have you been on a training course and felt that only part of the content was suitable for your needs? Or as a training business, have you missed the opportunity to gain repeat business because learners haven’t felt satisfied?  

While following accessibility guidelines and requirements may have you focusing on features and functionality that you need to avoid, there’s no reason that an accessible course can’t also be engaging and interactive. In this post, we’ll provide some creative ways to include Lectora® features that you may have thought were "off limits" in accessible eLearning.  Initially Hidden Objects Remember that any object that is Initially Hidden when a page loads will not be read by a screen reader. However, you can still use alternative methods and hidden text to simulate many interactive elements, including rollover text and tool tips as well as pop-up messages on the page. The key is to always ensure that a copy of accessible text is available on the page, even if it is not technically visible to a sighted user. Further, always ensure that the layering order is correct in the Title Explorer, which effects the tabbing order on the page and the reading order that assistive technology like screen readers use to announce the objects. Rollover Text and Tool Tips An easy way to create accessible tool tips and rollover text is to continue to use Mouse Enter/Exit actions to show initially hidden text, but ensure that a hidden copy of the text is also on the page as alternative content. For example, to add rollover text to a page, make a copy of the text block and set that to be initially visible (clear the Initially Hidden checkbox) and then consider reducing the font size, matching the font color to the background color of the page, and layering it behind an image. In this way, a learner who is sighted or not using assistive technology will interact with the rollover text, and a learner who is using assistive technology will encounter the accessible version of the text. The accessible text is layered behind the rollover text and is initially visible on the page. Pop-Ups Rather than always asking your learner to open physical pop-ups that open in a new window, you can layer additional content on the page that is only shown when triggered by the learner (for example, when the learner selects a button or hyperlink). You can accomplish this by layering the "pop-up" underneath a shape or image that matches the background of the page, and the hiding the shape/image. To "display" the pop-up, trigger an action to Hide the image or shape. To "close" the pop-up, trigger an action to Show the image or shape. Because the text is initially loaded on the page, a learner using assistive technology can access the "pop-up" message. Just be sure to layer it appropriately in the Title Explorer. The white rectangle is layered over the pop-up. The Learn More button hides the rectangle and the Close button shows it. Take Advantage of Branching Finally, remember that you can always make use of Lectora’s variables to create a branching scenario. Branching allows you to provide alternate content when necessary. For example, you may want to use a non-accessible question type like a Drag and Drop question, and branch learners using assistive technology to an alternate page that uses a Multiple Response question instead. You can accomplish this using variables and conditional actions: On the first page of your course, provide a way for your learner to indicate if he or she is using assistive technology (either with a button, hyperlink or keyboard shortcut). For example, you can provide some text that states: "If you are using assistive technology/software please select the Shift+A key now." Trigger an action to modify a user-defined variable, and set it equal to "true." Add conditional actions to the navigation buttons, links, and keystroke actions in your title to go to a page with alternative and accessible content if the variable is equal to true. Ask the learner to trigger an action that modifies a variable so that you can track if he or she is using assistive technology.   Use the value of the variable to conditionally navigate the learner to accessible pages when necessary.  By using these tips in your eLearning course, you can ensure that your course is accessible AND interactive for all learners. Want to try creating accessible courses yourself in Lectora? Sign up for a free 30-day trial today. For more accessibility reading, check out these posts: Creating Accessible eLearning: What You Need to Know How to Use Lectora to Create Accessible Courses The post Tips and Tricks to Making Accessible Content More Interactive appeared first on .

  In a layman’s term, a classroom must entail some building with desks and a chalkboard where students and their teacher meet to engage on matters of academic interest. Thinking of a classroom in such terms is right but not complete. Over the years, technology has shifted the nature of learning through innovative approaches that include the online classroom. The good part about online classrooms is that they have nearly every advantage that one would expect from a normal classroom plus the extra advantage of convenience. In fact, online classrooms are more engaging, versatile and exciting than the conventional classroom because they bring together learners from multiple backgrounds and experiences.   Interesting Learning Techniques   Usually, online classroom teachers have various options of capturing and retaining the interest of their students. Comparative surveys between online classrooms and the walled classes have established that the online option gives the students more quality think-time because of the unique qualities of the teaching techniques. Naturally, technologically savvy learners are more inclined towards online classroom discussions than face-to-face discussions. Use of videos with impressive graphics helps to spur the interest of the learners in the subject. Besides, the videos aid enhance the understanding of the lesson. The level of concentration is higher than in a conventional setting and the discussions are less likely to veer off the course of the subject like they usually do in a traditional classroom. Overall, this advantage eventually translates into faster learning and long term interest in the subject matter.   The Advantage of Reduced Costs   You do not expect to incur the same cost of learning in an online classroom like you would spend in a conventional learning environment. Online classrooms require lesser logistics and most learning materials are availed for free on the internet. Many people prefer the online option because they spend less money and benefit from a variety of courses. Enrollment, registration and commencement of the courses is easier, faster, cheaper and highly convenient for people who distaste the logistical challenges that are associated with the traditional classrooms. In general, the online classroom offers high quality and convenient learning at very affordable costs. This option encourages people to pursue their career courses without ruining their financial stability.   The Flexibility of Learning from Anywhere   Nothing pleases the modern learner more than the advantage of learning from the comfort of their homes or offices. With online classrooms, you can even learn while holidaying on the beachfront resorts of the Bahamas. Naturally, learning is a continuous process that should never be hindered by the routine of the learner. Online classrooms allow you to explore the delights of technology as you broaden your knowledge on your preferred courses. Corporate executives who wish to study a special course, but have no time to attend a classroom have the option of the online classrooms to help them realize their dreams. Recent technological innovations allow for increased interaction of students and instructors, which helps to enhance the social intelligence of the learners. In every sense, this model of learning is the best solution for the fast-paced modern societies.   The post Exploring the Unique Advantages of Online Classrooms appeared first on Fedena Blog.

Today we’re going to be answering some questions about tracking the source of your leads. This is essential for determining which of your marketing channels are working and which aren’t. If you’re trying to market your product or course via different channels, like social media, videos, blogs, or paid ads, and you don’t know which channels are working, you’re essentially losing money. For example, you might be going all in on social media, but you wouldn’t know that paid ads are a better use of your time and money if you aren’t tracking your leads. In this episode of Teach Online TV, we show you some quick and easy ways to do this. One really quick and easy way to track the source of your leads, especially if you’re running quick experiments, is with Bitly. You simply throw in a link to your product, course, blog, or wherever you’re sending visitors and it will give you back a shortened link. It also tracks how many people are clicking through on that link. So if you’re promoting yourself on different sites, like your social media channels or guest posts, use a Bitly link instead of a regular link to track which channels are sending the most leads. If you sign up for a Bitly account, you will also be able to see where those leads are coming from and data around how many people are clicking through. Another pro is that, because it shortens your link, you can share it easily on sites with character limits, like Twitter or certain forums. If you don’t like Bitly, there are tons of other great URL shorteners out there. Hootsuite has a really good one, and so does Google. Use any of these URL shorteners to measure the performance of the different marketing and growth experiments that you are running.   The post Teach Online TV #03: Tracking The Source Of Your Leads appeared first on Thinkific.