Social Innovation Education - Create The Desired Social Impact.

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Social innovation has been gaining importance worldwide at a rapid pace and this the reason why more and more institutes need to provide proper training to aspiring learners and empower them to bring about the necessary changes in society.

Educating Social Innovators

Almost a decade, most universities barely offered any official support for aspiring social entrepreneurs and innovators. Although students could pursue courses on social issues, political science and policy; there was a lack of real-world skills training on social innovation, strategy, management and leadership. However the scenario is changing drastically now.

Derek Ellerman, co-founder of Polaris Project and graduate of Brown University, said “Today, a remarkable shift is underway. Brown and dozens of other universities across the country are part of a growing movement in higher education to make the social impact of their graduates a central institutional priority.” He added that “One of the main organizations pushing this trend is Ashoka U, which has created the Changemaker Campus Consortium to recognize and support universities at the leading edge of this change. ” Ellerman is geared up to launch his initiative SHIFT which will support the new breed of social innovators and entrepreneurs.

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 But What Do You Mean By A Social Innovator?

A social innovator is motivated to develop skills which you simply cannot outsource which are inherently human. These skills are highly important especially in the conceptual age. They promote the key values advocated by the United Nations: we are a single family who live in a fragile and interdependent world. The truth is we need new thinking to counter the challenges of the 21st Century. Hence social innovators are dedicated to bring about a positive change in the society and add meaning and value to their respective lives.

Need For Social Innovation Education

This is the reason why there is a strong need providing quality social innovation education so that we can develop the upcoming generation of innovators. Ellerman said “I had the opportunity this summer to serve on the selection panel for the newest members of the Changemaker Campus Consortium – Portland State University, Rollins College, Brigham Young University, and, yes, Brown – which joined the current 15 members, among them Duke, Arizona State, Middlebury, and The New School. Hearing about some of the groundbreaking new initiatives these colleges and universities are advancing was incredibly heartening. ”

This is certainly a great news not only for social entrepreneurs but also for the business sector in general. Companies will now have better access better trained and skilled graduates and re-trained mid-career executives and professionals. That will not only have real experience as managers, leaders and innovators, but they will also know how to effectively focus on the environmental and social impact of their efforts.

Moreover, this news will also be especially great for the new breed of social innovators who can now receive the required training and education that will enable them to reach their goals and create the desired social impact.

What are your thoughts on social innovation education? Feel free to share your opinions with us by commenting below.

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Whatsapp: A Learning Tool That Amends The Education Path

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With the constant and rapid pace of technological advancement, the way we learn and teach is getting transformed and revolutionised in a drastic way. Now students can easily access multimedia content, online education, the internet and various social networking tools that can facilitate their learning and personal development. With growing importance on mobile learning, many EdTech experts now believe that its time to analyse the significance of the messaging tool Whatsapp in education.

In the past few years Whatsapp has become a crowd pleaser primarily because of its ease of use; and this is why many people think that the app will be great as a learning tool. Let's have a look...

Learning With Whatsapp – A Learning Revolution

There is no doubt that Whatsapp is a remarkable messaging tool that has innumerable users from around the globe. It allows you to easily connect with your relatives and friends, whether near or far. You can also connect with different groups from your school, college or community. The truth is Whatsapp has completely modified the way we communicate, interact and share information with our near ones.

But can we use Whatsapp as a useful learning tool? Yes, we can. Students can instantly share educational video and audio files in a simple yet affordable way. Moreover it can also help students in learning different languages like English. According to a 2013 study, it was found that 90.63 per cent of respondents among 95 students who use WhatsApp reported that the tool encouraged them to learn English.

 Creating A Learning Circle

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Want to create your own learning circle? Then let Whatsapp help you. Educators can now easily build learning groups using this app which can be used for sharing concise tutorials, quizzes, audio recording files of lectures and various educational videos. It can also allow the learners to connect easily with fellow students and teachers to discuss their problems. This will motivate learners to utilise their time more productively instead of simply chatting online.

Creating Discussion Forums

Using Whatsapp to create your own discussion forums is another great way of building an excellent learning environment. You can choose to post a quiz or a fun question and encourage your students to reply with the right answer. You may also allow the learners to ask questions and share their problems regarding learning a particular subject. It can be a great place for detailed discussions with simple interface and outstanding interactivity.

Create Broadcast Lists 

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You can easily create broadcast lists on Whatsapp and share files and documents easily with the members present on the list. This feature can be effectively used as a learning tool to help your students. Many educators and schools have already started using Whatsapp for a better learning experience.

This excellent messaging tool is now enabling students to share their opinions, seek solutions and help fellow students by creating an efficient learning environment. Learners can choose to start a discussion on any relevant topic at anytime and anywhere using this helpful tool which has become widely popular among most teen school-goers as well as college students.

How else can we use Whatsapp to improve learning? Do have your own ideas that you want to share? Then feel free to comment in the box below. We would love to hear from you.

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Be A Mindful Leader To Take Your Business To New Heights

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Since the global financial crisis of 2008, many business leaders are striving to become a better leader with regards to their unique personal values. The crisis pointed out the misconceptions of calculating success in terms of money which made many leaders uneasy as it challenged their authentic leadership. With the developing markets and rising revenues, numerous leaders in the corporate world ended up focussing more on their personal interests than the interests of the company. This affected the business, employees, shareholders and the customers. Hence I believe that today’s business leaders need to practice Mindful Leadership. Let’s find out more....

 Why Practice Mindful Leadership

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By becoming a mindful leader you will be able to use tools to manage and measure your life in the exact way you are living. Mindful leadership enables you to pay attention to the current moment, identify and understand your emotions and feelings and to keep them in control, particularly when you deal with extremely stressful scenarios. Being a mindful leader you will become better aware of your existence, recognise the depth of your action and how they affect others. This will help you to both participate and observe every moment and understand the repercussion of all your actions in the long term. As a result you will be able to lead a life where you can practice and hone your values.

Mindful Leadership Can Help You Professionally

Practicing mindful leadership helps you to be conscious and modify the manner in which you realise, react and interpret different occurrences. If you are a business leader or aspire to become one, then mindful leadership practices can empower you to not only advance your business, but to help all the parties involved. You will develop abilities to think from new perspectives, find out creative and effective solutions, form effectual daily schedules, product development and recruitment policies. Nowadays increasing numbers of business leaders and entrepreneurs are opting to learn mindful leadership practices as it has become an essential component for overall success and to improve their leadership skills.

How You Can Become A Mindful Leader 

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To develop mindful leadership skills, you will need to pursue a meaningful training programme that will boost your awareness and mindfulness. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur working on your start-up or a working professional, then studying a traditional college programme might not be the best option for you. What you need is a programme that will facilitate your training and learning and allow you to become the right of leader you want to be. If you ask me, studying an online business management programme will be the most beneficial for you. Why?

When you study an accredited Level 5 diploma or a Level 7 diploma online, you will be able to learn various management and leadership skills without compromising on your current full time job or your start-up. This will allow you to acquire the required leadership abilities and improve your focus, productivity, creativity and resilience. As a result you will be able to enhance your performance and lead your team and your company more effectively. If you run a start-up, then your online level 7 or level 5 diploma in management will allow you to better lead and manage your business and expand your operations.

Be The Leader You Want To Be

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In today’s business world, business leaders face a number of new challenges and need to steer their business through a rapidly evolving market. Mindful Leadership skills can help you face these challenges successfully and enable you to become a compassionate and focussed leader determined to boost business prospects.

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It's Time To Improve Your Health & Wellbeing With Reading

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For ages teachers and parents have encouraged students to read more books on various subjects as it helps to improve their knowledge and understanding. Now a new research reveals that reading for only 30 minutes each week also helps in improving your health and overall wellbeing.

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 Reading Improves Health – Says Study

The study was published recently on 5th February 2015 and was conducted by Dr Josie Billington of University of Liverpool for Galaxy Quick Reads. It was discovered that reading actually offers a wide array of benefits like reducing stress and feelings of isolation, and boosting self-esteem and health. The report also found that individuals who read for at least 30 minutes each week have 35 per cent higher probability for a better life experience. Cathy Rentzenbrink of Quick Reads commented “I have always found reading to be a great source of comfort and this research confirms what I have long witnessed professionally, reading can help any one of us to be healthier, happier and ultimately to get more out of life.”

Findings Of The Study – What Is The Indication

Apart from the health benefits you can gain from reading, the study also found that more than 42 per cent of all 16 million lapsed readers present in the United Kingdom fail to read as they are unable to find adequate time. The study also reported that around 2.2 million UK residents do not read at all, particularly due to their busy lifestyles and various other events. It was also observed that almost 1.3 million individuals hardly ever read because of depression, even though data confirms that reading reduces anxiety levels and boosts your mood levels.

Joyce Black, Assistant Director for Development and Research at NIACE, commented “For the last 9 years, Quick Reads have had a dramatic impact on literacy learning across the country. Countless adults have read, completed and enjoyed a book for the first time. They have then gone on to read many other books and through reading for pleasure, have become more confident, have better health and have encouraged others, including their children, to read.”

But she believes that numerous are unable to enjoy the advantages offered by reading. Joyce added “However there are still far too many people who are missing out on the benefits of reading, beyond the joy that a good book brings. One in three adults in the UK do not read for pleasure. And yet today’s survey from Galaxy Quick Reads shows the range of added benefits. We hope that the new Quick Reads published today will inspire many more people to not only improve their literacy skills but also discover a love of reading.”

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Reading - How Can It Benefit You 

The study also discovered a number of other benefits related to reading. Some are listed below-

• 43 per cent of surveyed readers claimed reading helped to improve their sleep.

• 64 per cent of regular readers and 61 per cent of rare readers showed sufficient compassion and empathy towards others.

• 19 per cent of surveyed readers in the UK said reading helped to reduce feelings of loneliness.

• 57 per cent of readers claimed to have gained improved cultural awareness.

• 48 per cent of UK readers said reading helped to improve their levels of creativity.

• 72 per cent readers have higher probabilities to experience better greater community spirit.

Do you read frequently? What do you think about the findings of this study? Feel free to share your thoughts with us. We would love to hear from you.

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Latest Online Education Trends Making Healthcare Training Simpler & More Effective

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Online learning has become one of the key modes of learning for both students and professionals in this present age. Due to the several benefits offered by online education, numerous students from across the globe are now pursuing E-Learning programmes to acquire essential skills and knowledge. The trend is now visible in the healthcare industry as well.

Growth of E-Learning in the healthcare sector

EMR Training, also known as Electronic Medical Records Training, is currently on top of the list of 5 major trends influencing the online education market. The global E-Learning market was worth around $35.6 billion in 2011 and experts believe that it is expected to expand further to almost $51.5 billion by 2016. According to the Kansas Occupational Outlook Handbook, there will be an expected 24.7 per cent growth for instructional designers and coordinators by 2020.

The fact is online education is here to stay. Various studies show that the scope of E-Learning is substantially gaining more ground in the global market. Hence it is best to not only follow, but to lead the latest trends.

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Online learning trends in medical care

The healthcare industry is one of the key growth areas for online education in the coming few years. E-Learning is certainly one of the most effective ways to teach and train healthcare professionals. It can allow millions of aspiring students to develop necessary skills and build a lucrative career in healthcare sector.

In the near future, a large volume of healthcare providers will seek effective online learning and training solutions, motivated by an aging populace, Electronic Medical Records training and the demands for healthcare insurance reform. There is abundant incentive money, particularly in the healthcare industry where around $19 billion is flowing in the system. This is mainly due to the fact that there is a nationwide increase in training and also to make electronic health records available online. At present, the money is being channelled in the pipeline to introduce electronic health records training all over the country. This signifies that this is the best time to design, develop and execute advanced training programmes. As a result, healthcare organisations and providers will be able to qualify to receive this fund, whilst the incentives are still available and the disincentives have not started to roll out yet.

Making learning simple and engaging

Online education can help to easily deliver essential information to all types of learners in comprehensible chunks and add value to an organisation. Learning is delivered through audio and visual content, video lectures, Flash content, process and product demonstrations, embedded Podcasts, as well as interactive measurable testing. All these factors make the learning process more superior than traditional static academic materials.

You can choose to effectively and memorably make your point by offering smooth interaction along with

creative content which will be delivered directly to the home computer of the learner. Online module training solutions are usually highly affordable per use, easy to deliver, engaging and fun as well.

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What’s more important is that in the intense medical care sector, now surgeons, physicians, nurses and pharmacists can quickly access necessary information and training as per their convenience with the help of online education.

What do you think about E-Learning in healthcare? Share your own views and opinions with us by commenting below.

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The Changing Face Of Hospitality Industry In The Digital Age

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The hotel and hospitality industry has become one of fastest growing sectors worldwide since the last few years. At present the sector offers numerous jobs for people who the right skills and significantly adds to the economy. In fact, during the last financial crisis, it was one of the very few industries that remained unaffected and continued to grow.

 Shifting Trends In Hospitality Sector

When general people and experts think the hospitality and travel sector, one of the first things that come to mind is transportation companies. However, industry experts are now learning that transportation is merely a small fraction of the equation. The fact is nowadays the real change has been brought about by accommodations providers in the hospitality industry. Moreover, among them the start-ups and small businesses are creating the real change in the scenario.

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Originally, accommodations referred to only the hotel sector and to some extent, it included the vacation rental space of the business. However, with the growth of the private homeshare concept, it has gained considerable popularity among the consumers. Moreover, it is striving to occupy a significant market share for accommodations, especially because of the technological and digital amenities, which hotels, rental condos and homeshares are now offering.

Offering More Convenience And Affordability

Additionally, there has also been a change in the way the hotel and hospitality industry deals with consumer engagement. Nowadays, travellers and visitors expect excellent convenience and great prices with high levels of value and affordability due to the advent of digital concepts and self-service. Now guests can easily access check-in, online booking, catalogues, guest newspapers and many more effortlessly thanks to special mobile apps that deliver everything directly on to your smartphones.

Megatrends Shaping Travel In 2015, which a recently launched magazine from Skift on the hospitality sector, analyses how travellers and users are receiving and reacting to the newest offerings of the hospitality and travel sectors in this digital age.

Among the key findings of the publication was whether the new modes of convenience and connectivity have become the standard for the industry. Gone are days of premium paid WiFi connections in hotel rooms or in-room cable-based Ethernet connections, although all rental chains and hotels have not changed yet. 

Currently, most travellers are not satisfied with simply a complimentary copy of USA Today kept at the lobby desk during the morning. Moreover, now guest not only want to read about the local news, they also want to find out what’s going on at home. Hence they prefer to book rooms in hotels which can offer them such amenities and facilities.

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Need For New Approaches

Rafat Ali of Skift says “As consumers become self-serve and mobile-dependent, new models and approaches to both customer relations and local discovery are emerging, and hospitality is the big crucible where all of this is playing out. We see this at every touchpoint in the hospitality industry: From how hotels are building direct links to customers in digital, to how customer service is being rethought through social and mobile tools.”

He adds “Within the confines of a property we see this in how hotels are redoing lobbies and how customers check in, as well as everything about the customer experience inside a hotel room, entertainment inside the hotel, and food & beverage offerings, too. Brands are also questioning customer interaction pre-, during and post-trip, as they examine and rebuild it in new ways.”

What do you think? Feel free to share your opinions and views with us. Simply comment in the box below.

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How An Online Undergraduate Business Degree Can Boost Your Career

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Earning a business degree can add significant value to your resume and certainly help you to boost your career. Earlier, studying business was limited only to those individuals who were willing to invest sufficient money and time to attend regular scheduled lectures on campus at a B-school or university. However, with the advent of online distance learning, the business education scenario has been transform drastically.

Online Business Diploma – Have A Lucrative Career

You can easily choose to study an undergraduate management programme without the need for attending lectures in traditional classrooms. You simply need to be self-disciplined and self-motivated to study at your own convenience from a laptop with a reliable internet connection. Moreover you will have the option to choose from a variety of business and management related courses to earn an accredited diploma in management online.

Currently, the demand for online business education has been growing exponentially worldwide as it helps you to progress your career. You will not only acquire the necessary leadership and management skills, but you will also develop essential soft skills that will improve your performance at the workplace. Your business knowledge will allow you to develop effective strategies by using excellent business tools.

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Gaining Practical Experience

Moreover, with the help of an online level 5 diploma in business management you will be able to gain expertise over theoretical and practical aspects of business management. How? As most online management programmes do not have any fixed or scheduled classes, you can choose to study whenever you want, from wherever you want. Hence you can opt to gain practical work experience by doing a full-time or part-time job in a relevant field. You will have the flexibility to plan your day in such a way that can you can do your job during the day and focus on your coursework at night. This will allow you to immediately apply what you learn at the workplace and further hone your skills.

Pursuing Higher Education

Furthermore, the skills and knowledge you gain during your undergraduate diploma in management online study will help you to pursue higher studies and even go for an online MBA programme in future. Nigel Pye, Assistant Dean of distance learning MBA at the Warwick Business School says “We require students to have four years' management experience. That makes the youngest in their early to mid-twenties but we have them from all age groups, with the typical student in their late twenties.”

Hence the work experience you gain while studying your online Level 5 programme will help you to earn an accredited online MBA degree from recognised schools in future. Mr. Pye believes that online business education can certainly prove to be highly beneficial for learners. He adds “It gives you a brand new skill: that is, managing a virtual team. Students are split into teams for group assignments and the skill of managing a remote team where you may have little if any face to face contact with members is such an important tool in today's business world.”

The Preferred Mode Of Learning 

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As you can clearly see, online education has become the preferred mode of achieving prowess in business education  for most students, educators and even employers worldwide with growing number of companies now accepting online level 5 and level 7 management diplomas. Hence an undergraduate business diploma can not only help you to build your career and enable you to climb the success ladder, but it also paves the way for further education in an affordable and accessible manner.

Seoposengwe Galeeme from Botswana, who completed an online business programme from Leeds Metropolitan University, says that online business education programmes offer “a flexible schedule that fits nicely with my work and family life; and despite the birth of my daughter I haven't missed a class. I am already seeing the benefits of the course by applying what I've learnt in my workplace and I've seen big improvements in my business performance.”

What do you think about online management diplomas? Share your views with us by commenting in the box below. We would love to hear from you.

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