As business owners we are constantly thinking about how to increase productivity, reduce costs and increase profit margins.

This can be done by encouraging ongoing professional development for staff, and including staff in business innovations.

Staff who feel included, feel ownership of the directions a business is taking and are far more likely to contribute quality innovation ideas and carry them through.

The Far North Coast is bursting with incredibly innovative businesses, even if the large percentage of our businesses are small businesses.

We have active chambers of commerce and many support mechanisms.
We also have access to many forms of training options for professional development both for business owners and staff on all levels.
With the advances in technology we are often able to compete with city business in ways that were impossible only a handful of years ago.

Keeping up with technology and the potential business increases it may offer is a challenge that we all face.
Smart financial planning and monitoring is more effective with the aid of technology as is marketing and strategic planning.
All these activities however require the use of different technology tools and different skill sets, and you can’t expect one person to possess them all.
I love seeing a business invest time in round table staff planning and finding the strengths each staff member brings to the business and maximising on those strengths with professional development targeted to each strength or potential strength.
Many of us don’t like to recognise where our weaknesses are, particularly if we are the business owner.

Smart business however means exploring how a team can cover all the strengths the business needs and working together.

Versatility is a business strength, and continuing staff education and development is one of the smartest business strategies you can put in place, for example how versatile is the use of mobile technology in your business?

Assessment by observation can be an important aspect for many areas of study. The ability to demonstrate to someone that you can perform tasks competently combines well with other typical kinds of assessment.

However, in a classroom it may mean having to set up equipment or scenarios, and in the workplace can mean disruption or difficulty lining up for an assessor to be there at the time of a particular task and may cause disruptions to the workplace.

This is where the POV (Point of View) technology comes in with a marvellous opportunity to collect observable evidence.
Having a pair of glasses with an inbuilt video camera, allows you to record everything from exactly your ‘point of view’.

This technology is taking off in the Vocational Education sector and being used in areas such as hairdressing, mechanics, IT, warehousing, Veterinary nursing and many more.

The technology is easy to use; the footage can be viewed immediately on any computer or mini DVD player and sent to an assessor anywhere.
As it records sound, a narration can be recorded along with the tasks being performed to give further explanation to the assessor.
Learners can even record several instances of a task being performed, and all without disrupting the workplace, and without the assessor having to be there in person.
In the mechanical area tiny video cameras can be mounted under the hood of the car to record the actions of the learner as they carry out a repair or diagnosis.
The implications of use of this technology for assessment are exciting, as demonstrating competence in a real work situation provides valid evidence that can be signed off by a workplace supervisor.

These great POV glasses have swappable lenses - sunglass or indoors.

In fact, if you already wear glasses you may prefer to use them without any lens at all.

BITTS are importing these glasses and are happy to give you a quote (bulk order discounts apply)

Please email les [at] bitts4learning.com.au for enquiries.

Order now as shipments do not last!

Even geeks still get together face-to-face sometimes for seminars, even though we love webinars. Last week saw one such collection at the inaugural AU POV conference in Wollongong.
Point-of-View (POV) technology is wearable video technology that is generating a lot of interest in the education sector.
There were some great presentations at this conference on subjects such as how different types of educational organisations are using the technology, government funded trials involving the technology, building custom versions of wearable technology and ethics and social implications.

How can wearable technology possibly be used in an educational context? How can it bring any value to a learner?

The great thing about the POV technology is contained in the name – point-of-view. One of the hardest things to do for educational instructors is to demonstrate something technical so that everyone can see, here and follow easily. If you have a group in a room, there are always some people that can’t see as well as others, or someone talks beside you and you miss something important, or you are away that day!

Imagine demonstrating something for a group – say how to correctly clean a paintbrush. You put on a pair of POV glasses and focus on completing the task, with narration. Now you have a video recording of the process that looks directly into the cleaning bucket rather than at you.

Learners can watch the recording, as many times as they wish to get the process right, and you don’t have to keep setting up a classroom to repeat a demonstration.
The technology comes in many forms – glasses, head bands, safety goggles, helmets and may be water resistant as in the technology used by Bondi Rescue which you have possibly even watched before.

Next week I’ll discuss how this technology is being used for assessment.

The workplace traineeship initiative by the government gives exciting opportunities for people to learn in the workplace, have their skills recognised towards qualifications and have this all paid for.
It doesn’t get much better than that!

BITTS can provide workplace training under this scheme that could be the key to getting your business through this tough economic time.

You staff will benefit by gaining Nationally Recognised qualifications that are highly regarded in all industries.

Check our website for more information and contact us if you have any questions or would like to discuss how this could take your business forward.

Don’t ignore this great opportunity and miss out on that ‘edge’ you need.

Whilst the economic decline may be turning around, the reality is that business owners still need to find ways to stay afloat and ride this recession out.

For many this means just holding out, making savings however they can, but for many it means looking at how to gain new business and making changes in how you run your business.

It’s survival of the fittest, and continual improvement is needed to stay fit.
To do this you need to keep up with what is going on around you, watching the movements of your market.

Knowing where you are in your industry is the key to knowing where you need to get to.  To get there you may need to develop your own skills and the skills of your staff.

There are two aspects here – improving efficiency and expanding markets.

Achieving these in your business involves learning.  But learning is not enough on it’s own, you then have to apply that learning!

A wealth of online information is at your fingertips to assist your learning, but finding your way through this information is difficult and hard to organise.
Enrolling in a course in technology usage or business studies provides an invaluable structure to learning, but taking time out to attend classes is preventative.
Courses available online may reduce that obstacle allowing flexibility around other commitments.

Learning in the workplace is another flexible option, and with the right approach can allow learning completely within the context of your own business.
Embarking on a learning journey with several or all of your staff involved can be a huge advantage as you target the learning across the breadth of your business no matter how small the business, and enable everyone to become engaged in innovation that may be that key.

There are government schemes that may surprise you with their ability to assist in funding learning to move your business forward.