AU Blogspot

 
              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.

Ryan Rode
Ashworth University

 
             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

Special thanks to Shahram_Sharif for permission to use this photo.

The “Google generation” isn’t great at googling, writes Nate Anderson at Ars Technica, pointing to a study by the British Library. It’s a “dangerous myth” that those born after 1993 are “expert researchers,” the report concludes. Young people’s information skills haven’t improved over the last several decades. “Choosing good search terms is a special problem for younger users.” He summarizes the study’s conclusions about the Google generation.

* They like to cut-and-paste. “There is a lot of anecdotal evidence and plagiarism is a serious issue.”
* They prefer visual information over text. “But text is still important… For library interfaces, there is evidence that multimedia can quickly lose its appeal, providing short-term novelty.”
* They multitask all the time. “It is likely that being exposed to online media early in life may help to develop good parallel processing skills.”

The report also warns librarians against opening MySpace and Facebook pages to “make their servicers hipper to students.”

. . . “there is a considerable danger that younger users will resent the library invading what they regard as their space.” (more…)

     
              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