Enhanced Learning

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food

― Hippocrates

We only need take a look at today’s modern diet to realize that the foods we are shoveling into our bodies are nowhere near good enough if we want to be able to prevent disease, let alone treat it. Diseases including cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity have all be domonstratably linked to the quality (or otherwise) of our diet.

During the past 20 years, there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States and rates remain high. In 2010, no state had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%. Thirty-six states had a prevalence of 25% or more; 12 of these states (Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia) had a prevalence of 30% or more.

– Center for Disease Control

Is it any wonder that as the amounts of animal products and processed foods that we consume have increased, so to has the rate of obesity across the entire country?

It has to be said that there are many doctors and researchers who are trying to spread the message that whole foods save lives. These include renowned names such as T. Colin Campbell, Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Dr. John McDougall and Dr. Neal Barnard amongst many others.

Since their message is widely available, we have to ask ourselves why so few of us are taking it seriously? The answer perhaps has something to do with the might of the meat, dairy and processed foods manufacturers’ lobbies. We are being bombarded with information that seems to be conflicting which helps to keep us in a state of confusion. Therefore unless we take an active interest in finding out how to enjoy optimum health, it is very easy to live in a state of ignorance. This unfortunately may well be a recipe for disaster.

Simple things that we can do to look after ourselves are to always try to find the whole food option. This includes whole wheat pasta over regular pasta, brown rice instead of white rice, and so on. Consuming more foods in as close to their natural state as possible will also benefit our health. The best juicer for the task is one that will juice the produce that you like most. The tastier good health becomes, the more enjoyable it will become.

Go here for more information: http://www.smoonstore.com/omega-vrt350hd-review/

In 1943 the two Russian scientists Dr. B. R. Lazarenko and Dr. N. I. Lazarenko were experimenting with electrical discharges as a weapon. They stumbled across a method for machining metals using electrical sparks this became known as EDM. However, the story goes further back to 1770 to the British scientist Joseph Priestley who first studied the capacity for electrical discharges to cause erosion. Thankfully the world was spared some type of Russian electrical superweapon, but was incomparably enriched with electrical discharge machining.

Today the auto industry, the aersopace industry and other key industries use the principles of EDM or spark erosion to cut very hard metals to exact shapes. Such metals as titanium, hastelloy, kovar, and inconel are very hard to cut using convential cutting equipment. It is much easier to send an electrical current between two EDM electrodes and slowly remove material. Very exact shapes can be had. Without EDM cutting technology many things that we take fro granted such as jet planes would not able to be built on a commercial scale.

The only limitations to EDM or sinker EDM is that it can only be used to cut metals that are electrically conducive. The other drawback to the process is that it uses a lot of electricity.

Considering how important EDM technology and theory is. it is also a puzzle to me that I was never taught about this at school. But then again, there were many important things that my teachers obmitted to tell me, that I have since found out.

The way that the Brazilians view TV has certainly changed in three poor neighborhoods of Joao Pessoa, the capital city of Paraba in Northeastern Brazil. And it isn’t because a new soap opera or any additional TV series has started.

The secret is the new digital service that has been introduced, initially being made available to a few hundred indiviudals. The interactive system gives them access to a variety of public services – - information on health care, jobs, social programs, financial literacy and training opportunities – all at their fingertips and availble at the touch of a remote control.

“Back in the days folks here had to consider the travel options, it was at-least one bus to get to the National Employment System (Sine, its acronym in Portuguese) office.”

Online facilities

These new job opportunities for Edineide are supplied by EBC, Brazil’s public broadcasting service.  They can simply logon to the employment service and browse through jobs online, they’re all up to date and delivered using a satellite which transmits to the digital systems installed in each family’s home. 

In addition to the receivers, they received a rc and training. “The technology enables them to engage with the content as if they were online, even if there is absolutely no broadband connectivity in the place,” says Andre Barbosa, Technical Development manager at EBC.

“Besides, the machine is simple to use, which is important for this part of-the public that relies on TV as their chief information source. The remote control is just like any other, with red, yellow, blue and green buttons,” he adds. Ninety-seven percent of Brazilian homes have at least one TELEVISION set.

It just shows that the internet is not the only communication media which is available in 21st Century Brazil.  In many ways delivering the service via digital TV has the potential of an even far reacing impact.  The platform has been pioneered by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the UK who have been at the forefront of such TV services.  They started with the award winning Ceefax service many years ago, most of the BBCs services are avalable in the UK only – but you can access most of the shows by using these services.

After the system is working properly and fully functional in Brazil, EBC seeks to export it to other Latin American countries, as well as to Africa.

Personally my memories of my degree course are not overly happy ones.  Sure the student bit was fine, the socialising, the beer and all the other stuff !  But if I think back to my actual lectures I have to say I can’t remember very much about them except they were incredibly boring. Ok the subject wasn’t the most exciting but Economics can actually be quite interesting if taught with some vigor and imagination.  Much of my course was lectured by accountants speaking in dull, monotones with minimal effort involved – it was quite mind numbingly tedious.

Jimmy Wales the founder of Wikipedia thinks that the days are numbered for such dismal lessons. He expects the boring University lecture to be one of the very first casualties of the rise in online learning.  He expects MOOCs (massive open online courses) to transform the way we learn and indeed are taught.  There are already millions of students enroled in all sorts of courses all across the planet.

He speaks of a similar experience as myself – taking a calculus course deleivered by a boring and dull teacher who barely spoke English.  With online learning there’s little reason to only use the entertaining and interesting teachers – after all you are delivering to thousands more students why not use the best available?

There’s a long way to go with online learning which is stil very much in it’s infancy.  The opportunities are immense though – interactive information is ideal to be delivered online and it can be integrated with video, music and all sorts of multimedia content.  When you look at some of the pioneers of online education like the BBC you can see what might be possible.  Some of the online education resources there are second to none. Imagine students learning English being able to integrate BBC documentaries into their study schedule.  At the moment it could be difficult – but there is hope check out this site which explains – how to watch UK TV abroad for example. 

In reality the courses of tommorrow will be developed from all over the world.  There are so many initiatives going on, we should see over the next few years what looks like working best.  Only last month for example a huge investment was made by Hong Kong establishments in the area of computer based online learning.  It’s exciting times as Jimmy Wales suggested.

If you ever wondered why we get so much enjoyment from playing even the simplest of games, you have to look back into our distant ancestry for some interesting and surprising answers.

Anthropologists have long known that part of the growing up process of most of the animal kingdom, humans included, involves playing games. They also know that not only do many of these seemingly innocent games serve to entertain, but they have a more serious application in teaching us how to survive.

Survival is, of course the prime directive embedded into the instinctive patterns of the brains of all living things. In order to survive we need to know how to obtain food and water as well as find shelter from adverse weather. We also need to know how to avoid predators that might be inclined to make a tasty snack of us, or if it is not possible to avoid them, then to defend ourselves to the best of our abilities in order to stay alive.

We can observe this behaviour first hand by watching our own children as they play fight with their siblings as a way of attempting to obtain authority in the pack or family ranking structure and to hone defensive as well as offensive skills that would be needed in a natural environment to get food. This behaviour is echoed in our pets, where we are probably more familiar with watching puppies fight for the role of head honcho in the family pack.

While entertaining and education to observe, watching youngsters play certain competitive games to assert their strength and skills gives us a clue to why we as adults still enjoy playing all manner of games. It is no mistake that we generally prefer to play competitive games that enable skill, guile and determination to win and demonstrate our superiority over our competitors.

It doesn’t seem to matter whether the games themselves are physical such as competitive sports or mental such as board games and mental agility games that require skill and good judgement over sheer physical superiority to win. We enjoy playing them because they provide us with a chance to show how good we are at them!

You can learn more about the fascinating subject of competitive games here: http://www.thomasoil.com, while gaining a better insight into why we love them so much and what drives us to compete and go all out to be the best we can be.

The world of internet based education is certainly picking up steam.  Everywhere you look the big Universities across the world are stampeding to offer their course online.  The latest development is from Hong Kong, where classrooms are being introduced to education using YouTube.

The video sharing site have launched the Hong Kong Digital Academy, which should allow schools to upload and share teaching and educational classes in video format.  There is a dedicated channel to ensure that only educational material is uploaded.  the idea is that it empowers students to tailor their learning.  Firstly you have the flexibility of where you listen to the course material – sitting at home, a classroom or a library.  Perhaps even sitting on a hill outside the hussle and bussle to the city.

There is also the matter of when you listen to the material.  This could be equally as important, as anyone who has ever sat through a lecture they really weren’t ready for can attest to.  Will it lead to a more independent and effective learning process?

It’s obviously early to say but certainly many organisations have been delivering effective material online and in video format for some years.  One of the pioneers is the British broadcaster the BBC who deliver lots of educational material online.  This includes specific learning material and there normal programmes.  There’s certainly a great attraction for the science and natural history programming which is probably amongst the best in the world.  This has been difficult to access outside the United Kingdom though because they normally block access from abroad.  However there are always ways to circumvent these restrictions – for example this post on how to set up a BBC VPN on the iPad.

Obviously the educational establishments in Hong Kong are really keen to see these videos worl.  One of the big advantages for them is freeing up valuable space in schools and colleges.  There would be more room and more flexibility for the teachers too.  If they are not teaching classes every day they can focus on more specific learning perhaps with individual pupils who are struggling.  So the flexibility extends in all ways for the student, the education organisation and the teachers themselves.

It’s certainly one to watch and will be interesting to see if YouTube becomes a big player in the online learning space.

While it may seem like a strange concept, the body’s metabolism is a natural function that operates adequately without a person really needing to interfere in any conscious way. While this is perfectly workable for most people, there are some who through certain circumstances have allowed their metabolism to become sluggish and inefficient. The net result is that person joining the ever lengthening statistic that is society’s overweight sector of the population.

The good news is that the metabolism can be educated to work more efficiently through a series of activities, diet and lifestyle changes. Like many of the body’s unconsciously run processes, the metabolism is governed by the subconscious part of the mind and that can be influenced by conscious decisions and actions.

For instance, the initiation of a daily exercise program and the gradual increase of the amount of exertion undertaken will have a knock on effect on the metabolism. It will do this by forcing the metabolism to increase its pace to match the increased workload experienced by the physical body.

Likewise, a change of diet to a more healthy or low calorie option such as the kind provided by diet programs like Nutrisystem or a healthier alternative as obtained from a professional nutritionist or diet expert will similarly cause the metabolism to increase efficiency. This happens through being forced to deal with a different set of foods to digest and process.

By removing high glycemic carbohydrates that were causing the sluggishness and lethargy and replacing them with more proteins and fiber, the metabolic process is given a jump start. It also helps to normalize blood sugar levels, reducing the work load on the liver and stabilizing the production of insulin.

Limiting sugar intake is a key to improving the body’s ability to metabolize food more efficiently. When that diet is combined with drinking more plain water and the omission of unhealthy soda drinks, the combination can make a marked improvement in the way the body burns energy and its reduction in stored fat.

The physical changes that a person makes to their lifestyle, diet and activity levels teach the metabolism through repetition to increase its work rate and efficiency. This is the real way to improve health and reduce excess fat storage in the body by teaching the body’s natural power plant to do its job more efficiently for the benefit of the person and a greater level of overall well being.

Online learning and training has the potential to completely change the way both businesses and colleges educate.  The overall benefit that most people see is the simple fact that it is so cost effective.  It opens up the possibilities of training in very advanced or specific areas to a mass market of students.

Of course it’s not for everyone, many people simply don’t have the motivation or time management skills to utilise this form of learning effectively.  The flexibility is perfect for some but many need the discipline and mentoring that you’ll still only get with traditional classroom based learning. For those who are able to self manage their learning the potential is huge.  Problems with finance, travelling and logistics are gone.  You don’t need to bother with the complicated problems of getting your students and teachers in the same room at the same time.

The teacher can be anywhere, the lecture recorded once and streamed across the planet.  The unit costs plumet dramatically meaning that world class education can be delivered to anyone with an internet connection and basic computer skills.  Interaction can still be achieved through forums and chat rooms, mentoring can be tailored through a host of technological devices and programs.

There are of course still many challenges to creating a valuable online training course in whatever subject.  The style needs to be carefully tailored for your target audience, a one size fits all is difficult to achieve in any subject.   Differences in learning styles, schedules and both geographical and time differences can make a big impact.  A lot of the time courses can be perfected through feedback from students – ensuring that some sort of communication method is available is essential for this obviously.

Don’t be afraid to change and update material even when it’s completed, sticking a course in some sort of online archive for years is not going to keep your course fresh.  Make sure that it is revisted and updated regularly, these don’t need to be big changes but keeping the content up to date will also keep it relevent.  A useful resource to encourage this is to reference international news sources like reuters and the BBC.  To access these resources some people may need to use proxies and VPNs in order to obtain the correct IP address – information like this site - http://thenewproxies.com/british-ip-address/ can illustrate how to access sites in the UK like the BBC for example.

The growth of online education is much talked about and many think that 2013 could well be the defining year.  But in the context of the world, how important is it likely to be?  Well many estimates have suggested that the global economy needs to create over 500 million jobs in the next ten years.  This has been estimated by the World Economic forum and the figure is the best guess we have at the requirement needed to ensure sustainable growth and minimise social disruption.  

It is of course a huge figure even on a global scales and without doubt one of the keys to delivering this sort of growth.  Education is essential to growth in all sorts of markets. From the developed countries like Europe where growth often creates employment opportunities that require skilled workers with a high level of education.  Without sufficient skilled employees growth can easily stall in these countries.

In other less developed areas like Africa and some parts of the Middle East, growth is created by developing human resources.  Education is the enabler to grow their economies, through attracting new industries and encouraging business and entrpreneurs from with their own society.  None of this happens if education is neglected – stagnation and falls in GDP usually follow.

So we can see that the demand for education must be fulfilled, there have been studies that show that 80 million more people will be seeking access to education in a decade or so.  Normal expansion by building more colleges and universities will never meet this requirement.  It would require that three huge colleges holding over 39,000 students each needs to be built somewhere each week for the next dozen years !!  This is simply not possible with even the biggest resources and much of the developing countries couldn’t even begin to cater to these sorts of demands.

This is where digital techology offers a potential solution, you do not need to build thousands more Universities or train tens of thousands of academics to teach them if you can expand the reach of the existing infrastructure.  If a single professor can lecture to a twenty thousand over the internet instead of 40 in a class room then there is a glimmer of hope.  IT’s important we start looking at the internet on a global level again and start bringing down the artficial barriers that are being created.  For example I am unable to access some US academic sites when I’m travelling outside the country – I have to use an American proxy to get access by masking my real IP address.  This sort of digital discrimination is only going to restrict world development much like the trade protectionism has done for years in the global economy.

In the UK we have had a online university for many years, it is called the Open University and has been extremely successful.  I myself have taken several courses and my wife has actually completed a masters degree by distance learning.  But it’s never been seen as a direct threat to the mainstream Universities and colleges.  In the UK the OU is more a complementary learning establishment, making education accessible for those who can’t drop everything and take on the role of full time student.  In fact most traditional universities in Britain work alongside the OU in developing new courses and delivering them.

But in the last couple of years there is a revolution staring in online education particularly in the US.  Ever since a professor from Stanford University called Sebationa Thrun released a complete online Artificial Intelligence course for free and weeks later 160,000 students had signed up.  Academics all across the globe started looking out at their lecture halls with a handful of students in front of them, and started to consider their options seriously.  From the academic point of view, the rewards are obvious – delivering knowledge to tens of thousands of students across the globe from all sorts of backgrounds.  

The advantages are obvious and teh bigger Universities in the US are already advancing through partnerships in distance learning provision.  Edx and Udacity are just two of these organisations which include real courses delivered on line from world renowned Universities like Harvard, Stanford and MIT to name but a few.  The reality is that these courses are being released and the take up has been phenomenal in some cases.

But many are wary of this stampede to provide online education.  After all the attractions to the student of completing their studies whilst in their pyjamas, living from home and virtually debt free are hard to avoid.  But the traditional fee paying normal student are  essential to the existence of our Universities.  There are also arguments that learning through a computer misses out much of the other personal development activities – socialising, making friends and face to face contact with your tutors and fellow students.  However the argument that these are worth the incredible investment most students have to make now to complete a traditional degree is difficult to believe.

Even though the revolution of providing these course free is relatively recent there are already thousands of courses available.  For instance just check out somewhere like Udacity and see how many courses they have available. At the moment most are open to anyone regardless of their location however I am certain this will not last.  In the end these will have to be self financing at a minimum, so expect to see payments or restrictions on access eventually.  Maybe these can be bypassed in the way thousands of us watch the BBC Iplayer overseas using proxy servers and VPNs like this site explains – who knows.  One thing is for certain that online education will be vitally important over the coming decades.

There’s something about serious learning via an app that makes me feel slightly uneasy. I love my iPad and Kindle Fire as much as the next man but I do see them as entertainment devices rather than learning centres. However, having put in a little study, I am having to reevaluate my position. We started out buying an iPad, a year or two after they were first released, and frankly saw it as an extravagant purchase at the time. We were, however, soon addicted and it wasn’t long before one tablet computer wasn’t sufficient! Now we’ve welcomed a Kindle Fire HD into the family. It was this latest device, plus the discovery and purchase of the ebook 250+ Best Kindle Fire Apps, that have led us to view apps as more than just a way to while away a few minutes.

When I started researching educational apps my initial concern was the level of education that these apps would be aimed at. I thought most of the “educational apps” would be aimed at the very young and nothing more than simple games, not something that could really be judged as sophisticated. There are plenty of these types of apps around and they work just fine in their limited way, but I was on a mission to find something a little more demanding.

Thankfully I found what I was looking for in ebook mentioned above. It has a great selection of educational apps for adults and for a full list of the best apps I highly recommend buying it. I won’t go into all the education apps reviewed, but would like to share one. I have been a long time advocate of the TED conferences, I don’t know of a better or more accessible site for learning. If you’ve not yet found it yourself then please take the time to visit. I was, therefore, delighted to find an app for TED that works on both the iPad and the Kindle Fire. The tablet computer lends itself perfectly to bite sized viewing, you wouldn’t want to watch a full length film on one, and that’s exactly what you get with the TED talks, 5 to 15 minutes of educational information. Take the time and you will find some great learning aids amongst the many android and apple applications.

With the general tendency for western populations to become less and less healthy in physical terms while the average level of body weight continually increases, there needs to be more and better education on promoting good health. One of the biggest problems facing large numbers of people is not so much in the lack of information that is readily available, but the desire and inclination to absorb it and then put it into practise.

People often ignore the warning signs of ill health creeping up on them. This is because they tend to live within their own little personal bubble where they are lulled into believing everything is really well with their health. What is really happening is that people do not have the correct image of their own health in their mind’s eye.

Learning to See the Truth

What often creates sufficient impact on a person to finally see the truth is the appearance of a disease or incapacitating physical or medical condition that they simply cannot ignore. By this time, it is often too late to find a simple or natural solution and medical intervention becomes necessary to avert more serious consequences.

To avoid this type of unpleasantness, it is vital that people take a good, long hard look at themselves often and see themselves as they truly are. For example, if a person has been experiencing the beginnings of an area of pain or stiffness, it could be a sure sign of the onset of a condition such as arthritis. Early diagnosis and treatment can often prevent further internal damage and even bring about a swift remedy.

Pain and Visual Signals

Similarly, the increase in frequency of a pain in the abdomen could signal the onset of a fault in the digestive tract or perhaps a more serious condition affecting one or other of the major organs. It goes without saying that the revelation that a person has become overweight is an obvious sign that their diet is faulty or they are not getting sufficient exercise to maintain a healthy body weight. It could also signal the fact that certain weight related illnesses could be waiting for them at some point in the near future.

There is much valuable advice that can be had from a doctor about the probabilities of experiencing certain medical conditions that provide a person with an early warning. It can take the form of a physical alert such as an ache or a sharp pain. Or it can provide a visual warning such as skin rashes, the appearance of pimples or boils or more subtle indicators such as changes in complexion.

The lesson to be learned is to listen to and watch your body for signs that something mat not be quite right. To do this effectively, it is important to maintain a truthful health image (see: http://health-image.com for more information) that a person can refer to and see or feel the warning signs before things get out of hand. Prevention is certainly better than cure and the earlier a problem can be exposed, the better and more effective the solution can be.