AU Blogspot

 
             Thanks to Chunyang Lin for permission to use this Photo.

In the spirit of this blog’s commitment to providing home school parents with the most comprehensive information on today’s social media/educational technologies, we’d like to bring your attention to another series of instructional yet entertaining series of videos.  Principally developed to train librarians on the web’s most popular 2.0 resources, the “Learn More” video series serves as an excellent primer for people new to these resources, but who are eager to learn.  Click here to check out these great videos for yourself.  As you begin gaining knowledge and experience working with them, drop in for a few minutes to share your comments with our home school community. 

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University

 
               Thanks to Kafkaesque for permission to use this Photo.

Forbes magazine recently featured a commentary piece by Bill Gates on expanding educational opportunities.  Gates speaks very candidly about his concerns for education– which include a lack of skills based training, a shortage of qualified teachers, and his overarching belief that our education model/system suffers from what he terms a “problem of scale.”  Fortunately, Gates’ feels confident that technology and all its’ potential applications can be the most effective tool in balancing issues of scale.  Many of us often overlook the philanthropic contributions of the world’s richest man.  We must note that he has literally invested billions of dollars in educational incentive programs.  Let us know what you think about Gates’ prescription for change.  You may be surprised how inspiring his vision for education turns out to be.

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University

     
              Thanks to Joline Anthea for permission to use this Photo.

I wrote a blog post yesterday on the brilliance of wi-fi access in the car.  I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but an added detail won’t hurt.  To make a long story short, as wireless router technology advances, so are the spaces, from airplanes to hotel bathrooms, where we can connect to the Internet.  Subsequently, the following story about wi-fi enabled school buses in Arkansas, never a state at the top of the educational charts, struck me as a surprisingly timely and positive educational adoption of web based applications.  The students profiled are mainly classified as “gifted”; I must confess to a slight cynicism when school systems seem to “test” such technologies on their highest performers rather than the crowd at large, so-called “average” students whose’ participation will arguably be a more accurate indication of general acceptance than the gifted or “exception” student body.  I shouldn’t be cynical though; this initiative will open up more doors than it will close.  From this perspective, education is a numbers game.    Are the school buses in your area equipped with wi-fi?  If so, please let our home school community know how it’s working out. 

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University

There’s an interesting change afoot, and it relates to the use of social networking in education.

MySpace and Facebook are just two examples of social networking sites, but unfortunately, their early prominence has created a stigma around social networking that the technology itself doesn’t deserve. The understandable concerns created by these early and popular networks have overshadowed some amazing changes that are taking place in educational environments when the tools of social networking are being used with students and teachers.

“Social Networks” are really just collections of Web 2.0 technologies combined in a way that help to build online communities. In December, Classroom 2.0, the social network I started for educators interested in Web 2.0 and collaborative technologies, won the 2007 EduBlog Award for “best use of a social network for educational purposes” and now has nearly 5,000 members. The twist here, of course, is that Classroom 2.0 is a network for teachers (yes, adults, those sometimes called “digital immigrants!) who are interested in the use of Web 2.0 in the classroom and who are using the site for personal professional development. The ability to have productive, engaging dialog with others in a community is a natural fit for all ages in education. (more…)

The primary objective of Ashworth University’s home school blog is to provide our home school parents with information, resources, and analyses on the contemporary educational environment that their children experience.  We attempt to be a support system for you, parents of a different generation, that will be seen as a trusted resource you can depend on to better understand the techno-social trends influencing every aspect of our educational system.  In terms of concise explanations of the Internet’s most popular and mainstream  social media applications, the media production company, Commoncraft, is perhaps second to none with their accessible videos designed to teach novices exactly how things work.  In this video, the general concepts behind online photo sharing services are broken down in simple terms.  Photo publishing/syndication technologies are second nature to your child’s generation, so we recommend that you become as informed as possible.  It only takes a few minutes to familiarize your self with the basics.  Click on the image above to watch this video and be sure to share your thoughts.

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University

               Thanks to Jason V for permission to use this Photo.

I like John Connell’s statement in Our Duty to Protect through Education: “how do we teach our young people to make responsible use of the web tools and resources at their disposal if we are completely unable to access them in school?”

I fully understand and respect the need for security in schools.  

But, as John indicates, schools are about preparing people for the world…not protecting them from the world. My children are currently “blog-less” in school, which is to be expected as we are still in the early stages of a hype cycle (actually, we are well past the early stages in my eyes, but classroom reality suggests otherwise).  

While still young, they realize that access has been removed. (more…)

                  Thanks to Alex D for permission to use this Photo.

The Ashworth University blogging community is a big supporter of contributing blogger Steve Hardagon and his Classroom 2.0 social network for educators.  If you’re a parent of a home school student and care about the future of education, we humbly encourage you to check out Classroom 2.0 for your self.  Steve’s been very generous in sharing his insights with our Ashworth home school community and we’re proud to be associated with any project he’s involved in.  We received the following message from Steve yesterday and I’m passing it on for all of our AU Blogspot readers.  Thanks Steve!

From Steve Hardagon: 

Tomorrow I’m experimenting with a live talk show program by starting a discussion on using Ning in education.  If it goes well, I’d like to consider a regular (weekly) show on Web 2.0 in education.

Here is the link to the first educational “Ning-cast”:  http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/tscmd/tc/12083.  It is scheduled for tomorrow, January 3, at 6pm Pacific / 9pm Eastern.

(more…)

              Thanks to pizzapancakes for permission to use this Photo.

Here’s an interesting podcast interview with educational guru and Ashworth
University contributing blogger Steve Hargadon.  The interview focuses on progressive uses of technology, alternative learning methods, and the overall need to reform our current educational model.  As always, Steve makes some excellent points.  Click on the image above to listen.  Please feel free to share your thoughts with the AU community. 

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University

           Thanks to David Bleasdale for permission to use this Photo.

Here’s a very timely and thought provoking interview with George Siemens.  For those of you not familiar with George’s work, he’s one of the most innovative minds in the education field.  In designing the learning models of the future, George understands that we must dramatically transform the ways in which we define “learning” before we can fully maximize the potential of tomorrow’s technologies for ”educational” purposes.  Listen to this podcast interview by clicking on the image above. 

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University  

             Thanks to Alex Hopkinson for permission to use this Photo.

The Pew survey is of Americans only, of course, and so there’s no way to know whether the U.S. is leading a trend or catching up with the rest of the internet world. Still, the trend is a good one.

Teens are producing more content, and “the survey found that content creation is not just about sharing creative output; it is also about participating in conversations fueled by that content.”

And, again, I think if people actually looked, they’d see that the internet is creating what is likely the most creative and literate generation in history. (more…)