AU Blogspot

                    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!

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University

 
              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

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 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…)

         Thanks to Marcin Kuligowski for permission to use this Photo.

Five plus years ago, as blogs and wikis were beginning their emergence from the technology field to wider use, I frequently encountered comments acknowledging their value for communication, but with a tone that questioned their practical application in classrooms. The concern of practical use has largely been settled as learners and academics alike have adopted blogs for learning, communicating, and connecting. Sub-networks of academic, school, and corporate blogs (sometimes created intentionally with a handful of prominent bloggers posting to a site or sometimes created through interests shared by bloggers and the resulting links of information exchange) are a viable means of staying informed of trends and interacting with colleagues from around the world. (more…)