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This program has been updated to reflect fee and other changes:
- No minimum referral fee (was 40p)
- Media closing fee increased from 43p to 50p
- Option of free shipping
- Referral rate is applied to both shipping fee and item cost
We are no longer supporting the native Mac version of this program because of its much larger file size and the added complication of supporting two desktop versions of this program. Instead, the Mac installation of the Java version has been improved so that Amcalc.app can be run from the launcher or from within the Amcalc folder in Applications.
29 August 2017
How many times have you been asked to justify the time, effort and money that has been invested in your training?
The question cannot be answered objectively without some kind of measurement. Deciding what these measurements should be is a challenging task and this article explores some conventional - and less conventional measures of training.
14 July 2017
Ally Yates provides ten tips for making meetings as successful as possible.
1. BE PRESENT AND AVAILABLE
It is well known that multitasking isn't effective, so don't sit in a meeting simultaneously doing your email. Lead the way and help the meeting be more productive, using a range of behaviours to improve the meeting's outcome.
2. BE THE GPS
Productive meetings are like smooth journeys. They are well signposted and make good time. Proposing an agenda is critical to providing structure and highlighting progress.
3. LEAD WITH QUESTIONS
Meetings get more than their fair share of 'blah, blah, blah'. Exercise skilful use of questioning to help people explore topics and develop a shared understanding. The mantra "Tell less, ask more, ask better questions" works here.
4. BUILD
'Building' is a behaviour that modifies or shapes an idea from another person - and yet it's rarely used in meetings. This is because it requires you to listen to the contributions of others rather than be preoccupied with your own thoughts, ideas and opinions.
5. ENSURE CLARITY
With a full agenda and the pressure of time it can be easy to lose track of what's being said. Help your colleagues and increase the chances of everyone leaving the meeting with a clear and shared understanding of the decisions, actions and accountabilities by summarising the key points, then asking questions to test people's understanding.
6. EXERCISE BALANCE
Skilful performers support and disagree in equal measure. Don't sit on your reactions - give your backing to a contribution as readily as voicing where you differ.
7. SHARE THE AIRTIME
No one likes a loudmouth. Equally, it can be frustiating when teammates don't speak in meetings. Bring in others by seeking contributions from quieter members.
8. MAKE YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS HEARD
Struggling to get a word in edgeways? Try a three-step process: 1)Indicate non-verbally that you wish to speak. 2)Label your behaviour by stating your intent (eg "I'd like to ask a question"). 3)Follow through.
9. MEASURE YOUR PROGRESS
Taking stock of the meeting afterwards can improve your improve your effectiveness and share accountability for making the meeting a success. Make time to review the pace (too fast or too slow?), process (clear or unclear?) and participation (shared or unequal?) and then make conscious commitments to improve your collective performance.
10. FACILITATE INSIDE THE MEETING, GUIDE OUTSIDE IT
If you have a vested interest, exercise your influence outside the meeting. Manage the tension between the content and the process. This is also a useful tactic for geographically dispersed teams - get people involved on the call, but give them your input and guidance before and after.
This article has been published with the permission of Ally Yates an independent consultant, facilltator, coach and author of Utter Confidence: How what you say and do influences your effectiveness in business (Panoma Press, 2017). Visit allyyates.com
28 June 2017
A micropayment is a financial transaction involving a very small sum of money and usually occurs online.
They are increasingly being used to fund websites because advertising is being blocked and people don't want to donate large amounts. I'm not surprised that more people are using advertisement blockers because avertising is becoming more and more intrusive.
Even though I try to keep the advertising on my own website as unintrusive as possible, it doesn't stop the blockers affecting my site. This puts me in bit of a paradox because on the one hand, I want to continue moving towards free content and free applications but on the other hand, I have to pay for the website to be hosted and developer fees for the free applications that I write.
It is for these reasons,that I have decided to give Flattr micropayments a try. The way it works is that contributors first add an extension to their browsers. They then decide on how much they would like to contribute each month. Flattr records the number of times you visit participating websites and your monthly payment is proportionately shared out between these websites.
26 June 2017
Godwin Benson, a 27-year-old Nigerian, developed the online application to link students to qualified tutors who are in their area and within their budget.
He developed the application based on the experiences he had as a young tutor. The head judge of the competition, Malcolm Brinded, said that Tuteria could change the lives of people eager to learn.
Mr Benson said that it is something that solves the problem of access to quality, personalised learning and helps people earn income from sharing their knowledge.
The application has a ratings system, and allows students to book lessons using an upfront online payment system.
Tutors, who cover a range of academic subjects. are paid once the lessons have been confirmed, and Tuteria takes 15 to 30 per cent commission for each paid lesson.
Mr Benson plans to use his 25 000 GBP prize money to widen Tuteria's offering, even beyond Nigeria, and to include online classes and video courses as well.
23 June 2017
Our newsfeeds can now be viewed on Wordpress.
The address of our Wordpress page is: mwlsdotcom.wordpress.com
21 June 2017
We are changing our twitter account because our website has been renamed to the Learning Repository.
Over the next few months, the majority of our posts will be on @LearningRepos rather than @LearningPages
20 June 2017
Identify how you feel about taking risks.
Use our desktop application to identify your risk type and attitude.
1 June 2017
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