As pioneers in the online learning field, we here at Ashworth University are very excited to watch the online education format quickly becoming the preferred choice of thousands upon thousands of new students worldwide. With its’ superior convenience, flexibility, and customized learning features; the online learning model is increasingly being seen as the central way to educate and train oneself on your own terms as we move into the future. As our everyday tasks, communications, and experiences continue to move into the “virtual” world, it’s not hard to understand why the online learning revolution has literally transformed the lives of students everywhere.
If you’re interested in discussing your educational options, all you have to do is click here for more information. Our advisors are not sales people. They’re simply here to answer your questions and help you make informed decisions if you think online learning might be a viable option for you. We’ve also just launched the Ashworth University Forum, which is a great place for those interested in finding out what we’re all about to talk with Ashworth students, faculty, and alumni. You’ll find a lot of people just like yourself carrying on conversations there, so be sure to check it out. We look forward to hearing from you!
The following video is lo-fi from a production perspective, but hi-fi from a content perspective, in that the message conveyed is direct, clear, and accessible to an audience of any age. Whether you’re a student or parent from a home school background, we encourage you to consider how you relate to the type of learning lifestyle that informs this video’s central message. Click on the image above to watch. We look forward to hearing your perspectives.
Ashworth High School provides alternative education options to Georgia high school students who have been affected by Clayton County’s regional accreditation controversy.
Ashworth High School is regionally accredited by the SACS, and is also accredited by CITA and DETC.
The following article once again reinforces the importance of Web 2.0 technologies in a progressive educational environment, a message that we have been committed to carrying to our Ashworth University students through our own 2.0 applications such as MySpace, Facebook, Ashworth University Blog, and even our preliminary experiments in Second Life’s virtual world. It’s nice to see the more “mainstream” educational community is finally beginning to recognize that today’s education is web-based, interactive, and network driven. Here at Ashworth, we’re committed to these principles and encourage our students and their families to become as engaged as possible in the Web 2.0 revolution: where everyone is empowered to create, learn, and connect on their own terms.
Dr. Lisa Bryde is Ashworth University’s manager of Research and Curriculum Development. If you have any questions about our accreditation standards or would like to discuss what educational options may best fit your needs, please feel free to contact Dr. Bryde at:
Thanks to Olivia for permission to use this Photo.
George Siemens is acknowledged as being one of the most innovative minds in the education field. Through his groundbreaking analyses of how educators can use technology to their advantage rather than fearing its’ radical capabilities, Siemens has had a major impact on how teachers, students, and just about anyone involved in the education field perceives how our traditional learning models must evolve in order to effectively provide the knowledge and skills most vital in tomorrow’s “connected” world. In the following slideshow presentation, Siemens outlines some of his main thoughts on what tomorrow may look like if we begin taking the necessary steps to reform our educational system today. This presentation is a solid introduction to George’s theories. We’d like to thank him for being an Ashworth University contributing blogger and would like to encourage everyone to check out his amazing elearnspace Blog. Thanks George!
In yet another sign that the home school education movement is gaining mainstream acceptance, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California has denounced a court ruling restricting the rights of parents who want to home school their children. The following article outlines the details of this developing story. Scharzenegger referred to the ruling in question as “outrageous” and stated that “parents should have the right to decide what’s best for their children.” We here at Ashworth University applaud the Governor’s stance against the governmental regulation of parents’ rights and are happy to see the home school movement continue to gain momentum on the national stage. As always, if you have any questions about Ashworth University’s Home School initiatives, please feel free to contact us at any time. Dr. Lisa Bryde, our manager of Research and Curriculum Development, will be happy to advise you on what homeschool options best fit your family’s needs.
Making students accountable for test scores works well on a bumper sticker and it allows many politicians to look good by saying that they will not tolerate failure. But it represents a hollow promise. Far from improving education, high- stakes testing marks a major retreat from fairness, from accuracy, from quality, and from equity.
- Sen. Paul Wellstone (1944-2002)
Standardized testing is quite the hot topic, to say the least. I remember spending pretty much the entire semester of Tests & Measures in college debating the validity of standardized tests.
A lot of educational institutions are being accused of “teaching to the test”. If you have to teach to a test, then obviously the test isn’t really testing what it should be, right?
Standardized tests are used for different purposes. We won’t get into the political purposes right now, but we all know that those exist. In elementary, middle, and high schools, they are used to make sure that students are performing at an appropriate level, and they are used to place students in appropriate courses at the appropriate level. These tests should be testing grade-level knowledge, reasoning and problem solving ability, writing skills, etc. A well constructed test does just that – it tests whether or not the test taker has certain knowledge and skills and can apply that knowledge and those skills.
Special thanks to SideLong for permission to use this photo.
I have seen student records where a student is earning decent grades in math courses like Algebra and Geometry, but then they are unable to pass a state exit exam in math. What is the problem here? Is it that the students are not actually learning the material? Are grades being “given” to students? I find it impossible to believe that a student can earn a B in Algebra I and Geometry and then fail a math exit exam that most likely only skims the surface of basic Algebra and Geometry. Is the test bad or are the courses bad?
The only thing I really have to go on to answer that question is that the tests are standardized while the courses are not. We see students across counties and states performing at or above level in their high school courses and then failing exit exams. What are these tests actually testing? I’m not saying the courses themselves are perfect, I doubt they are. Improvements on these courses that are being made are based on how students are performing on these tests though, and that is a little scary. Courses should be designed so that the student learns and understands the material, and the tests should be designed to make sure they have done just that.
If we are teaching to tests, especially bad tests, we are really failing our students.
Thanks to juanjoseixas for permission to use this Photo.
With the public school system failing, one wonders whether the federally mandated emphasis on pass/fail standardized testing (reactive) rather than ian investment in the comprehensive reform of our educational models (proactive) is anything more than a political “red herring.” The following video features an influential educator by the name of Ken Robinson. Mr. Robinson eloquently discusses the creativity crisis that our schools are suffering from and proposes possible alternatives to policies that undermine student creativity rather than provide an environment conducive to its’ development. At Ashworth University High School, we take great pride in our ability to customize our program studies to meet the diverse learning styles of our students. We’d love to hear from our home school parents out there. Please share your perspectives in the comments section of this post. We’ll talk again soon.
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