The six-point mental wellbeing plan I’m taking with me out of lockdown

The six-point mental wellbeing plan I’m taking with me out of lockdown

There’s no denying mental wellness has been a hot topic over the last year across all ages, sectors and regions around the globe. Towards the end of 2020 NUS surveyed 4,000 students. More than half said their mental wellness had deteriorated during the pandemic but less than a third had asked for help. A recent survey by Mind found that 60% of adults (aged over 24) said their mental health got worse during lockdown. UK introductory live-in care agency, Elder, found that 1 in 3 elderly people were lonelier in the wake of COVID-19.

The pandemic has changed our way of life. It has layered on daily challenges and obstacles that make it harder for each of us individually to understand and effectively maintain our mental wellbeing. Lockdown restrictions have forced us to try activities we wouldn’t normally consider, from Zoom quizzes with the family to racking up miles in outdoor walks. It’s safe to say we won’t miss lockdown restrictions when they finally come to an end. There are however, certainly actions I have learned to take during this time that have helped maintain my mental wellbeing, which I will continue to practice post-lockdown.

A new concept for understanding and managing mental wellness

At the same time as learning to manage my own mental wellness in my personal life, the Learning Labs team has been developing a new concept for understanding and managing mental wellness. Learning Labs teamed up with New Economic Foundation (NEF) to carry out extensive research which resulted in the discovery of a new mental wellbeing concept, the Six Domains of Mental WellnessTM. This takes the daunting and intangible subject of mental wellness and makes it easy to understand and manage. It also forms the foundations of the newly developed Learning Labs mental wellbeing digital tool. As this has now reached launch stage, I have been an early tester, enabling me to assess my mental wellness daily. This has been a reflective process during lockdown restrictions and I realised the steps I had already been taking to manage my mental wellbeing actually aligned with the Six Domains of Mental WellnessTM. It also highlighted some areas that I had missed and could try new things to maintain.

Here’s my wellbeing plan based on the Six Domains of Mental WellnessTM concept – something I will continue even when restrictions are lifted because in many ways, I feel a lot happier and healthier mentally than before. For the parts that are missing (e.g. socialising!) I am looking forward to feeling more fulfilled with when we can meet people and interact as normal.

1. 10,000 steps a day for my Physical Wellness

From March until the end of June last year, there were almost one million downloads of the ‘Couch to 5K’ app. This was a 92% increase compared to the same period in 2019. I am proud to say I am one of the people who downloaded the app. I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed running and how much it positively affected my mental wellness.

A 2019 study found that spending just 20 minutes in a park, even if you don’t exercise during that time, is enough to improve your mental wellbeing. Even if I don’t feel up for a run, I aim to walk 10,000 steps a day. I use it as a time to reflect (more on that later) and to listen to some podcasts. My favourites at the moment are Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place and Grounded by Louis Theroux. I also have the added benefit of interacting with other people even if it is a simple ‘hello’ to a dog walker. I think we can all agree social interactions are one of the main things people have missed the most during lockdowns.

2. FaceTiming mum and dad daily for my Social Wellness

Growing up in Liverpool and now living in Newcastle, like many people, I’ve not been able to see my friends and family as much as I would like over the past year. I’ve made sure that I have FaceTimed my friends and family regularly to maintain that social connection for them as well as myself. As a result I’ve probably spoken to them more frequently than prior to the pandemic!

Luckily, we live in a world where technology enables us to almost instantly discover how our friends and family are. Can you imagine experiencing the pandemic without WhatsApp, Facetime or Zoom? During the first lockdown the proportion of UK online adults making video calls doubled, with more than seven in 10 doing so at least weekly. There’s no surprise that the app to see the biggest growth was Zoom. In January 2020 there 659,000 adults in the UK using Zoom. By April 2020 13 million adults were using it – a rise of almost 2,000%.

3. Setting myself goals for my Spiritual Wellness

At the beginning of the year not only was it dark, cold and wet but we were entering our third lockdown. To try and keep myself focussed on what I wanted to achieve in 2021 I made a goals board for the year ahead. There were big goals, like passing my driving test, but also smaller goals such as drinking more water and reading a book a month. So far this year I have read ‘Everything I know about love’ by Dolly Alderton, ‘Why I’m no longer talking to white people about race’ by Renni Eddo Lodge and I am currently reading ‘Not a Life Coach’ by James Smith. The process of making my 2021 goals board not only supported my sense of self-esteem and purpose (which are key drivers of Spiritual Wellness) but also helped maintain my Intellectual Wellness, which is all about stimulating your mind.

4. Painting (by numbers) for my Intellectual Wellness

When lockdown started, I thought it was a great excuse to have a Netflix binge – what else was I going to do? Like the rest of the country, I got obsessed with the likes of Tiger King and Normal People. Watching TV was fine for a couple of hours but I found, for my own mental wellness, I needed something more stimulating than the life of Joe Exotic. I’m not the most gifted person when it comes to arts and crafts so I started paint by numbers. It’s basically colouring in the lines for adults. My masterpieces so far include a vase of purple flowers and a Tiger King inspired colourful tiger.

I’m not the only one who has taken up a new hobby during the last year. A recent survey found 22 per cent of respondents had taken up a new pastime in lockdown, while 35 per cent had rediscovered an old one. 41% of those taking up a new hobby reported a positive impact on their mental wellness, compared to 30% for those focusing on old hobbies.

5. Reducing my phone screen time for my Motivational Wellness

Motivational Wellness was a little trickier at first for me to think of how I had or would support this domain. Intrinsic self-motivation is all about our ability to make daily choices and feel in control of our lives – something lockdown restrictions certainly impacted. I realised though that something I had done was reduce my screen time and specifically my hours spent on social media. It’s all too easy to find yourself mindlessly scrolling through social media, even more so during a national lockdown and a global pandemic. There were constant news reports and a mix of posts you did or did not want to see on social media. I realised by being more present in my life and focusing on the things I could control made me feel a lot more motivated. Plus, the blue light emitted from your phone can also disrupt your sleep-wake cycle. Therefore, I have been making a conscious effort to not look at my phone two hours before I go to bed. With a better night sleep, I am more likely to feel energised and willing to go for a walk which will improve my Physical Wellness. If I am not on my phone, I can be doing other things like painting which maintains my Intellectual Wellness.

6. Concentrating on positives for my Emotional Wellness

It’s all too easy to concentrate on negative experiences, particularly during a global pandemic. I have started to spend a short amount of time every day writing down all the positives that I have experienced. These can be something simple like completing a piece of work or finishing a book, keeping me on track for my goals of 2021. I often use the time on my daily walk to reflect on the day and focus on the positives I’ve experienced. Being able to assess my overall wellbeing using the Learning Labs tool has also provided a regular interval for reflection of my emotions. The Lab on Emotional Wellness explained to me that it’s not about being happy all the time, it’s about maintaining a healthy balance over time, which I feel is far more realistic and achievable.

Over to you

UK mental health charities and experts have recently said the lifting of restrictions could trigger heightened levels of stress and anxiety for many people. It’s therefore important that once restrictions are lifted, and once the pandemic has ended, we continue the discussions about mental health. As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts. How have you been maintaining your mental wellness during lockdown restrictions? How do you intend to keep it up pre-lockdown? Also, feel free to recommend any podcasts I could listen to during my walks or books you think I should add to my reading list, I’ve got nine more to read this year.

You can now get in touch with Emma if you are interested in a demo of the new Learning Labs mental wellbeing hub: emmasheakey@e-qualitylearning.com. The Learning Labs mental wellbeing hub has been designed for DSA students, DSA professionals and university site licences.

Three initiatives creating positive visibility of autism in society

Three initiatives creating positive visibility of autism in society

Great minds think alike. It’s a funny saying isn’t it and, in my opinion, not true. The proverb is over 400 years old so obviously the world has changed a lot since then, including our understanding of the mind and how unique it truly is from person to person. Neurodiversity, such as autism, can affect the way people think, communicate and interact with the world. We know you don’t have to think the same as someone else to succeed, in fact, having a unique outlook can often put you at an advantage.

I mentioned in last month’s blog the benefit of national awareness campaigns and how they can get people talking about a particular topic and from 29th March to 4th April World Autism Week takes place. A report by Britain’s National Autistic Society (NAS) found that only 16 percent of autistic adults were in full-time work in 2016 and over a third of autistic adults have reported serious mental health problems. This got me thinking, aside from the national awareness campaigns, what else is being done to put autistic people front and centre in the world of work and society as a whole and affect positive change to the NAS stats?

Creating an awareness of autism from an early age

Looking back at the TV and films I watched as a child I can’t think of one example of a character that had a disability or learning difficulty. Thankfully, that has changed and children’s TV and film today is more inclusive. This helps educate the audience that everyone is different and enables children with disabilities or learning difficulties to identify with characters they see on screen.

Loop is a short film by Disney Pixar and is available on Disney+. The film follows two youngsters on a canoe trip. Marcus is neurotypical and Renee is on the autism spectrum. The film follows them as they learn to see the world from each other’s viewpoints. The character of Renee is voiced by an autistic actress, which gives the character an authentic autistic voice and speech pattern. The film gives you a view into Renee’s world by literally letting you see the world through her eyes during various points of the trip.

Through researching Loop, I learnt about the Sesame Street character Julia. Julia is an autistic character who has featured on the show since 2017. Her first episode was aired in April, during World Autism Awareness Month, launching in Spanish and English-speaking countries before being rolled out to more of Sesame Street’s 150 televised countries. In Julia’s first episode her autism is celebrated rather than seen as something that can prevent her from succeeding. Julia’s autism sees her flapping her hands when she gets excited and needing to take a break from playing and do some breathing exercises when some passing sirens become too much for her sensitive hearing. This is all explained and understood by the characters. Julia soon became a fan favourite and has been in Sesame Street ever since. Talking about Julia, Rose Jochum of the Autism Society of America said: “for all the little kids who have autism, it’s validating to see characters like themselves on television, instead of feeling invisible.”

You’re hired! Helping autistic people gain employment

Recent research has found that autistic graduates are the least likely of all disabled students to find employment. Only 33% of autistic graduates are in full-time work. In 2018 the Westminster AchieveAbility Commission conducted a survey of 600 neurodivergent people in the UK which found 52 per cent had faced discrimination during recruitment processes. So why not, during the recruitment process, email questions to neurodiverse candidates in advance or arrange interviews so the candidate doesn’t have to travel during busy rush hours? UK charity, Ambitious about Autism, has teamed up with Santander Universities UK to create the Higher Education Network – an employment programme specifically for autistic students and graduates. The programme helps autistic students and graduates access paid internships and tailored careers support and advice. There are 17 universities signed up to the programme covering all corners of the UK from Bangor University to Kingston University London to Northumbria University Newcastle. Ambitious about Autism trains careers staff at these universities so they can fully support autistic students.

As part of the programme autistic students and graduates at the universities can take part in a six-week internship. The aim of these six-week internships is to encourage students to prepare, apply, successfully complete and reflect on their work experience while at the same time effectively educating businesses and organisations on the benefits neurodiversity can bring to their workforce. These internships are due to start in June this year. Click here to find out more about the internships and how businesses and organisations can get involved.

#OurVoiceOurRights

ENABLE Scotland, National Autistic Society Scotland and Scottish Autism are working on a campaign called #OurVoiceOurRights, which aims to make Scotland the best country in the world for autistic people and people with a learning disability. The three organisations are campaigning for all major political parties in Scotland to commit to a Commissioner for autistic people and people with a learning disability.

The Commissioner would be an active voice for the 120,000 people with a learning disability and the 56,000 autistic people who live in Scotland. By having the Commissioner in place, autistic people and people with a learning disability would be more likely to gain better access to additional support in education and employment. Hopefully, a Commissioner is appointed not just in Scotland but in the whole of the UK, if not the world. How great would it be if all countries aspired to be the best residence for autistic people and people with a learning disability?

Click here to find out more about #OurVoiceOurRights

Over to you

These are just some of the ways greater visibility is being created for autism. I’d love to hear of any others you know of. Let me know in the comments. It doesn’t have to be a big movement or campaign, there are simple measures that can be put in place.

At Learning Labs we have developed our own Disability Confidence Course which aims to provide a clear understanding and awareness of disability. Get in touch if you would like to talk more about our Disability Confidence Course and the possibility of offering it to your workplace.

Our brain is as unique as our fingerprint so it makes sense that we don’t all think alike. We all think differently and bring something unique to the table. It’s initiatives like the ones above that help highlight this and educate that this is OK. As Big bird said when he made friends with Julia “All of my friends are different. Each one is unique.”

The new science of e-learning: This time it’s personal

The new science of e-learning: This time it’s personal.

Personalisation is everywhere. It has become so engrained in our everyday that we probably don’t even recognise it anymore. Amazon recommending products you may like – personalisation. Every marketing email you receive that uses your first name – personalisation. Generation Z or the iGen (people born between 1995 and 2012) are even more familiar with personalisation. They have grown up with social media, online shopping and even their university intranet will be personalised within their own profile.

Why is personalisation so important when it comes to learning?

Learning is very different to shopping on Amazon. Learning is all about forming long-term memories. One of the most important areas of the brain that does this is the limbic system, which includes the amygdala and the hippocampus. For long-term memories to be formed, they have to pass through the amygdala to reach the hippocampus, where they can be sent to long-term storage.

A recent study took three websites, the Facebook newsfeed, entertainment-orientated Yahoo and the heavily informational New York Times. The study found that “memory scores tend to be higher when stimuli are personally meaningful and provide opportunities for learning”.

The study concludes by saying that “online activity, which is both personal and social is more immersive, more emotionally engaging, and more cognitively stimulating”.

Due to the personalisation of the Facebook newsfeed, more memories were generated from this website than the other two, as the content was relevant and meaningful to users’ lives.

This echoes the reasoning behind personalisation in Learning Labs. We believe our learners must become key drivers in their learning so that it becomes meaningful, valuable and personal to them – and therefore they engage with the portal more. Learning Labs already gives students the chance to learn the same thing in different ways with our Do, Watch, Read, and (more recent) Quiz Labs. However, we wanted to take the personalisation further.

My most effective way of learning is different to yours

When we started developing our new personalisation features, it was important that the student was always in control and that any new features fitted in with the latest learning design theory and neuroscience findings.

Many studies have shown that cognitive overload can hinder a student’s learning experience. As is the case when several people talk to you at the same time, having a mix of information on the same page can make it difficult to concentrate. However, it is also important to realise that what could cause cognitive overload for one student may not affect another.

When students log into Learning Labs, they are now greeted by ‘My workspace’ – a personal learning environment, which they can tailor to meet their needs. The learner has the power to select which Labs are relevant to them based on the Assistive Technology they have been recommended. This drops the relevant Lab suites into their workspace and avoids cognitive overload of unnecessary and irrelevant content.

Their personal workspace also includes the new ‘engagement dashboard.’ Here the student can see dials and percentages not only to help motivate their learning, but also to show which Lab type they have engaged with the most. This gives the student a clear and concise snapshot into how their learning is developing and helps them to feel a sense of achievement.

Having this information at their fingertips means the student can personalise their learning experience. They can see particular categories of Lab that they have not engaged with, prompting them to try this learning type rather than continuing to work through the same style of Lab.

To help the uninterrupted flow of learning (you may recall that feeling when you zone-out and have to take a step back to find your place again), Learning Labs also has a ‘Resume last Lab’ and a ‘Next suggested Lab’ button within ‘My workspace’. This enables the student to jump back in to their learning from where they left off or continue on without distractions in the learning content. These functions emulate social media such as YouTube, Instagram and the latest bite-sized video channel, TikTok.

The learner is in the driving seat

From our knowledge of cognitive overload, we know that these features may not be beneficial to all students all of the time. The human brain is more unique than a fingerprint, so it was important that our new features could be controlled by the user. Students can now add/remove menu and content items at the flick of a switch, creating a unique learning experience for every user. As easily as they are turned off, they can be turned on again.

Unlike social media, Amazon and those ‘Hey Chris! We thought you might like…’ marketing emails, we want our personalisation to create a truly beneficial experience for the end user. Our personalisation features assist users in achieving their academic potential, which will benefit them beyond their current course.

See for yourself

Throughout April and May, Learning Labs is hosting a series of CPD Revolution Online events, which will feature a live demo of our new personalisation features. Click the link below to book your free place on one of these dates and see personalised e-learning in action. Oh, and hear more about the science too.

https://bit.ly/CPDRevonline

To read more on the study mentioned in this article, ‘The Premium Experience: Neurological Engagement on Premium Websites,’ click here.

Why invest in accessibility? Because we all matter

Why invest in accessibility? Because we all matter.

Imagine visiting your favourite website. Maybe this means searching for the latest tech gadget or you want to look up that banana bread recipe everyone’s been baking during lockdown. Now imagine you’re on that website but you can’t read the text, or you can’t click a relevant link. Unfortunately, this is too often a reality for the 13.9 million people living with a disability in the UK.

That’s a total of 22% of the UK population living with a disability. Therefore, for some of the people reading this blog, you will have already experienced a barrier to your online browsing in some form.

Accessing opportunity during lockdown

When the word ‘accessibility’ comes up many people will immediately think of the physical aspects such as wheelchair ramps into buildings or signage in braille. Less people will think about the digital world.

Even less will think about hidden disabilities and how these can affect day-to-day life and be further amplified during this time of restriction. As a father of two children, who both have hidden disabilities, I’ve seen first-hand how a lack of awareness and accessibility can impact the affected individual and their family.

The current global pandemic is forcing us all to rely on digital resources more than ever. Yet 70% of UK websites are still not fully accessible. It is no surprise then, that 90% of disabled users click away from a website rather than report accessibility issues.

This is why now, more than ever, is a good time to focus on developing the accessibility of our digital landscape and, ultimately, opening our minds to a truly inclusive society.

Our commitment to supporting accessibility

For me, Global Accessibility Awareness Day is always an ideal time to take stock and set some new goals to actively improve any areas of accessibility within our business.

Promoting an inclusive culture at work

As a business that operates in the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) sector, we are lucky to be right on the pulse of new assistive technology launches or updates that can support accessibility.

Plenty of this stuff also makes for brilliant workplace tools and it’s not just for people with specific disabilities – and that’s the key – assistive software publishers have designed their products with total inclusivity in mind from the start. Real design accessibility means a product should be usable by everyone – it does not mean it is designed for one specific disability.

Our staff always use the latest assistive technology to support them at work; for instance, I like to use mind mapping tools when we are coming up with product development ideas. You can put everything down in one diagram and it’s easy to share with the team.

We also run a monthly Lunch ‘n’ Learn programme with workshops often led by staff members for staff members. This has included a sign language workshop, which we recently put into practice to help celebrate Deaf Awareness Week. This was a lot of fun and helped bring the team together whilst we are all working remotely (you can watch a video of our efforts here, which proudly for me includes a guest appearance from my kids).

Our CPD Revolution Online programme has been running for the last two months whilst in lockdown for DSA professionals, this has offered over 6 hours of free CPD on nine different assistive technologies, plus a keynote on mental health. Thankfully, mental health is starting to become a much more prevalent area for people to talk about but is another area which we will be continuing to put a particular focus on in terms of raising awareness in the coming months. Over 95% of our staff were able to log in and attend themselves, helping them to better understand the mental health & accessibility needs of the end users we are supporting every day.

Supporting end-user accessibility

There are a multitude of tools available to disabled internet users. Since 2009, mobile screen reading usage has increased by 70%. It is therefore important our e-learning portal is designed to enable these devices to interpret content correctly. Imagine walking into a cinema and joining a film halfway through or, more likely in my case, being woken up half way through by your disappointed Son. You’ve no idea who is who or what is happening – is the person on screen a hero or a villain? You lack context to understand what is taking place. Website page headers, hover descriptions and alt text provide users with the purpose and context of that particular webpage and of its content. Screen readers can communicate this information to the user aloud, supporting them in their decision making on the page.

The last few years has seen a significant rise in the popularity of video content, but how effective is it if only 78% of your audience can engage with it? This is why captions are so important, and if this isn’t possible then an equally informative, alternative content option should be easily accessible.

At Learning Labs, we don’t want to just tick a box and assume our portal is accessible. We are constantly looking at functions we can add that will support diverse needs. When users now log into the Learning Labs portal they are greeted with their own personal ‘My workspace’ page, as well as personalisation settings to further customise their experience. You can read more about the science behind this personalisation in Chris Collier’s latest blog. Although we are proud of these latest developments, we will never be ‘finished’ because there is no end point to true accessibility – we see our responsibility towards accessibility as a long-term commitment.

Our team is currently undertaking a project that identifies areas of weakness in the Learning Labs portal and will be working on these to increase our accessibility. For instance, over the coming month we plan to improve the user experience for users where keyboard only navigation is essential with the introduction of consistent shortcut keys, improved tab ordering and active focus indicators.

We know, just like anything in life, there is always room for improvement. We are committed to consistently improving our accessibility and that includes only developing new features in Learning Labs that are inclusive.

How to support Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2020

From our own research into accessibility we know what a complex subject digital accessibility can be. That is why we have put together our ‘is it accessible?’ checklist for use when assessing a digital resource’s accessibility. We also have the CPD Revolution running today, which you can still sign up for, plus there are endless webinars, downloadable documents and conversations happening online that anyone can access.

  • Enquire about our free ‘Is it accessible?’ checklist to help you determine if an AT product meets your requirements. Email info@learninglabs.co
  • Today we are running a live demo of Learning Labs as part of our CPD Revolution Online – this is the final day of the series and you can still sign up here: https://bit.ly/BookCPDOnline
  • Join the accessibility conversation on social media using the hashtag #GAAD today.

There’s no denying the internet is rooted in all that we do. I challenge you to go a day without using it; there would be no Netflix, no social media, no supermarket delivery. In fact, you’d have to stop reading this blog. I also challenge you to try accessing a website for 10 minutes without the use of a mouse just to get a different perspective on accessibility. When something is so engrained in our everyday lives it can be difficult to see its weaknesses or see it from other people’s viewpoint – we just get used to it. Global Accessibility Awareness Day does a great job of highlighting issues, so if you are able to take an action (no matter how small) that generates further awareness, or improves digital accessibility for someone, then I encourage you to do so. If you can’t think of anything else, maybe just share this article with ten friends or have a five minute conversation about accessibility with your family at tea time. Because ultimately, we are all different and we all matter.

Turning new challenges into new opportunities in light of 12th November 2020 – uni dropout day

Turning new challenges into new opportunities in light of 12th November 2020 – uni dropout day

You may not know but today, Thursday 12th November, is an important date. Aside from being the 30th anniversary of Tim Berners-Lee’s proposal for the World Wide Web, a survey by London’s New College of the Humanities found that 12th November was the date when first-year students are most likely to drop out of university. Today we are in the midst of a global pandemic and the challenges facing new students are therefore greater than ever before – could 2020 see the highest dropout rate to date? Or could the peak date move earlier? A more important question we are all thinking about in the sector is, how can we better support students?

The life of a university student is, most of the time, a positive one. Students arrive on campus, go to lectures, go to a party or two, make new friends, take exams, complete coursework and graduate. However, like any area of life there can be challenges, which in a worst-case scenario results in the student dropping out and missing out on their opportunity at a degree. Every year since 2015 there has been a rise in university dropout rates with two-thirds of UK universities being affected.

So why is there this constant increase in students leaving university? I’m sure if there was an easy answer to that question the rates would be decreasing and not increasing, for now, let’s focus on why this time of year is a particular cause for concern. Come November students are a few weeks away from completing their first term, the novelty of student life is a distant memory. Freshers’ week has been and gone, they’ve met new people, started their course and given university life a good go but for whatever personal reason it’s just not worked out.

Mental health, has seen a significant increase as a reason for dropping out of university over the last few years. When comparing statistics in 2009/10 to 2014/15 there was a 210% increase in university dropouts among students with mental health problems. This is a big increase and this year we know mental health is a much bigger challenge not just for new students but also for the entire global population. Our DSA Sector Lead, Emma Sheakey, has written a blog which looks at the innovative ways universities are trying to support students’ mental health.

The figures mentioned above illustrate that mental health is having an impact on the universities dropout rates, but it’s not all doom and gloom. I like to think of myself as an optimist – my glass is always half full. Therefore, I like to concentrate on the new opportunities that can help to overcome the current challenges associated with mental health and the dropout crisis. There are two key challenges at this time which we can manage, one is keeping new students engaged in their course and the second is maintaining healthy mental wellbeing.

Challenge 1: Keeping Students Engaged During a Pandemic

Opportunity 1: Data-driven Personalisation and Inclusive Learning

There’s no denying 2020 has been the year of remote learning and working. Not only has it helped students continue to learn whilst self-isolating or in lockdown, but it has recently been announced that all university teaching must move to online by 9th December to support students getting home for Christmas.

When learning takes place in person it’s difficult to truly know how engaged your audience is. With online lectures you can access data that tells you if students are looking at a different screen or clicking somewhere else – indicating they are not engaged. This may seem a bit ‘big brother’ but using this data positively can help personalise the learning experience.

Brockenhurst College in the New Forest analyses student’s data before the student even arrives. The college looks at student’s geo-social demographic backgrounds, their previous qualifications, how they engaged in the recruitment journey, and what they do on the website, tracking information like what they’re searching for. By looking at this data the college can understand the best support staff to work with the student as well as develop a suitable timetable for them and even see if they are on the correct course, creating a truly personalised experience.

Nottingham Trent University recently piloted an initiative to use students’ data to improve relations between tutor and student and hopefully improve retention. They monitored four factors which signalled student engagement – library use, card swipes into buildings, virtual learning environment use and electronic submission of coursework. The pilot found if a student’s average level of engagement is low only a quarter make normal progress from first to second year. If there is no student engagement for a fortnight then tutors get an automatic email encouraging them to start a dialogue with the student.

Personalisation in a digital learning experience is endless; assistive software like Recite.Me can enable a user to fully customise the format of content on the web to suit their needs, programmes like Caption.Ed will automatically transcribe a lecture for you in real time and e-learning tools like Learning Labs will teach you how to get the most out of all of this assistive technology.

Providing assistive technology means providing a high-quality inclusive learning strategy, which is ideal at a time when more students are learning remotely than ever before. This new world approach could present an opportunity to further improve inclusivity, as we will have greater volumes of digital data than previously, which could uncover new findings about the way HE students learn best.

This idea of personalisation to help with student’s learning is not new to us at Learning Labs. You can read more about this in Chris Collier’s blog from a few months ago. In addition to these personalisation features Learning Labs has a positive message bar sharing healthy wellbeing tips that help motivate learners to maintain a positive mental state whilst studying.

Challenge 2: Student Isolation and Feelings of Loneliness

Opportunity 2: Increase Mental Wellbeing Awareness

In any normal year, students’ mental health will play an important role in how they adapt to university life. This year has been anything but ordinary so it’s no surprise students’ mental health has reflected this. A recent survey found that 26% of full-time students reported feeling hopeless as well as 36% saying they felt lonely. How can you combat loneliness during lockdown? Different strategies work for different people but just by being aware of the issue is a major step forward. We now need to take the challenge of students’ mental health and use it as an opportunity to empower students, and society, to have a greater awareness of mental health as a whole, and for individuals to have greater awareness of their own personal mental wellness status at any given moment in time.

A recent survey found almost nine in ten students struggled with anxiety, which was an increase of almost 19 percentage points when compared to 2017 figures. With mental health it’s not always enough to have someone there to talk to. Sometimes you need that person to make the first move.

Historically mental health and physical health have not been seen as equals. How many places have you worked where there has been at least one trained first aider? And how many places have you worked where there has been at least one trained mental health first aider?

This is partly due to mental health first aiders being a relatively new initiative. Mental Health First Aid England launched as a community interest company in 2009. During that time more than 114,000 Mental Health First Aiders have been trained in England. A special mention has to go to Arts University Bournemouth which has recently been named as having the highest ratio of mental health first aiders to students. More than 200 of the staff at the university are trained mental health first aiders which accounts to 58 qualified staff members per 1,000 students. The next university is the University of Leicester which has 38 mental health first aiders per 1,000 students.

Arts University Bournemouth is taking this idea further. Not only are they ensuring there is an effective amount of mental health first aiders available to students but they are also offering a mental health first aider two-day course to all graduating students, setting them up perfectly for the world of work.

Something we have considered at Learning Labs is that if we were able to combine remote, digital resources and the subject of learning about mental wellbeing at this time we could make a huge positive impact on student mental wellbeing. All I will say for now is watch this space…!

Hopes for the class of 2020

There’s no denying we are in unprecedented times. None of us have ever experienced university like students today are. Who could have predicted, before 2020, that students would have had to be tested before they could go home for Christmas to be with their family?

It’s these challenges that will ensure students’ mental health is at the forefront for some time to come and this will undoubtedly have an effect on the dropout rate. Ever the optimist though, I honestly think we need to look at these challenges and see them as opportunities then, hopefully, 12th November can be remembered only for the likes of Tim Berners-Lee.

The post-pandemic future: Embracing the new-world sense of community and connection. (To boldly go where no one has gone before!)

The post-pandemic future: Embracing the new-world sense of community and connection. (To boldly go where no one has gone before!)

As a child of the sixties (just) and an unapologetic Star Trek fan I couldn’t resist the sub title and think it’s very relevant to the current situation. As lockdown starts to ease, our thoughts are on a return to a new normality; something that will feel familiar, and yet strangely unknown at the same time as it comes with a new set of rules around ways of interacting. We, like many businesses, are looking at ways we can safely have our teams working together under one roof. We also host a live event series across the UK for DSA professionals, in the form of ‘The CPD Revolution’ event series, for which we have also had to think about how these events can safely take place in a post-pandemic world.

What is the post-pandemic world though and what does that look like? What does ‘low-touch society’ mean? Is there a start point… or even an end point? And what will people’s personal response be to a world that is trying to reconnect people physically? These are just a few of the many questions, which I’m sure everyone is considering daily. Many business people’s thoughts are “well the world hasn’t changed while we’ve been hibernating” on which, my view is “but we have!”, and we as business leaders have a duty to help re-shape the world to respond accordingly.

Looking ahead into an undefined future can easily feel overwhelming and unattainable, which is also easy to see how people’s mental health has been so affected by the pandemic.

But there are also some great positives that can be taken from this strange period of limbo; the main one being this new sense of community we have managed to create and we should hold on to, even post-pandemic.

Creating a new sense of community

You may not realise it but you have probably joined lots of new communities during lockdown, not to mention the global sense of community we now have in seeing out the pandemic.

Lockdown has allowed people to reclaim time to learn new instruments, languages and take up new hobbies. Many people have also developed their work-based knowledge and furloughed employees have been encouraged to undertake continued professional development (CPD). Families and friends have spent more time talking, especially with loved ones they wouldn’t normally see, as the weekly Zoom call has become the norm. Lockdown has even convinced my Dad that there is a use for the Amazon Echo which had sat collecting dust since Christmas 2018!

Through digital connections we are able to continue to learn and feel part of something bigger than just our ourselves. There are local choirs, pub quizzes and even virtual cheese and wine tasting clubs you can all join online! This opportunity for digital experiences is not only great for the future economy but more importantly, also opens up doors for us all to explore our own mental wellbeing.

For our business, by the time Coronavirus hit, we had booked a sold-out CPD event series across eight UK-wide locations and the challenge of lockdown came into play just nine days ahead of our first scheduled event. We didn’t want this community that depended on us, that we had worked hard to nurture, to then suddenly disappear or feel abandoned at such a crucial time. We felt we had no choice; we had to innovate. With everyone still wanting to learn and stay connected we knew there was still a need for The CPD Revolution events to take place, especially with mental wellness being a key component of the event, but what should they look like?

How do you run a live CPD event during lockdown?

The simple answer is… you don’t. Just like the 2020 Olympics, Wimbledon and Glastonbury, for the safety of all involved, our CPD Revolution live events would have to be postponed…twice as it happens.

Rather than draw a line under it, we immediately started thinking of innovative ways we could maintain our CPD Revolution community and the most obvious option was to deliver it online. Internally, our staff were already staying connected remotely with daily stand-ups on video calls. However, there were also new ‘pandemic world’ challenges we would face in presenting an external event online. This would no longer be the ‘hands-on’ experience we had marketed – how could we still create the sense of interaction, connection, and socialising people experienced at our live events? Would people even want to attend now?

We started with clear communication, sharing honest updates on email and social media, keeping our community informed. We were aware that many people who would like to attend may now be juggling other commitments such as caring for ill family members or home-schooling young children. We therefore made it easier to attend by splitting the day into two halves. This allowed people to choose to attend as much, or as little, of the event that time permitted.

It wasn’t just a case of moving all the offline content online. The topics covered would have to differ slightly to reflect the world we were now living in. DSA assessments and AT training were now moving to a remote setting, something that many assessors, trainers and students have rarely experienced before. We made this the main focus and ensured all the partner-delivered content related back to the main theme of assessing, training, working and learning remotely.

We were also acutely aware that people were now, more than ever, becoming concerned about their (and their loved ones’) mental health. We worked with our keynote to create a headline address for the conference that would give attendees motivation and resources to support their mental health and wellbeing during lockdown.

To encourage people to interact and feel engaged, even while attending remotely, we would pose questions, using live polls and the chat feed. This really gave a sense of being part of the event, even when you may be sat in a flat, 300 miles away, living completely alone.

One of the live poll results from our CPD Revolution Online events

Furthermore, to help attendees feel valued and connected, we also ended the final session of each day with 15 minutes where attendees could use the platform to simply network and talk to each other.

Overall, there was a 27% increase in the amount of people that attended compared to the amount signed up to our live events – and one event even sold out (the platform wouldn’t allow for more sign ups!) This told us that not only had we managed to maintain our events community, but we had also grown it during what has been an incredibly difficult time for all.

What will the future hold?

I think it is safe to say that no one is quite sure what the answer to this is and actually I quite like the challenges that brings (on most days of the week). I doubt anyone a year ago would have predicted what 2020 would hold and probably just as well, but the truth is, we have all found out how resilient and resourceful we really are. There is no denying that this year has seen us all adapt in our personal and work lives whether it be working remotely whilst home schooling, queuing to enter the supermarket or seeing loved ones online rather than in person. The majority of these changes will eventually become a distant memory, but some are here to stay, and we can and MUST embrace that. I, like many of you, have used this time to attend webinar after webinar for my own personal development, not all great but always useful to see what others do. One quote that was mentioned on one of the early webinars I attended stuck with me throughout lockdown and will remain in my thoughts well beyond… ”Be the change you wish to see” – Mahatma Gandhi. We must ensure we find a way to use this crisis as a real catalyst for change and re-invention in both our personal and professional lives. Let’s keep the good things we have learned during lockdown and use our experiences to ensure we continue to make changes for good and don’t just slip back to “the norm”!

I believe the complement of in-person and digital connections in our working, learning, training and personal lives will continue on. Our business evolution into an online programme of CPD has grown an even stronger sense of community, on a platform that was not even part of our plan six months ago but is certainly now here to stay.

We look forward to holding our live CPD events, but only when it is safe to do so. Our aim is to retain the user experience of previous CPD live events as much as possible, as well as incorporating the new rules of social distancing. We will also use this as an opportunity to think ‘outside the box’ (yes, I hate that phrase too but it works well here) and come up with new additions that we previously just wouldn’t have thought of. There are going to be many issues to take into account, some of which we have never considered before when facilitating a live event. Precautions we are already implementing include all venues having clearly marked walk-ways, replacing a buffet style lunch with pre-plated food and spacing all seating. So that attendees know what to expect, we will communicate the new health and safety measures prior to the event. And just as we adapted earlier in the year, I am confident we can adapt once again to produce effective, safe, live events.

Like any other business it’s important to use the changing times to innovate, whilst ensuring staff, customers and stakeholders all stay connected and feel valued. If the pandemic has taught me one thing, it is to cherish the new sense of community and connection we now have. Whilst there has been extreme isolation and fracturing of communities in our society, there has also been an abundance of inspiring stories and new opportunities, and I hope we can cling to those as we move into the undetermined future.

Dyslexia – the unknown superpower

Dyslexia – the unknown superpower

When you hear the term superpower what do you think of? X-ray vision, invisibility, or my personal favourite the ability to fly? Imagine a world where you could fly to work rather than catch an overcrowded bus. Of course, all these superpowers are the work of the imagination but what if there was a real superpower that around 10% of the UK population had? A superpower that gave those people the unique ability to think differently, see the world differently. Well you’ve probably already heard of it; I’m talking about dyslexia.

Over the last few months, I’d been aware of dyslexia making it into the headlines. This Morning host, Holly Willoughby, has recently spoken about the struggles she experienced having dyslexia. Earlier in the year Strictly Come Dancing star AJ Pritchard and his brother Curtis discussed growing up with dyslexia. Even royalty have spoken out about dyslexia. In May, Princess Beatrice spoke about her life with the learning difficulty. This got me wondering what other well-known dyslexics there were and how their unique ability might have empowered them to achieve their goals.

Dyslexia can throw a whole host of challenges at you on a daily basis. But the different perspective it gives you can also provide you with a whole host of solutions. Read on to feel inspired, like I did, as I share my research into how these well-known dyslexics overcame the challenges they faced, not in spite of their learning disability but often because of it.

Sally Gardner – Award-winning author

You may think being dyslexic would mean you wouldn’t excel in reading and writing. Award winning children’s author, Sally Gardner, proves that is not the case. Yes, she found reading and writing difficult growing up, which was not helped by the lack of support she received. Her teachers labelled her ‘unteachable’ which contributed to her learning to read at the age of 14. However, once she left mainstream school and joined art college there was no stopping her. She was in a learning environment that suited her strengths. She left art college with a first-class honours degree and won a prestigious award to become a theatre designer.

Between 2005 and 2007 her children’s books were shortlisted for the British Children’s Book of the Year and the Stockton Children’s Book of the Year as well as winning Nestlé Children’s Book Prize for ages 9 to 11 years.

Sally has become an advocate for dyslexia awareness. She has conducted many interviews and talks where she addresses the way dyslexia gave Sally her success. In a 2014 interview with The Guardian, for Dyslexia Awareness Week, she said “It’s taken me years to be proud of having dyslexia. So, if you have it, be brave… I think dyslexia has amazing gifts to give, so don’t despair. Your gift is there.”

John Lennon – World-renowned musician

As I grew up just outside Liverpool, it wouldn’t feel right if my list didn’t include at least one Scouser. Like many dyslexics John Lennon was never officially diagnosed. However, he had several traits that are common with dyslexia, for example difficulty spelling and retaining information. A fan of music from an early age, he would find it difficult to remember other people’s music and lyrics. He would therefore make up his own words to the melody. A coping mechanism that he used to build a whole career in song writing that the world over would come to know well and love.

Whoopi Goldberg – EGOT-winning actress

Whoopi Goldberg has had an amazing career, which started at the age of 14. At one point she was the highest paid female actor in Hollywood and is also one of only 15 people to have won an EGOT (an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award). I personally feel her best work is Sister Act and Sister Act 2, which I have been known to watch back to back on more than one occasion. Growing up she was often labelled as lazy or stupid by her teachers due to her dyslexia. Being dyslexic meant she learnt differently to the ‘conventional’ way. She would retain information a lot easier if it was told to her but would struggle with any written information. She’s taken this way of learning into her acting career and will often get people to read her script to her to help her memorise the lines.

Cher – Singer and Oscar winning actress

Like many people growing up in the 1950’s and 60’s American singer, and my go to karaoke artist, Cher, went through school without being diagnosed with dyslexia. It wasn’t until she was 30 and her son was being assessed for dyslexia that she realised they shared some of the same learning traits and she got herself assessed.

Growing up she found it difficult to read quickly enough to get her homework done. Unfortunately, there wasn’t the knowledge or support there is today. Since discovering she was dyslexic, she has worn the label with pride. When asked if she would change having dyslexia she replied “No! It caused pain, but it’s me!”

Jamie Oliver - Chef and restaurateur

Unlike the well-known people above, celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver, was diagnosed with dyslexia while he was still in school. Like many dyslexics he found he performed best in creative subjects, where he needed to use his hands.

At secondary school Jamie’s dyslexia got him labelled as ‘special needs’ and for five years he received extra support. Discussing his time at school Jamie said “I was given all the support for the time but it wasn’t my place to shine.”

I’ve no doubt Jamie Oliver would have benefitted from the likes of Sally Gardner and Whoopi Goldberg speaking out about their experiences with dyslexia, even if it was just a case of teachers getting a better understanding of how to personalise learning to meet the individual’s needs.

Leonardo da Vinci – Renaissance artist and engineer

Famous for painting the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, Leonardo da Vinci grew up over 400 years before dyslexia was even discovered. Therefore, it’s impossible to know for sure if he did have the learning difficulty. However, his work displays many traits associated with dyslexia. Not only did he excel in creative activities such as painting but he also had several different ways of writing the same word, he would often write his notes in reverse mirror image, a trait which is sometimes shared by left-handed dyslexic adults.

Something to be proud of

Many of the people I have mentioned were given labels rather than seen as individuals. Despite this, they found ways on their own to adapt their learning, whether that be getting someone to read the information to them or excelling in creative subjects. These individuals understood the value they could provide even when the environment they were in was not able to provide the support and tools they needed. Today, we have numerous specialist software and dyslexia support professionals who are highly skilled at understanding an individual and helping them find their superpower.

Like all good superpowers, having a learning disability can also leave individuals subject to criticism. Many people with learning difficulties also report mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression, often caused by frustration and low self-esteem experienced in the classroom.

The eagle eyed among you may have noticed our company logos have looked slightly different this month. Throughout October we have been celebrating Dyslexia Awareness Month by joining the #GoRedForDyslexia campaign. You can find out more about this here. By getting involved in #GoRedForDyslexia and more well-known dyslexics coming forward and shouting about their super power I hope we can see an end to the stigma dyslexics can still encounter. I’d like to end with this quote by John Lennon which I think can apply, not just to people with dyslexia but anyone who feels they might be slightly different and not sure how to embrace this:

“You don’t need anybody to tell you who you are or what you are. You are what you are!”

 

Four AT innovations in 2020 that could help combat challenges of the pandemic

Four AT innovations in 2020 that could help combat challenges of the pandemic

There seems to be a national day for everything. Some are just plain ridiculous – anyone planning on celebrating ‘Pretend to be a time traveller day’? However, some national days are useful at highlighting a particular issue. The 18th November – 20th December is UK Disability History Month. It was while I was researching UK Disability History Month that I came across an article by the World Health Organisation that stated ‘only one in ten people in need have access to assistive technology’. There can be a whole host of reasons behind this figure such as lack of availability, training and/or funding etc. Assistive technology (AT) is such a broad term covering everything from toothbrushes to robots and with new products frequently coming onto the market it can be difficult to make sure you’re aware of all the new developments. That’s why this month, at the end of 2020, I decided to share with you my favourite AT finds from the past 12 months. I’d love to know your thoughts on any of the below AT, especially if you have had any first-hand experience of it. Also let me know if you think there’s a new and innovative AT that I missed off my list.

1. Robots vs poor mental health

There’s no denying 2020 has seen the topic of mental health come to the foreground. With local and national lockdowns causing large amounts of the country to spend time away from friends and family, people have been dealing with mental health conditions that they may not have experienced prior to the pandemic. One of the main issues being loneliness. Earlier this year robots were used in a number of care homes to help tackle the issue of loneliness.

The robots can move independently and gesture with robotic arms and hands. After some initial programming, the robots can learn about the interests of the care home residents, have basic conversations with them and even play their favourite music or teach them a new language.

Trials showed care home residents who interacted with the robots had a significant improvement in their mental health. You may think this sounds like something from a sci-fi film, I know I did when I read about it, but robots are not a new concept. Is this not just a step up from having Siri or Alexa available at the sound of your voice?

Before the pandemic it was reported that 45% of adults feel occasionally, sometimes or often lonely in England. This equates to twenty million people. Research by Sense has shown that up to 50% of disabled people will be lonely on any given day. Could we eventually live in a world where robots are commonplace to prevent feelings of loneliness? Not sure it gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling, but this is certainly a positive use of innovative technology for a very current, growing issue.

2. Smart glove signing vs face mask barriers

With social distancing coming into effect and face coverings become the literal must-have fashion accessory, 2020 has made us rethink the way we communicate with each other. The way you communicate with someone should empower you, not restrict you.

Earlier this year, bioengineers in America revealed a glove that can translate American Sign Language to speech in real time. The glove contains thin, stretchable sensors which run to the fingertips and can pick up motions and finger placement thanks to electronically conducting yarn – I’m not sure you’ll find that on the shelves in Hobbycraft! The device turns the finger movements into electrical signals which are sent to a small piece of circuit board (about the same size of a coin) which the user wears on their wrist. The circuit board then transmits these signals, via Bluetooth, to an app on your smartphone or tablet which will then display what has been signed.

This AT could not have come at a better time. AT can help people with hearing impairments communicate with a wider audience, whilst maintaining their social distance. However, it’s important to not take AT developments, like this one, for granted. I will still be increasing my sign language vocabulary so that I can also communicate with a wider audience.

Last year eQS held a lunch ‘n’ learn session on sign language, which was one of my favourite lunch ‘n’ learn sessions ever. Thanks to the session, and a campaign we ran during Deaf Awareness Week this year, I can sign ‘Hello. My name is Emma’ and ‘Stay home. Stay safe,’ and hopefully we will have another workshop next year so I can pick up some basic conversational skills.

3. Reading devices vs too much screen time

Earlier this year the OrCam Read was released and I was lucky enough to try it out. It is a portable reading device, created to support those with visual impairments but also as an aid for dyslexia or reading fatigue.

Trying this first-hand was a useful way of understanding how this could empower individuals with dyslexia or reading fatigue. With remote learning becoming the norm in 2020, some students have found it difficult to adapt to this new way of learning, which has increased our screen time. The OrCam Read helps them learn independently while they are away from the conventional classroom setting. As I found out first-hand, it can also help with day-to-day activities like baking that instagrammable banana bread we all tried our hand at during lockdown.

The device has two modes. Frame mode, where a frame appears that you position around the specific text you want read aloud, and pointer mode which displays a single red dot which allows you to more accurately select a specific word to start reading from.

I started a new book called ‘Three Women’ by Lisa Taddeo and used this as an opportunity to try it out. After staring at a laptop all day, it was nice to have something read aloud to me and saved straining my eyes, especially with it getting dark about 3pm at the moment. I also used it while I was whipping up some mince pies. I got the OrCam Read to snapshot the whole recipe then, using the pause, play and skip buttons, I had the recipe read to me as I went along.

4. Eye-movement control vs isolation

The world’s first eye-controlled device for iPad Pro was also released this year. Skyle has two tracing devices which detect your eye movement and turns them into pointer movements on your iPad, enabling users with conditions such as cerebral palsy, ALS and spinal cord injuries to use all the features of their iPad Pro.

By having this functionality users can experience new independence and benefits that come from being able to easily stay in contact with friends and family electronically via Zoom calls and social media. Something that has become the norm during the pandemic, especially for those having to shield at home for falling into a higher risk category.

Sadly, the Skyle is only available to use with iPad Pros but a year ago this device wasn’t even on the market so hopefully, as more people discover it and the demand for variations becomes apparent, it will become available for all devices.

To see how empowering this particular AT is to someone who is suffering from ALS, check out the review below, which was written by only using the Skyle:

What will the future hold?

AT users can experience greater independence thanks to new AT developments, and as Pretend to Be a Time Traveller Day took place this month why not envision how you think AT could progress in the future? Do you have an innovative idea? Or is there an issue that isn’t currently supported any existing AT? Just think, if the above innovations happened over the last year, imagine what could be available in five, ten, even twenty years? Maybe we’ll see AT go to infinity and beyond.

“A problem shared is a problem halved”. Three techniques that are driving positive conversations about mental health in 2021.

“A problem shared is a problem halved”. Three techniques that are driving positive conversations about mental health in 2021.

Congratulations! You have made it to the end of January. It’s no secret January can be one of the toughest months of the year when it comes to mental health. On top of its usual challenges, January this year was like no other due to the global pandemic. With this in mind I wanted to look at the positives out there, so I have been looking at innovative resources that are available to support people’s mental health.

As I was researching this topic one thing stood out. The main concept across the three resources I discovered was to get people talking about mental health. Dr Adrian James, the president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, has recently been reported as saying the coronavirus crisis poses the greatest threat to mental health since the second world war. Therefore, now more than ever it is important people don’t suffer in silence and know mental health is not a taboo subject. In a survey conducted by Time to Change, 61% of people asked said mental health stigma and discrimination is as worse as the problem itself. The pandemic has brought a new reality that we are all experiencing together. It’s created a sense of comradery which people are drawing on to discuss mental health. It’s important though that we don’t lose this post-Covid and still encourage conversations around mental health. Let me know via the comments at the end of this blog of any other mental health initiatives you’ve discovered that you think should be on the list below.

1. Nationwide awareness campaigns to get people talking

There are several mental health national days and weeks that run throughout the year such as Mental Health Awareness Week (18th – 24th May), National Suicide Prevention Day (10th September) and World Mental Health Awareness Day (10th October). The most recent mental health national day, Time to Talk Day, takes place next week (4th February) and aims to get people talking about mental health. During the run up to and on Time to Talk Day last year 2.26 million people talked about their mental health more than they usually would.

Time to Talk Day is about encouraging people to let someone know you’re listening, creating space to share openly, and being there for someone who may be struggling with their mental health.

Thanks to technology, even though we may be in lockdown, we can still take part in Time to Talk Day. This year they have created a card game, which aims to help open up the conversation around mental health. The cards contain different questions which one person reads out. Everyone else then guesses which answer the reader would choose. Their choice is then revealed and everyone discusses what was chosen and why. By having more than one scenario a conversation is more likely to occur as there are more options to discuss. You can download the cards here.

Mental health problems aren’t going to go away once the pandemic is over. Statistically, 1 in 4 of us will experience a mental health problem in any given year. The amount of people with common mental health problems went up by 20% between 1993 to 2014, in both men and women. To tackle mental health problems, we need to talk about mental health and listen to those conversations when they take place.

2. Social media entertainment that starts a trending conversation

Actor, comedian and mental health advocate, Joe Tracini, first piqued my interest during the first lockdown thanks to his flamboyant dance routines that he posted on Twitter (more on those later). However, he has been using his platform for a few years to open up and discuss his Borderline Personality Disorder and the effect this has on his mental health. Joe’s philosophy being; “if you feel alone tell somebody how you feel, and then you won’t be.” Joe has also often been educational with his humour, posting split screen videos where one half shows him and the other half shows his Borderline Personality Disorder. As someone who did not have much knowledge of Borderline Personality Disorder, I found these videos very powerful and interesting. They use humour to provide an insight into what Joe, and many others, are experiencing.

When lockdown started Joe decided to share his love of dance with the world to give him, and us, something else to concentrate on. Joe donned a sparkly leotard and talked his followers through unique dance moves such as ‘beef toe right’, ‘half eaten lobster’ and ‘bag for life’ (you need to see to understand – click to watch). These videos soon went viral and saw Joe appear on Good Morning Britain and even The Morning Show in Australia. Joe then used these platforms to encourage more people to open up about their mental health.

In July it was reported that Twitter’s daily use numbers had jumped 24 percent since the start of the pandemic, while Facebook’s numbers were up 27 percent, making social media the perfect tool for starting conversations about mental health. However, if you find yourself doomscrolling, (consuming a large quantity of negative online news at once) why not put your phone down and bust out a ‘beef toe right’ or a ‘half eaten lobster’?

3. Digital learning resources that help build courage to talk

I don’t know about you but my phone is littered with apps. If I can’t be bothered to cook, I’ll open Deliveroo. When I’ve gone for a run, I’ll look at Strava to see how I’ve performed and when I’m in need of a pick me up I’ll log in to TikTok. While I was researching this blog I came across a mental health app called Woebot.

Woebot is an app which features an interesting concept that uses an AI therapy chatbot. It’s designed to help you monitor your mood using conversation.

Messenger apps are being used more than phone calls or text messages as a way of having conversations. In 2019 there were 65 billion WhatsApp messages being sent daily. It therefore makes sense that Woebot is set up just like messenger apps such as Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp. I’m sure this familiarity would appeal to a generation that has grown up with the internet. Within seconds of it downloading I was talking to Woebot and gaining an insight into my mental health and because it felt familiar straight away, I was not left wondering what different buttons or menus do.

The app’s main function is to start conversations around mental health. One user said that they often use Woebot as ‘practice’ for talking to her friends and family about issues that might be affecting her. This idea of learning about yourself to gain courage to open up is something our team has built into the development of Learning Labs Plus. Our inhouse mental wellness tool (coming soon) is designed to empower people with knowledge around mental wellness. People can use our e-learning portal to learn about the subject of mental health, regularly assess their own mental wellness, take positive action to develop their mental wellness and then even share their account with a mentor to help guide their learning journey.

I don’t know about you but my phone is littered with apps. If I can’t be bothered to cook, I’ll open Deliveroo. When I’ve gone for a run, I’ll look at Strava to see how I’ve performed and when I’m in need of a pick me up I’ll log in to TikTok. While I was researching this blog I came across a mental health app called Woebot.

Woebot is an app which features an interesting concept that uses an AI therapy chatbot. It’s designed to help you monitor your mood using conversation.

Messenger apps are being used more than phone calls or text messages as a way of having conversations. In 2019 there were 65 billion WhatsApp messages being sent daily. It therefore makes sense that Woebot is set up just like messenger apps such as Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp. I’m sure this familiarity would appeal to a generation that has grown up with the internet. Within seconds of it downloading I was talking to Woebot and gaining an insight into my mental health and because it felt familiar straight away, I was not left wondering what different buttons or menus do.

The app’s main function is to start conversations around mental health. One user said that they often use Woebot as ‘practice’ for talking to her friends and family about issues that might be affecting her. This idea of learning about yourself to gain courage to open up is something our team has built into the development of Learning Labs Plus. Our inhouse mental wellness tool (coming soon) is designed to empower people with knowledge around mental wellness. People can use our e-learning portal to learn about the subject of mental health, regularly assess their own mental wellness, take positive action to develop their mental wellness and then even share their account with a mentor to help guide their learning journey.

Technology today can help us understand more about ourselves, which sometimes is the first step to being able to share that with someone else.

Let’s talk

In the spirit of this blog I’d love to start a conversation around mental health. Let me know in the comments if you have experience with any of the above (I’d particularly like to hear if you have tried one of Joe’s dance routines!) Do you feel you’ve had more conversations around mental health over the past few months or have you not noticed a difference? Either way I’d be interested to hear your thoughts. Watch this space as we will be talking more about supporting mental wellness in the coming months when Learning Labs Plus is officially launched.

I’d like to end with a quote from Joe Tracini which I think everyone could benefit from weather you’re reading this after living through January during a global pandemic or sat at your desk in a busy office in a post-Covid world.

“I always try to find laughter. Even at the moment, with everything that’s happening, I’m looking for laughter. Right now, laughter is playing hide and seek with us. It’s everywhere, so turn around, count to ten, open your eyes and start looking.”

Three mental wellbeing initiatives that are bringing joy to students

Three mental wellbeing initiatives that are bringing joy to students

How are higher education students going to be supported with their mental health during a pandemic? If you know of any initiatives I’d love to hear about them in the comments section. Mental health has always been a topic close to my heart. Working within education I am particularly interested in students’ mental health and this year’s university students are going to have a very different experience to what you or I had. Packed lecture theatres are, for now, a thing of the past, and freshers are having to form important new friendships whilst also maintaining social distance. This is bound to impact mental health, so I started to look into what new initiatives might be in place this coming year.

In 2015/16, over 15,000 first-year students in UK universities reported that they had a mental health problem, compared to just 3,000 back in 2006. Today, three-quarters of adults with a mental illness will first experience symptoms before the age of 25. We are now in unprecedented times as we navigate our way through a global pandemic. Around half of all young adults will access higher education by the time they are 30, pandemic or not. So, now, more than ever there is a great need for mental health support. This is a very serious crisis, but the methods of providing support are fun and they are designed to bring joy – so read on as we delve into the uplifting solutions offered from within UK Higher Education.

1. The science of happiness course

In 2018 Bristol University launched a ten-week Science of Happiness course, creating a delightful opportunity for students to learn about wellbeing. The course was inspired by Yale University’s Psychology and Good Life course, which was the most popular in the university’s history with one in four students enrolling.

In the first year Bristol University made the ten-week course optional. It had no impact on the student’s overall grade. With no incentive other than to learn about their mental health, 400 students signed up to the course, highlighting the demand for mental health education.

Due to popularity, the course returned in 2019, this time counting towards 20 of the students 120 credits for their first year. The course starts by asking students to measure their own happiness levels and discover personal strengths, which will then be developed and reflected upon as the course plays out. Lectures cover a range of topics including how our minds distort happiness, the role of culture in happiness and a look at whether happiness is in our genes. Students are asked to try one of seven happiness exercises such as sleeping more, meditating and practising random acts of kindness.

You can find out more about the course here.

2. Therapy pets

Therapy pets are service animals that are trained to provide affection and comfort, which is as wonderful as it sounds! There are charities that can bring animals to visit people on site in places such as hospitals, care homes and universities to provide support in various stressful environments. You may think that concept of therapy pets sounds like a new fad however there is evidence of therapy pets being used as far back as ancient Greece where they would use horses to lift the spirits of the severely ill. Not sure how I would feel about a horse at my bedside!

In a university setting, therapy pets are more popular in the US with around 1,000 campuses using them. However, popularity is starting to rise in the UK. The University of Middlesex has recently put ‘canine teaching assistants’ on the staff to try and prevent lonely students from dropping out. Several students have said the canine teaching assistants have made them feel more connected to home as they missed their own family pet.

I know first-hand how effective therapy pets can be on your mental health. When I attended the University of Sunderland, we would frequently get visits from farm animals as a form of stress therapy. There is something about seeing a farm animal in an unexpected setting that took me out of the day-to-day life of university and immediately put a smile on my face. For those few minutes I was petting a goat, holding a rabbit or just watching the ducks waddle around I totally forgot about any deadlines I had looming or exams I needed to revise for. Just writing about it is making me smile. One study has found that playing with a dog or cat can elevate levels of serotonin and dopamine, which calm and relax you. I imagine the same must be true, to some extent, of interacting with any animal be it a dog or a goat. I would feel calm for hours after a visit from our farm yard friends.

3. Partnerships with Mind

Ten universities across the UK, including University of Bath, University of Sheffield and Teesside University are taking part in the Mentally Healthy Universities programme, in partnership with Mind. The programme wants to reach over 6,000 students and aim to achieve its five goals by August 2021:

Ensure students are equipped to manage their mental health and thrive at university.
Ensure students have the knowledge and tools to build their resilience.
Ensure students are prepared to manage their mental health in future employment.
Reduce stigma and improve peer support for university staff.
Make positive changes to the way universities think and act about mental health.
The programme has got off to a great start. During the first year over 85 per cent of students had a better understanding of mental health problems and wellbeing. Over 90 per cent of students who took part in the ‘tools and techniques to manage your mental health’ course said they were more confident looking after their mental health and 100 per cent said they would recommend the course to a friend. Who can argue with stats like that?

Programmes like this just show that giving someone the tools to maintain their mental health is proving successful. It’s also something I witnessed first-hand at a recent webinar series we ran. Our keynote speaker was a mental health expert and in her 30-minute talk, which discussed a few simple techniques to maintaining positive wellbeing, we saw a clear shift in the audience’s attitude towards remote working. Check out the before and after mood boards below:

2020…and beyond

There’s no denying that this year has provided a unique set of challenges that have called for us to be more aware of our mental health. When lockdown hit, I decided to download the couch to 5K app. At first it was a way to get fit and do something worthwhile with my time outside. I quickly grew to love it and could feel the benefits it was having on my mental health. As I’ve mentioned above, our own mental health is unique. What works for me won’t necessarily work for you. That’s why I find it really positive that universities are trying different ways to support their students. They know mental health isn’t a one size fits all and you don’t know what is going to fit if you don’t try.

I’ve written this blog to get the conversation rolling so don’t be shy – let me know your thoughts on these mental health initiatives. Do you know of any different initiatives that universities are using? Do you think this is money well spent? Do you think there will still be a need after the pandemic?

It doesn’t just have to be comments about my blog. Feel free to leave pictures of your pets, even if they aren’t a trained therapy pet. After all, it has been scientifically proven that animals can boost your mood.