Education Multilingual; SIL Visit to Aceh

Multi-Lingual Education: SIL Visit to Aceh, Aug 22-24, 2007
Originally uploaded by Aceh.Net

Conversation with Teungku Fachruddin, at boarding school in Indrapuri, Aceh. For three days in August, representatives from SIL International-Indonesia visited with local government and civil society leaders to gather information regarding needs and opportunities for language development, language revitalization and multilingual education in Aceh. The exploratory trip was initiated by Iskandar Bakri, who has desire to see Aceh become a multilingual community where Acehnese people are able to maintain their mother tongue as a valuable aspect of their cultural heritage, while successfully attaining fluency in Indonesian, English and other foreign languages. (See proposed terms of reference drafted by SIL on Aug. 20, 2007).

Wikipidia Bundle

1. -Wikipedia (Wikipedia.org)
Provides a "self-correcting" encyclopedia. Visitors can add or correct information through an editing window. The changes are then assessed to ensure that only appropriate and correct information stays on the site. According to a BBC News article dated February 9, 2006, "A December 2005 study by the British journal Nature found it was about as accurate on science as the Encyclopaedia Britannica." 02-06

News

1. 03-06-07 Wikipedia Under Scrutiny (ABC News)
"Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, which allows anyone in the world to contribute and edit content, has found itself in the midst of another controversy, and its critics are not at all surprised. This latest scandal, at one of the Web's most viewed sites, involves a prominent editor who forged his credentials and faked having a doctorate." 03-06
2. 05-08-07 Wikipedia to Seek Proof of Credentials (MSNBC News)
"Following revelations that a high-ranking member of Wikipedia's bureaucracy used his cloak of anonymity to lie about being a professor of religion, the free Internet encyclopedia plans to ask contributors who claim such credentials to identify themselves." 05-07
3. 08-18-07 Finding Organizations Originating Anonymous Wikipedia Edits (Wikiscanner)
Helps link Wikipedia edits and some organizations. 08-07
4. 08-18-07 Seeing Corporate Fingerprints in Wikipedia Edits (New York Times)
"The site, wikiscanner.virgil.gr, created by a computer science graduate student, cross-references an edited entry on Wikipedia with the owner of the computer network where the change originated, using the Internet protocol address of the editor’s network. The address information was already available on Wikipedia, but the new site makes it much easier to connect those numbers with the names of network owners.

"Since Wired News first wrote about WikiScanner last week, Internet users have spotted plenty of interesting changes to Wikipedia by people at nonprofit groups and government entities like the Central Intelligence Agency. Many of the most obviously self-interested edits have come from corporate networks." 08-07

Papers

1. Citizendium, a Wikipedia Competitor (MSNBC News)
"Unlike Wikipedia, Citizendium's volunteer contributors will be expected to provide their real names. Experts in given fields will be asked to check articles for accuracy." 03-07
2. Comparison of Wikipedia and Encyclopaedia Britannica (Nature.com)
Nature Magazine carried out a peer review of the Encyclopaedia Britannica and Wikipedia. "The exercise revealed numerous errors in both encyclopaedias, but among 42 entries tested, the difference in accuracy was not particularly great: the average science entry in Wikipedia contained around four inaccuracies; Britannica, about three." 11-06
3. Comparison of Wikipedia and Encyclopaedia Britannica - A Reply By Britannica.com (Britannica.com)
Nature Magazine carried out a peer review of the Encyclopaedia Britannica and Wikipedia. In this article, Britannica.com contests the findings.

Source : Awesome Library

GOOD TEACHING: THE TOP TEN REQUIREMENTS

By Richard Leblanc, York University, Ontario

One. Good teaching is as much about passion as it is about reason. It's about not only motivating students to learn, but teaching them how to learn, and doing so in a manner that is relevant, meaningful, and memorable. It's about caring for your craft, having a passion for it, and conveying that passion to everyone, most importantly to your students.

Two. Good teaching is about substance and treating students as consumers of knowledge. It's about doing your best to keep on top of your field, reading sources, inside and outside of your areas of expertise, and being at the leading edge as often as possible. But knowledge is not confined to scholarly journals. Good teaching is also about bridging the gap between theory and practice. It's about leaving the ivory tower and immersing oneself in the field, talking to, consulting with, and assisting practitioners, and liaisoning with their communities.

Three. Good teaching is about listening, questioning, being responsive, and remembering that each student and class is different. It's about eliciting responses and developing the oral communication skills of the quiet students. It's about pushing students to excel; at the same time, it's about being human, respecting others, and being professional at all times.

Four. Good teaching is about not always having a fixed agenda and being rigid, but being flexible, fluid, experimenting, and having the confidence to react and adjust to changing circumstances. It's about getting only 10 percent of what you wanted to do in a class done and still feeling good. It's about deviating from the course syllabus or lecture schedule easily when there is more and better learning elsewhere. Good teaching is about the creative balance between being an authoritarian dictator on the one hand and a pushover on the other.

Five. Good teaching is also about style. Should good teaching be entertaining? You bet! Does this mean that it lacks in substance? Not a chance! Effective teaching is not about being locked with both hands glued to a podium or having your eyes fixated on a slide projector while you drone on. Good teachers work the room and every student in it. They realize that they are the conductors and the class is the orchestra. All students play different instruments and at varying proficiencies.

Six. This is very important -- good teaching is about humor. It's about being self-deprecating and not taking yourself too seriously. It's often about making innocuous jokes, mostly at your own expense, so that the ice breaks and students learn in a more relaxed atmosphere where you, like them, are human with your own share of faults and shortcomings.

Seven. Good teaching is about caring, nurturing, and developing minds and talents. It's about devoting time, often invisible, to every student. It's also about the thankless hours of grading, designing or redesigning courses, and preparing materials to still further enhance instruction.

Eight. Good teaching is supported by strong and visionary leadership, and very tangible institutional support -- resources, personnel, and funds. Good teaching is continually reinforced by an overarching vision that transcends the entire organization -- from full professors to part-time instructors -- and is reflected in what is said, but more importantly by what is done.

Nine. Good teaching is about mentoring between senior and junior faculty, teamwork, and being recognized and promoted by one's peers. Effective teaching should also be rewarded, and poor teaching needs to be remediated through training and development programs.

Ten. At the end of the day, good teaching is about having fun, experiencing pleasure and intrinsic rewards ... like locking eyes with a student in the back row and seeing the synapses and neurons connecting, thoughts being formed, the person becoming better, and a smile cracking across a face as learning all of a sudden happens. Good teachers practice their craft not for the money or because they have to, but because they truly enjoy it and because they want to. Good teachers couldn't imagine doing anything else.

source : http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/topten.htm

SEVEN PRINCIPLES FOR GOOD PRACTICE

By Arthur W. Chickering and Zelda F. Gamson

Apathetic students, illiterate graduates, incompetent teaching, impersonal campuses -- so rolls the drumfire of criticism of higher education. More than two years of reports have spelled out the problems. States have been quick to respond by holding out carrots and beating with sticks.

There are neither enough carrots nor enough sticks to improve undergraduate education without the commitment and action of students and faculty members. They are the precious resources on whom the improvement of undergraduate education depends.

But how can students and faculty members improve undergraduate education? Many campuses around the country are asking this question. To provide a focus for their work, we offer seven principles based on research on good teaching and learning in colleges and universities.

Good practice in undergraduate education:

1. encourages contact between students and faculty,
2. develops reciprocity and cooperation among students,
3. encourages active learning,
4. gives prompt feedback,
5. emphasizes time on task,
6. communicates high expectations, and
7. respects diverse talents and ways of learning.

We can do it ourselves - with a little bit of help...

These seven principles are not ten commandments shrunk to a 20th century attention span. They are intended as guidelines for faculty members, students, and administrators -- with support from state agencies and trustees -- to improve teaching and learning. These principles seem like good common sense, and they are -- because many teachers and students have experienced them and because research supports them. They rest on 50 years of research on the way teachers teach and students learn, how students work and play with one another, and how students and faculty talk to each other.

While each practice can stand alone on its own, when all are present their effects multiply. Together they employ six powerful forces in education:

* activity,
* expectations,
* cooperation,
* interaction,
* diversity, and
* responsibility.

Good practices hold as much meaning for professional programs as for the liberal arts. They work for many different kinds of students -- white, black, Hispanic, Asian, rich, poor, older, younger, male, female, well-prepared, underprepared.

But the ways different institutions implement good practice depend very much on their students and their circumstances. In what follows, we describe several different approaches to good practice that have been used in different kinds of settings in the last few years. In addition, the powerful implications of these principles for the way states fund and govern higher education and for the way institutions are run are discussed briefly at the end.

As faculty members, academic administrators, and student personnel staff, we have spent most of our working lives trying to understand our students, our colleagues, our institutions and ourselves. We have conducted research on higher education with dedicated colleagues in a wide range of schools in this country. With the implications of this research for practice, we hope to help us all do better.

We address the teacher's how, not the subject-matter what, of good practice in undergraduate education. We recognize that content and pedagogy interact in complex ways. We are also aware that there is much healthy ferment within and among the disciplines. What is taught, after all, is at least as important as how it is taught. In contrast to the long history of research in teaching and learning, there is little research on the college curriculum. We cannot, therefore, make responsible recommendations about the content of good undergraduate education. That work is yet to be done. This much we can say: An undergraduate education should prepare students to understand and deal intelligently with modern life. What better place to start but in the classroom and on our campuses? What better time than now?

Seven Principles of Good Practice.

1. Encourages Contact Between Students and Faculty
Frequent student-faculty contact in and out of classes is the most important factor in student motivation and involvement. Faculty concern helps students get through rough times and keep on working. Knowing a few faculty members well enhances students' intellectual commitment and encourages them to think about their own values and future plans.

2. Develops Reciprocity and Cooperation Among Students
Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort that a solo race. Good learning, like good work, is collaborative and social, not competitive and isolated. Working with others often increases involvement in learning. Sharing one's own ideas and responding to others' reactions sharpens thinking and deepens understanding.

3. Encourages Active Learning
Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just by sitting in classes listening to teachers, memorizing pre-packaged assignments, and spitting out answers. They must talk about what they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences and apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves.

4. Gives Prompt Feedback
Knowing what you know and don't know focuses learning. Students need appropriate feedback on performance to benefit from courses. When getting started, students need help in assessing existing knowledge and competence. In classes, students need frequent opportunities to perform and receive suggestions for improvement. At various points during college, and at the end, students need chances to reflect on what they have learned, what they still need to know, and how to assess themselves.

5. Emphasizes Time on Task
Time plus energy equals learning. There is no substitute for time on task. Learning to use one's time well is critical for students and professionals alike. Students need help in learning effective time management. Allocating realistic amounts of time means effective learning for students and effective teaching for faculty. How an institution defines time expectations for students, faculty, administrators, and other professional staff can establish the basis of high performance for all.

6. Communicates High Expectations
Expect more and you will get more. High expectations are important for everyone -- for the poorly prepared, for those unwilling to exert themselves, and for the bright and well motivated. Expecting students to perform well becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when teachers and institutions hold high expectations for themselves and make extra efforts.

7. Respects Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning
There are many roads to learning. People bring different talents and styles of learning to college. Brilliant students in the seminar room may be all thumbs in the lab or art studio. Students rich in hands-on experience may not do so well with theory. Students need the opportunity to show their talents and learn in ways that work for them. Then they can be pushed to learn in new ways that do not come so easily.

Teachers and students hold the main responsibility for improving undergraduate education. But they need a lot of help. College and university leaders, state and federal officials, and accrediting associations have the power to shape an environment that is favorable to good practice in higher education.

What qualities must this environment have?

* A strong sense of shared purposes.
* Concrete support from administrators and faculty leaders for those purposes.
* Adequate funding appropriate for the purposes.
* Policies and procedures consistent with the purposes.
* Continuing examination of how well the purposes are being achieved.

There is good evidence that such an environment can be created. When this happens, faculty members and administrators think of themselves as educators. Adequate resources are put into creating opportunities for faculty members, administrators, and students to celebrate and reflect on their shared purposes. Faculty members receive support and release time for appropriate professional development activities. Criteria for hiring and promoting faculty members, administrators, and staff support the institution's purposes. Advising is considered important. Departments, programs, and classes are small enough to allow faculty members and students to have a sense of community, to experience the value of their contributions, and to confront the consequences of their failures.

States, the federal government and accrediting associations affect the kind of environment that can develop on campuses in a variety of ways. The most important is through the allocation of financial support. States also influence good practice by encouraging sound planning, setting priorities, mandating standards, and reviewing and approving programs. Regional and professional accrediting associations require self-study and peer review in making judgments about programs and institutions.

These sources of support and influence can encourage environments for good practice in undergraduate education by:

* setting policies that are consistent with good practice in undergraduate education,
* holding high expectations for institutional performance,
* keeping bureaucratic regulations to a minimum that is compatible with public accountability,javascript:void(0)
Mempublikasikan Posting
* allocating adequate funds for new undergraduate programs and the professional development of faculty members, administrators, and staff,
* encouraging employment of under-represented groups among administrators, faculty members, and student services professionals, and
* providing the support for programs, facilities, and financial aid necessary for good practice in undergraduate education.

source ; http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/7princip.htm

Crossword Express - Make your own crosswords and other word puzzles using your own words and clues.

Make your own crosswords and other puzzles using your own words and clues.

Print your puzzles in a wide range of formats including Standard, Clue-In-Puzzle, Fill-In, Tangled, Fractured, CodeWord and French style, or export them to the Clipboard and then paste into your Desk Top Publishing application.

Other features include (1) Make standard puzzles just like you see in your morning paper, free-form puzzles from your word list having as few as ten words, or themed puzzles on any topic you care to choose.

(2) Make puzzles using fonts other than the normal Roman font. Greek and Cyrillic puzzles are no problem.

If you choose to make Hebrew or Arabic puzzles, you will be able to do your dictionary editing in the required right-to-left mode, and puzzles will also be printed in the correct mode for these languages.

(3) Eleven free Java Applets are available for interactive publication of your puzzles on the web. (4) Make WordSearch puzzles including an optional secret message which occupies the spaces wich are not used by any of the words. (5) Make anagram puzzles in which the words do not actually interlink, but are related to each other in terms of anagrams.

Although not actually Crossword puzzles, they are compatible with them in all respects, and can be published using the standard applet. (6)Make Acrostic puzzles quickly and easily. (7)A full range of 13 on-screen Solve functions allow you to solve your puzzles in a number of interesting ways.

WordSearch, Acrostic, Sudoku, Kakuro and GrandTour solve functions are included (8) All new operational features are added simultaneously to both the Windows and Macintosh versions of the program.

(9) When you register for Crossword Express, you get a lifetime registration which means that you will never be asked to pay for an upgrade.

AUS-PC-SOFT has a policy of on-going development, so the many new and interesting features planned for the future will be yours to enjoy free of charge for many years to come.

download

Human Performance Technology

IT'S ABOUT COMPUTERS, RIGHT?... WRONG.
It's about improving productivity and learning in human resource systems. In other words: It's about people and improving how they do things.

By putting together what we know about instructional technologies (media, psychology, techniques, practices, methods, etc.), Human Performance Technology (HPT) is playing a larger role in global competitiveness. Training and education are essential to increasing a company's ability to compete, but an effective human resource system needs an outstanding learning system with a focus on performance. To remain competitive in the long run, that system must be the core of an organization's human resource efforts.

Who utilizes HPT?

More companies, departments, and individuals with abstract job titles incorporate HPT than you can swing a stick at. Human Resource Managers, Human Performance Technologists, Instructional Designers, Educational Technologists, etc, all may have a part in HPT. Basically, any person or group of people responsible for the performance outcome of others.

What is HPT?

HPT is a set of methods and procedures, and a strategy for solving problems in an organizational setting. But, let's not forget the most important aspect: people! HPT is concerned with realizing opportunities within the human component of these organizational settings.

When is HPT utilized?

HPT is utilized whenever organizational challenges of a performance nature arise. Can we do something better? Faster? More efficiently? Are these challenges related to the performance of people? If so, HPT is the tool for the job.

Where can it be put to use?

It can be applied in any organizational setting, to individuals, small groups, as well as large organizations.

Why, exactly is HPT utilized?

For realizing opportunities related to the performance of people. Its utilization is an efficient approach to problem solving and performance enhancement.

How is HPT utilized?
Ah-hah! Now we're getting down to the nuts & bolts of it… through a systematic combination of three fundamental processes: performance analysis, cause analysis, and intervention selection.

more..

What is Educational Technology?

ONE DEFINITION of Educational Technology is that it is a systematic, iterative process for designing instruction or training used to improve performance.

Sounds confusing right? Let’s break it down a little…

SDSU Educational Technology Mission Statement
The mission statement of the SDSU Department of Educational Technology may shed a little light. In part, it says it's purpose is to

...encourage wise use of systems, environments, tools, products, and strategies that can enhance human learning and competence.

Understanding Instructional Systems Design
If you look up the phrase Educational Technology in a general online or hardcover dictionary or encyclopedia, chances are you won’t find it. If you do, the meaning will probably focus on technology applied to a school setting.

Educational Technology is a hard concept to define because it embraces several disciplines harking back to a time when the systematic study of education was new.

One of those disciplines is Instructional Systems Design, or ISD. During and after World War II, the US military sought a more effective approach to training large numbers of personnel. It employed instructional films and evolved to include a combination of job aids with instructors.

What was different about ISD at the time is that it began with analyzing the learners so that designers could customize instruction to best suit their needs.

ISD also incorporated the idea of a systems approach to developing instruction. It is characterized by an orderly process for gathering and analyzing collective and individual requirements, and by the ability to respond to identified training needs.

The application of a systems approach to training insures that training programs and the required support materials are continually developed in an effective and efficient manner to match the variety of needs in an rapidly changing environment.

For more on ISD, see http://www.whidbey.com/frodo/isd.htm.

Another important term associated with Educational Technology is "Performance Technology."

Performance Technology
Human Performance Technology (HPT) goes beyond "just" training and instruction. It uses a wide range of interventions drawn from many disciplines including behavioral psychology, instructional systems design, organizational development, and human resources management.

As such, it stresses a rigorous analysis of present and desired levels of performance, identifies the causes for any performance gaps, offers a wide range of solutions with which to improve performance, guides the change management process, and evaluates the results.

Who Are Educational Technologists what do they do?
Educational Technologist come from many different fields of expertise. The one thing all educational technologists have in common is their love for learning.

More...

Kirkpatrick's Four Levels of Evaluation

ASSESSING TRAINING EFFECTIVENESS often entails using the four-level model developed by Donald Kirkpatrick (1994). According to this model, evaluation should always begin with level one, and then, as time and budget allows, should move sequentially through levels two, three, and four. Information from each prior level serves as a base for the next level's evaluation. Thus, each successive level represents a more precise measure of the effectiveness of the training program, but at the same time requires a more rigorous and time-consuming analysis.

Level 1 Evaluation - Reactions
Just as the word implies, evaluation at this level measures how participants in a training program react to it. It attempts to answer questions regarding the participants' perceptions - Did they like it? Was the material relevant to their work? This type of evaluation is often called a “smilesheet.” According to Kirkpatrick, every program should at least be evaluated at this level to provide for the improvement of a training program. In addition, the participants' reactions have important consequences for learning (level two). Although a positive reaction does not guarantee learning, a negative reaction almost certainly reduces its possibility.

More

Keeping Up-To-Date On Web Resources

Larry Ferlazzo

from Educators' eZine

So many new websites, so little time! Thousands of new websites come online each day but too many have little educational value. However, there are others that can provide helpful resources to teachers and students. How can we find those "nuggets" without wasting hours surfing the net?

There are several organizations and individuals out there that identify these useful sites and will let us know about them — for free! Here are several free email newsletters that will regularly update you on new sites that teachers can use in the classroom:

TechLearning
Of course, if you're reading this article, you probably already subscribe to this newsletter. In addition to all the other great articles and resources that TechLearning offers, it also provides a new "Site of the Day" every day of the week.

TeachersFirst
TeachersFirst has an extraordinary collection of useful websites and other resources. It sends out a weekly newsletter with new featured sites and updates.

The Teacher List
The Teacher List is a daily email of a new site. Pete MacKay, a teacher himself, puts it out as a labor love, and, along with his long list of contributors, provides an excellent source of new web resources.

Blue Web 'N
Blue Web 'N has published weekly or bi-weekly updates for years of new educational resources on the web. It stopped for a while, but has recently begun again.

PBS Teacher Previews
This newsletter comes out weekly and gives the newest web activities connected to PBS programs, along with listing appropriate grade levels.


Librarians' Internet Index
"New This Week" is a weekly newsletter published with support from the State Librarians of California and Washington. It lists new web resources from throughout the world with a particular emphasis on sites related to the western United States.

Education World Education Site Reviews
Education World publishes many newsletters. This one comes out weekly and shares in-depth reviews of web resources.

Neat New Stuff
This is another labor of love, this time from a librarian. Each week you'll receive an email listing several sites of interest to educators.

Middleweb Newsletter "Of Particular Interest"
Middleweb is a network of educators primarily working in the middle grades. However, this weekly newsletter includes lists of websites useful to teachers at all levels.

BBC Schools
The BBC schools website might very well be the best in the world for original and engaging online resources. This monthly newsletter will keep you informed on additions and changes to the site.

Shambles
Shambles is an impressive collection of thousands of sites that is published by an organization of schools, primarily in Asia. The newsletter comes out quarterly.

AOL@School
AOL has a steadily increasing collection of school-related resources. Their monthly newsletter will alert you to additions.

Finally, at the risk at appearing to "blow my own horn," I have a blog entitled "Websites of the Day for Teaching ELL, ESL, and EFL" focusing on sites appropriate for English Language Learners and for younger native speakers. You can subscribe to this via RSS or email.

Let me know if you have some favorite newsletters that I've missed....

Email: Larry Ferlazzo

article source : http://www.techlearning.com/story/showArticle.php?articleID=196604532

Ten Tips for Making your Photos a Curriculum Hit

Matt Bamberg

from Educators' eZine

Want to impress your students? Enliven your lectures/presentations with your own digital photos. But not the run-of-the-mill 'snapshot' kind. Today's kids are too sophisticated for that! Instead learn to shoot photos like a pro. It's not at all hard. And since you're shooting digital, if you don't like the picture, just delete it and do it over.

Here are ten tips that will have your students impressed by your photography:

Zoom in to catch the details. If you see a group or a soloist playing music get in there up close to catch facial expressions and even intimate details as a musician tuning up or wiping the sweat from his face.

Follow the Rule of Thirds - positioning subjects in the left or right third of the frame. Also, photograph landscapes by framing the sky so that the horizon lies at the top third of the frame.

Take the advice of architectural designer Mies Van der Rohe, "Less is more." In other words, in a modern world, get rid of distrcting elements in the foreground or background. Keep your photos simple.

Watch your exposure. Keep your lens away from blasting white light or blanketing black.

Photograph smoke and mist. If there's smoke or mist around, snap it as it not only has an interesting look in a photography, but it also probably has an interesting scientific reason to which you can attribute it.

Get dirty. Sit or lie on the ground or shove yourself into bushes to get the best angle possible.

Be Yourself. I don't feel I'll get anything worthwhile if I photograph something that bores me. For example, SUVs are not on my photography to-shoot list as I think the world would be better without them.

Constantly be on the lookout for freaky/odd/unusual/surprising stuff. While in Shanghai, I saw some men standing on scaffolding in front of a backlit plastic sign; the light from behind silhouetted their bodies so that the image became a piece of art.

Travel to places where you can shoot what other artists have painted. I've shot great garden and flower photos at Claude Monet's garden in Giverny, which is 80 km west of Paris. You can take the train to Vernon and walk to the village of Giverny and then to the famous garden.

Be ready. Set your camera on auto-mode (sports mode if you're moving) and leave it on when you're walking around so that you can quickly shoot what hits you.

For more photography tips visit my blog, "Digital Art Photography for Dummies"

Article Source : http://www.techlearning.com/story/showArticle.php?articleID=196604530

IQ Bukan ‘Kunci Mati’ Kecerdasan

Bila bicara mengenai kecerdasan seorang anak, mungkin Anda langsung akan menghubungkannya dengan Intelligence Quotient, atau yang lebih dikenal dengan IQ. IQ ini seringkali menjadi panduan kecerdasan seseorang untuk masuk sekolah atau diterima kerja. Anda sendiri pun mungkin sudah sangat akrab dengan tes-tes semacam yang bertujuan sama, yaitu mengetahui skor IQ.
Si buyung dan si upik pun saat masuk sekolah biasanya akan melewati tes IQ sebagaimana juga Anda dulu. Bila skornya cukup tinggi dan di atas rata-rata, bolehlah Anda berbangga hati. Orang tua mana sih yang tidak bangga bila tes IQ buah hatinya menunjukkan angka yang tinggi Nah bagaimana bila skor IQ-nya hanya sebatas rata-rata saja? Janganlah dulu berkecil hati, apalagi sampai menghukum si kecil yang baru saja mau masuk sekolah dengan setumpuk buku-buku pelajaran. Hidup seseorang tidak sepenuhnya bergantung pada IQ kok!
Untuk menggolongkan kecerdasan buah hati, IQ bukanlah satu-satunya patokan utama yang mendasarinya. Biasanya skor IQ hanyalah dipergunakan untuk seperti diatas biasanya adalah nilai untuk mengukur kecerdasan akademik atau IQ verbal anak, yaitu kemampuan anak untuk belajar dengan cepat dengan cara membaca dan menulis.
Setiap anak pada dasarnya adalah cerdas. Namun kecerdasan apa yang paling menonjol dari Anda berbeda-beda. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kecerdasan manusia tidak hanya meliputi kecerdasan intelektual belaka. Kecerdasan anak Anda bisa jadi termasuk dalam Multiple Intelligence . Coba perhatikan, pasti minimal salah satu dari 9 jenis kecerdasan di bawah ini ada pada buah hati Anda..
1. Linguistik Verbal
Kecerdasan yang biasanya dipakai oleh institusi pendidikan untuk mengukur IQ seorang anak, seperti yang dijelaskan di atas. Biasanya berkisar pada kemampuan menggunakan kata-kata secara efektif.
1. Numerik
Kecerdasan yang berhubungan angka atau matematika, termasuk juga kemahiran menggunakan logika.
1. Spasial
Kecerdasan gambar dan visualisasi yang berhubungan dengan kreatifitas seperti seni dan desain.
1. Kinestetik-Jasmani
Kecerdasan yang berhubungan dengan kemampuan fisik seperti olahraga dan gerak pada atlet dan penari. Termasuk juga orang yang cepat belajar dengan cara melihat, menyentuh dan mengerjakan sesuatu secara langsung.
1. Naturalis
Kecerdasan yang dimiliki oleh orang yang mampu berhubungan dengan alam seperti tumbuh-tumbuhan, binatang, seperti misalnya pelatih binatang.
1. Interpersonal
Kecerdasan dimana ia mampu memahami dan berkomunikasi dengan mudah dengan orang lain.
1. Intrapersonal
Kemampuan untuk mengatahui kelebihan dan kekurangan termasuk mengendalikan dan mengatur dirinya sendiri. Kecerdasan ini juga sering disebut dengan kecerdasan emosi atau emotional intelligence . Daniel Goleman , di dalam bukunya yang berjudul “Emotional Intelligence”, mengatakan bahwa kecerdasan emosi ini adalah yang terpenting dari kecerdasan yang lain.
1. Musikal
kemampuan menyanyikan lagu, mengingat melodi, peka irama atau sekedar menikmati musik
1. Moral
kemampuan untuk memiliki nilai-nilai dan norma yang ada di masyarakat dan menerapkannya dengan baik pada keseharian.
Bukan mustahil bila buah hati Anda memiliki berbagai kecerdasan sekaligus. Jadi, berikan kesempatan anak anda untuk melakukan sebanyak mungkin kegiatan yang bervariasi, sehingga dia akan menemukan kegiatan yang paling sesuai untuk dirinya. Good luck!

Sumber: hanyawanita.com

http://www.ninabobo.com/category/pendidikan/

Matematika, siapa takut? (Mathematics, No Fear!)

Matematika sering kali dianggap pelajaran momok. Tak cuma si anak yang kebingungan, orang tua pun sering dibuat kalang kabut.
Segala daya dikerahkan para orang tua bagi anaknya. Mulai dari les sampai ikut bimbingan belajar. Tapi beberapa waktu terakhir ada lembaga yang khusus menyelenggarakan kursus matematika. Ada yang menggunakan Metode Kumon, sementara lainnya menggunakan alat bantu sempoa.
Kembangkan potensi individu
Sebenarnya nama Kumon adalah nama keluarga penemu metode belajar matematika, Toru Kumon. Guru matematika SMU di Jepang itu pada tahun 1954 pertama kali menyusun sendiri bahan pelajaran matematika untuk membimbing anaknya belajar matematika. Setelah terbukti memberi hasil memuaskan pada anaknya dan juga anak didik dan tetangga dekatnya, ia pun ingin menerapkan cara belajar dan bahan pelajaran ini kepada sebanyak mungkin anak. Tak heran dengan sifatnya yang universal, kini Metode Kumon telah dapat diterapkan di 40 negara, termasuk Indonesia.
Prinsip dasar metode yang disebarluaskan ke Indonesia pada Oktober 1993 ini adalah pengakuan tentang potensi dan kemampuan individual tiap siswa. “Maka, seseorang yang mendaftar kursus Kumon harus mengikuti tes penempatan,” tutur Suita Sary Halim, pimpinan penyelenggara kursus Kumon. Tes penempatan itu untuk mengetahui titik pangkal siswa, supaya siswa dapat mengerjakan bahan pelajaran sesuai dengan kemampuannya. Tak heran bila soal itu biasanya bisa selesai dalam batas waktu tertentu, biasanya hanya dalam hitungan menit.
Setelah itu, ia akan terus berlatih mengerjakan soal-soal latihan sesuai kemampuan, daya konsentrasi dan ketangkasan, bukan berdasar tingkat kelas formal atau usia siswa saja. Siswa SD kelas II bisa saja menghadapi soal latihan untuk SD kelas I, “Karena mungkin yang ia kuasai benar baru pelajaran di kelas I,” ujar Suita.
Sebagai contoh, mungkin saja ada siswa SD kelas II yang harus belajar penambahan yang termudah. Misalnya, 1 + 1 = 2, 2 + 1 = 3, 3 + 1 = 4, 4 + 1 = 5, 5 + 1 = 6, dst. Namun begitu jangan dianggap enteng karena ia harus menyelesaikan sebanyak 50 soal hitungan serupa hanya dalam waktu 2 menit. Latihan itu dilakukan berulang kali, sampai ia menguasai dan mampu di luar kepala menjawab soal serupa. Selanjutnya, ia akan meningkat ke bagian berikut, namun dengan tingkat perbedaan kesulitan yang sangat kecil, misalnya 1 + 2 = 3, 2 + 2 = 4, dan seterusnya.
Maka jangan kaget bila dalam kelas bisa ditemukan siswa dalam berbagai tingkat usia. Begitu pun, beberapa siswa yang duduk di tingkat kelas yang sama tidak berarti akan memulai mengerjakan soal latihan yang sama pula. “Kembali lagi karena masalah potensi dan kemampuan yang berbeda dari tiap siswa. Maka yang diterapkan adalah belajar perseorangan,” tutur Suita sambil menambahkan tiap siswa Kumon mendapat bahan pelajaran yang berbeda dengan siswa lainnya, baik jumlah lembar kerja maupun tingkat bahan pelajarannya.
Karena mulai belajar dari bagian yang tepat, dalam arti sesuai dengan kemampuannya, dan program dibuat secara perseorangan, siswa tidak akan menemui kesulitan belajar. Yang muncul justru perasaan senang belajar matematika. Penyebab yang lain karena di lembaga ini tidak tertutup kemungkinan untuk merevisi dan mengembangkan bahan pelajaran agar anak-anak tidak mengalami kesulitan dalam belajar dan tidak kehilangan semangat belajarnya. Selain itu prestasi antara satu siswa dengan yang lain tidak dibanding-bandingkan, sehingga kalaupun ada yang agak lambat mencapai kemajuan tidak akan merasa kecil hati dan putus asa.
Uniknya, berkat metode yang mengunggulkan kemampuan dan semangat belajar perseorangan itu, biasanya setelah 6 bulan - 1 tahun, siswa sudah bisa mencapai tingkat pelajaran di sekolahnya, setelah itu melampauinya. Kemajuan dari hasil belajar siswa Kumon memang sangat bervariasi. Ada siswa yang menyelesaikan seluruh bahan pelajaran Metode Kumon, hingga level Q mengenai probabilitas dan statistika, dalam waktu 2 tahun 10 bulan. “Namun, sekecil apa pun kemajuannya, kami akan selalu mengakui setiap hasil yang telah mereka capai dan menunjukkan jalan agar pada diri setiap anak timbul rasa percaya diri dan keberanian,” ujar Suita sambil menambahkan pada umumnya prestasi siswa sesudah mengikuti kursus metode ini meningkat, terutama dari segi akademis.
Disiplin berlatih Kumon menilai kunci keberhasilan belajar matematika adalah dengan banyak berlatih. Tak heran bila selama belajar dengan Metode Kumon siswa akan mendapat banyak porsi latihan. Dalam tiap satuan lembar kerja terdapat puluhan soal, sehingga untuk satu materi bahasan ia akan mengerjakan hingga ratusan soal latihan. Maka, untuk menyelesaikan seluruh topik bahasan, bila ia jadi siswa sejak tingkat pertama, jumlah soal latihan yang dikerjakannya tentu mencapai puluhan ribu!
Di Kumon, menurut Suita, siswa yang sudah punya kemampuan cukup yang bisa maju ke tingkat lebih tinggi. Bagi yang belum cukup akan terus mendapat pengulangan, sehingga nantinya ia tidak mendapat kesulitan saat mengerjakan bahan pelajaran yang lebih tinggi.
Selain itu Kumon memberlakukan sistem nilai 100, artinya tiap latihan harus benar dikerjakan semua sebelum bisa berganti lembar pelajaran. Siswa yang melakukan kesalahan harus memperbaiki sendiri sampai mendapat nilai 100. Cara ini dinilai efektif agar siswa tidak lagi melakukan kesalahan yang sama.
Namun, kenaikan tingkat sering kali tidak terasa. Ini karena perubahan bahan pelajaran dibuat sedemikian kecil, bahkan halus dan sistematis. Bahan pelajaran meningkat seiring dengan kemampuan penalaran sendiri, jarang sekali ia harus minta bantuan pembimbing. Cara ini akan membentuk kebiasaan belajar mandiri yang berguna untuk menggali potensi diri-sendiri.
Selain materi pelajaran, waktu belajar siswa pun digodok matang. Siswa umumnya datang ke kelas 2 kali seminggu dengan waktu belajar rata-rata 30 menit, tergantung tingkat bahan pelajarannya. “Namun, di luar hari kelas, mereka mendapat PR dengan jumlah yang tepat sesuai kemampuannya setiap hari,” ujar Dani Wulansari, staf lembaga Metode Kumon.
Semua cara belajar itu diterapkan pada seluruh peserta kursus tanpa memandang usia, karena Kumon memang bisa diikuti oleh siswa pada usia berapa pun. “Pendaftarannya pun terbuka setiap saat,” ujar Dani sambil menambahkan sebaiknya siswa mempelajari metode ini sejak usia dini, karena hasilnya tentu akan lebih memuaskan. Yang terutama dirasakan adalah kemampuan berpikir matematis akibat latihan mengkoordinasikan angka-angka menggunakan otak dan tangan. Khususnya latihan hitungan dengan Metode Kumon akan terasa sangat membantu untuk mengenal matematika tingkat SMP dan SMA, sehingga ia akan dengan mudah mengerjakan soal-soal persamaan, pemfaktoran, juga diferensial dan integral.
Dengan demikian, Metode Kumon bukan hanya meningkatkan penguasaan matematika, tapi juga berbagai kemampuan belajar pada anak, mulai dari konsentrasi dan ketangkasan kerja, semangat kebiasaan belajar mandiri, kebiasaan belajar setiap hari. Bila ia bisa menyelesaikan soal latihan matematika dari sekolah dengan cepat, maka ia bisa menggunakan sisa waktu untuk mempelajari ilmu lain. Alhasil, pelajaran lain pun pasti akan meningkat.
Dari pasir sampai manik-manik Konon dengan sempoa seorang anak dapat menjawab sederetan soal hitungan penjumlahan dan pengurangan hanya dalam beberapa menit. Yang dilakukannya cuma menjentak-jentikkan biji manik-manik sempoanya dengan cekatan.
Sempoa memang bukan barang baru. Diduga alat hitung ala abakus pertama dimiliki suku Babilonia dalam bentuk sebilah papan yang ditaburi pasir. Di atasnya orang bisa menorehkan berbagai bentuk huruf atau simbol. Tak heran bila ia disebut abakus yang dalam bahasa Yunaninya abakos, artinya ‘menghapus debu’. Ketika berubah fungsi menjadi alat hitung, bentuknya pun diubah. Permukaan pasir itu menjadi papan yang ditandai garis-garis lengkap dengan sejumlah manik-manik satuan, puluhan, ratusan, dan seterusnya.
Alat itu makin disempurnakan di zaman Romawi. Papannya dibuat berlekak-lekuk cekung agar saat menghitung manik-manik mudah digerakkan dari atas ke bawah.
Orang Cina mengembangkan “hsuan-pan” (nampan penghitung) alias abakus itu menjadi dua bagian. Pada jeruji atas dimasukkan dua manik-manik dan jeruji bawah lima manik-manik. Di abad pertengahan abakus makin tersebar luas, di antaranya sampai ke Eropa, Arab, dan seluruh Asia.
Abakus sampai di Jepang pada abad ke-16. Namun Jepang mengubah susunan manik-manik menjadi satu pada jeruji atas dan empat di jeruji bawah. Satu manik-manik jeruji atas bernilai lima dan empat di jeruji bawah (dimulai dari tengah ke kiri) bernilai satuan, selanjutnya puluhan, ratusan, dan seterusnya. Sedangkan di bagian tengah ke kanan untuk menghitung bilangan desimal. Rupanya abakus ala Jepang ini yang belakangan populer kembali, termasuk di Indonesia.
Menanam sempoa di otak Munculnya mesin hitung elektronika di AS tahun 1946, rupanya tidak menggoyahkan kepopuleran sempoa. Malah anak yang sudah sangat fasih menghitung dengan metode sempoa telah dibuktikan mampu mengalahkan cara hitung dengan komputer.
Belakangan berbagai kursus mental aritmatika sempoa memang menjamur di kota-kota besar. Menurut salah satu penyelenggara kursus, yaitu Yayasan Aritmatika Indonesia (YAI) yang mengambil lisensi dari Malaysia, berhitung metode sempoa hanya melibatkan hitungan tambah, kurang, kali, dan bagi.
Satu paket belajar terdiri atas 10 tingkat yang kenaikannya harus melalui ujian. Pada tingkat I - III anak belajar penjumlahan dan pengurangan. Pada tingkat IV diajarkan perkalian dan pembagian. Bila satu tingkat selesai dalam tiga bulan, berarti untuk menamatkan 10 tingkat perlu waktu 30 bulan atau 2,5 tahun. Umumnya bila sudah sampai tingkat terampil, mungkin setelah belajar 6 bulan - 1 tahun, sekitar tingkat II atau III, murid diharapkan mampu menghitung tanpa alat bantu apa pun. Sepuluh baris pertanyaan perkalian tiga digit angka dengan tiga digit angka bisa selesai kurang dari 30 detik!
Hal ini bisa terjadi karena anak sudah hapal lokasi satuan, puluhan, ratusan, dst. Cukup dengan membayangkan posisi manik-manik sempoa sambil memainkan jari-jari tangannya, ia bisa menemukan hasil hitungan. Pada tingkat ini ia sudah mampu menghitung cepat di luar kepala. Visualisasi penggunaan sempoa sudah tertanam dalam otaknya.
Namun, ada catatan penting lain, menurut sistem YAI, pelatihan aritmatika sempoa paling sesuai untuk anak usia 6 - 12 tahun karena mereka sedang dalam taraf mempelajari metode dasar eksakta.
“Pikiran mereka masih jernih, belum terlalu dipengaruhi metode aritmatika lain,” tutur Ibu Tia, praktisi sistem YAI di Sanggar Kreativitas Bobo, Jakarta.
Akhirnya, selain bisa berhitung cepat, metode ini berguna untuk mengoptimalkan fungsi-fungsi otak, khususnya otak kanan yang meliputi daya analisis, ingatan, logika, imajinasi, reaksi tinggi, dll. Menurut teori mental aritmatika, pemahaman atas disiplin dasar eksakta ini akan membuat anak mampu menguasai dan menggunakan secara optimal seluruh potensi dan kreativitas dirinya, termasuk menyerap ilmu-ilmu lanjutannya nanti. Untuk kehidupan sehari-hari latihan ini akan melatih mental anak agar menjadi lebih tekun serta disiplin.
Ilmu kemampuan dasar Kemampuan menghitung dengan cepat, tentu akan menunjang anak dalam pelajaran matematika di sekolah. Atas pertimbangan itu Kepala Sekolah SD Dharma Karya Drs. H. Masduki memasukkan metode ini dalam mata pelajaran di sekolah yang dipimpinnya. “Karena saya pernah melihat ada anak SMP yang menghitung masih dengan alat bantu jari-jari tangan.”
Selain itu, ia membaca di surat kabar rencana akan makin banyaknya diterapkan ilmu kemampuan dasar di tingkat pendidikan dasar. Menurut dia, “Salah satu ilmu kemampuan dasar adalah aritmatika yang meliputi penguasaan berhitung tambah, kurang, kali, bagi.” Bila landasan berhitungnya cukup kuat, siswa tentu tak akan menghadapi masalah dalam memahami matematika yang sesuai dengan tuntutan kurikulum dan GBPP.
SD Dharma Karya mengajarkan metode sempoa aritmatika sejak tahun ajaran baru silam dengan mengambil dua jam dari 10 jam pelajaran matematika. Metode ini diperkenalkan pada siswa kelas I hingga VI. “Repotnya, kalau diajarkan pada siswa di kelas V atau VI, mental berhitung mereka sudah terbentuk yaitu menghitung dengan alat bantu jari tangan, sedangkan jumlah jari tangan sangat terbatas. Tak heran, kalau sering kali matematika sulit dikuasai karena tidak ada bekal ilmu berhitung,” aku Wito, guru mata pelajaran metode sempoa.
Nantinya, murid kelas I sekarang saat duduk di kelas V akan mendapat pelajaran aritmatika sosial. “Siswa belajar menerapkannya dalam masalah sehari-hari, misalnya saat berbelanja,” tutur Wito yang mengaku sempat bekerja keras merakit sempoa sederhana untuk dipakai berlatih murid-muridnya.
Ternyata Wito punya target yang sama dengan YAI, yaitu memasukkan sempoa bayangan ke otak anak. Tugas pertamanya adalah bagaimana agar muridnya lancar mengoperasikan sempoa. Di otak setiap gerakan bisa punya makna dalam hitungan. Sehingga kalau pun tanpa sempoa siswa tak akan kesulitan dalam berhitung.
Menurut Wito, murid-muridnya tak pernah bosan belajar dengan sempoa. Murid-muridnya tak merasa sedang belajar, malah lebih merasa sedang bermain manik-manik sempoa.
Masduki tak mengingkari masalah yang mungkin muncul. Berbeda dengan kursus, di mana satu anak punya sempoa sendiri yang bisa dipakai berlatih di rumah, sempoa di sekolahnya hanya dipinjamkan pada siswa saat pelajaran. Belum lagi jumlah siswa satu kelas yang mencapai 35 orang, sehingga mungkin saja ada anak yang agak lambat menguasainya. “Namun, selalu ada jalan keluar, misalnya memberi pengajaran remedial atau pengayaan,” tutur Masduki yang, sama seperti guru dan orang tua mana pun, bertekad memberikan bekal terbaik untuk generasi penerusnya.
http://www.ninabobo.com/2006/01/06/matematika-siapa-takut/

TEKNOLOGI PENDIDIKAN

Dunia informasi dan teknologi berkembang sangat cepat dan merambah ke semua sektor kehidupan. Dunia Pendidikan yang berperan mencetak manusia yang menguasai teknologi mau tidak mau terkena imbas yang sama yaitu tersentuh dengan teknologi. Pendidikan yang identik dengan sekolah dan lembaga formal memanfaatkan perkembangan teknologi dengan cara menyediakan sarana dan prasarana demi tercapainya suasana belajar dan mengajar yang kondusif.

Namun, kenyataan di lapangan belum menunjukkan gambaran yang memuaskan. Saat ini masih banyak sekolah-sekolah (terutama yang berada di daerah pedesaan) belum tersentuh teknologi, terutama komputer. Di beberapa sekolah terungkap sistem manajemen dan Tata Usaha sekolah dikerjakan dengan manual. Mesin ketik sebagai sarana pembukuan administrasi masih menjadi alat utama sementara dilain sisi teknologi komputer telah berkembang pesat dalam sistem pengleloaan manajemen dan Tata Usaha. Bahkan kini teknologi komputer didukung dengan internet yang telah menjadi jendela penghubung dunia.

Sungguh ironis ketika hibah sejuta komputer dari pemerintah jepang yang ternyata disinyalir sebagai ajang bisnis miliaran rupiah kurang didukung dengan respon dari pemerintah. Dari kasus tersebut terungkap bahwa beberapa sekolah membutuhkan sarana komputer selain sebagai sarana penertiban administrasi juga sarana belajar siswa. Karena kita telah tertinggal jauh dengan siswa di eropa yang telah menggunakan teknologi komputer beberapa puluh tahun yang lalu sebagai sarana belajarnya.

Teknologi seharusnya direspon pemerintah dalam hal ini Departemen Pendidikan Nasional dengan menteknologikan pendidikan. Tahapan-tahapan yang dilalui memang panjang namun dengan pengalokasian dana untuk penyediaan sarana dan prasarana seperti komputer akan mendukung program ini. Dalam hali ini yang menjadi prioritas adalah sekolah-sekolah yang berada di pedesaan dimana siswanya belum pernah menyentuh bahkan melihat komputer. Program-program komputer tingkat dasar dapat dimasukkan ke dalam kurikulum nasional pada tingkatan sekolah dasar, sehingga ketika siswa melanjutkan ke sekolah yang lebih tinggi, tidak tertinggal dengan siswa-siswa diperkotaan yang telah mengenal komputer. Setiap kejadian pasti ada hikmahnya dan kasus hibah sejuta komputer dapat digali hiknah dan wacana yang terkandung didalamnya.


Pengirim :
Muhamad Ali Hasymi Mahasiswa Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris Fakults Keguruan dan Ilmu
Pendiidkan Universitas Islam Malang angkatan tahun 1999.
e-mail: alilis2001@yahoo.com

http://artikel.us/malihasymi.html

Menimbang Sekolah Gratis

Ade Irawan

Korantempo, Kamis 24 Juni 2005

Awal tahun ajaran 2005/2006, pemerintah akan mulai menjalankan program pendidikan dasar gratis untuk sekolah dasar (SD) dan sekolah menengah pertama (SMP) atau sederajat. Total dana yang disediakan Rp 6,27 triliun, yang akan disalurkan dalam bentuk biaya operasional sekolah, masing-masing untuk pendaftaran siswa baru, buku pelajaran pokok dan penunjang, pemeliharaan sekolah, ujian sekolah, ulangan umum bersama, ulangan umum harian, honor guru, dan transportasi siswa kurang mampu. Siswa SD atau sederajat akan memperoleh senilai Rp 235 ribu dan siswa SMP atau sederajat Rp 324.500 setiap tahunnya.

Model biaya operasional yang akan digulirkan pemerintah memang lebih baik dibandingkan dengan model beasiswa seperti yang direncanakan sebelumnya. Selain jumlah dananya lebih besar, penerima dan jenis-jenis biaya yang disubsidi pun cukup jelas. Sehingga pemerintah tidak akan lagi sibuk mengidentifikasi dan menentukan 9,6 juta murid yang dianggap miskin.

Walaupun begitu, pemerintah pun tidak cukup jujur untuk berterus terang bahwa model ini belum menjamin sekolah bisa gratis. Pertama, jumlah dana yang disediakan sebesar Rp 6,27 triliun jelas tidak mencukupi. Dengan memakai data terakhir jumlah siswa yang ada di situs Departemen Pendidikan Nasional, pada tahun ajaran 2002/2003 terdapat 25,9 juta siswa SD dan 7,4 juta siswa SMP.

Jika dikaitkan dengan kebutuhan, pada tingkat SD, 25,9 juta dikalikan biaya operasional sekolah Rp 235 ribu, pemerintah perlu menyediakan Rp 6,0865 triliun. Untuk tingkat SMP, 7,4 juta siswa dikalikan Rp 324.500, maka dana yang diperlukan Rp 2,4013 triliun. Total biaya operasional SD dan SMP atau sederajat minimal Rp 8,4878 triliun. Itu dengan memakai data lama. Besar kemungkinannya pada tahun ajaran 2005/2006 jumlah siswa akan bertambah, yang berarti kebutuhan biaya bertambah pula.

Kedua, banyak komponen penting dalam penyelenggaraan sekolah yang tidak tercakup dalam biaya operasional sekolah, seperti pembayaran listrik, air, telepon, alat tulis, dan kegiatan ekstrakurikuler. Apalagi jika dibandingkan dengan hasil riset Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) dalam penyelenggaraan SD di Jakarta, Garut, dan Solo. ICW menemukan setidaknya 38 jenis pungutan. Artinya, biaya operasional sekolah yang disediakan pemerintah sebenarnya tidak bisa menutupi kebutuhan riil sekolah.

Ada dua cara yang mungkin akan digunakan sekolah untuk menyiasati kekurangan: mengambil dari alokasi biaya operasional sekolah melalui penghematan pengeluaran atau memungut dari orang tua murid. Sepertinya yang paling memungkinkan diambil oleh sekolah adalah pilihan kedua.

Ketiga, pemerintah sendiri tidak mengeluarkan larangan yang tegas atau sanksi bagi sekolah supaya tidak melakukan pungutan. Tentu saja ini akan dijadikan celah oleh sekolah untuk tetap menarik dana dari masyarakat. Caranya dengan memunculkan jenis-jenis biaya di luar biaya operasional sekolah.

Sebagai contoh, beberapa tahun lalu, dalam rangka menyukseskan program wajib belajar, dikeluarkan larangan terhadap sekolah untuk memungut sumbangan penyelenggaraan pendidikan (SPP). Sekolah memang mematuhi dengan tidak mencantumkan biaya SPP, tapi bermunculan biaya lain yang jumlah dan jenisnya justru lebih banyak, misalnya biaya komite sekolah.

Asumsi-asumsi di atas masih belum memperhitungkan faktor korupsi dan mismanajemen di sekolah. Padahal, belajar dari banyak kasus, dana-dana yang diperuntukkan bagi penyelenggaraan sekolah sering menguap tidak jelas. Contoh yang paling baru adalah dugaan penyelewengan dana hibah (block grant) di SMP 232, Pulogadung (Koran Tempo, 5/4).

Model biaya operasional sekolah yang akan digulirkan tidak jauh berbeda mekanismenya dengan model hibah yang digulirkan pemerintah DKI Jakarta. Dalam hibah, selain beasiswa, diberikan biaya operasional sekolah untuk biaya telepon, air, dan listrik, alat tulis kantor, kegiatan belajar-mengajar, jasa kebersihan, jasa penjaga sekolah nonpegawai negeri sipil, serta buku perpustakaan. Tapi, dalam prakteknya, sekolah tetap memungut dana dari orang tua siswa, bahkan untuk biaya yang tercantum dalam biaya operasional sekolah.

Ada beberapa hal yang menjadi penyebab. Pertama, sosialisasi yang buruk. Selama ini, yang menjadi penerima informasi adalah pejabat dinas pendidikan atau kepala sekolah, sedangkan stakeholder sekolah yang lain, seperti guru atau orang tua murid, sering diabaikan. Mereka akhirnya tidak memiliki informasi sehingga tidak bisa mengawasi penggunaan dana-dana yang masuk ke sekolah. Akibatnya, kepala sekolah bisa leluasa mengalihkan dan menggelapkan dana.

Kedua, tidak semua sekolah memiliki anggaran pendapatan dan belanja sekolah (APBS). Kalaupun ada, pembuatan dan pengelolaannya ada di tangan kepala sekolah. Padahal APBS bukan hanya memberikan gambaran keuangan, tapi juga panduan kegiatan penyelenggaraan sekolah. Tanpa adanya program yang jelas, biaya operasional sekolah digunakan tidak pada peruntukannya.

Sepertinya pemerintah belum menyiapkan antisipasinya, sehingga kemungkinan terjadinya pungutan di sekolah sangat terbuka. Apabila orang tua murid pada tingkat SD dan SMP atau sederajat masih mengeluarkan biaya untuk penyelenggaraan sekolah, dengan sendirinya program pendidikan dasar gratis telah gagal.
Ade Irawan (Program Manager Divisi Monitoring Pelayanan Publik Indonesia Corruption Watch) http://www.jakartateachers.com

Dagelan Itu Bernama Ujian Nasional

Kompas, Senin 15 Agustus 2005


Hasil ujian nasional tahun pelajaran 2004/2005 tingkat SMP dan SMA atau sederajat telah diumumkan akhir Juni lalu. Banyak siswa gagal menembus nilai 4,26 alias tidak lulus. Muncul komentar yang mengeluhkan rendahnya kualitas pendidikan nasional. Wakil Presiden Jusuf Kalla merasa prihatin dan akan berupaya meningkatkan kualitas pendidikan di sejumlah daerah yang pada kenyataannya masih tertinggal (Kompas, 2 Juli 2005).

Keluhan masyarakat tidak salah. Kualitas pendidikan nasional memang sudah sangat memprihatinkan. Namun jika diamati secara arif, ketidaklulusan siswa untuk tahun pelajaran 2004/2005 ini sebenarnya bisa lebih tinggi dari angka yang sudah diumumkan pemerintah. Artinya, banyak siswa berkualitas rendah ternyata lulus ujian.

Tulisan di bawah ini akan membahas penyebab kelulusan seorang siswa. Berdasar pengamatan, pengalaman penulis, ditambah pengakuan para siswa yang ”kebetulan” lulus ujian, ada dua hal pokok yang perlu diperhatikan. Pertama, siswa tidak lulus ujian karena memang berkualitas rendah. Kedua, ternyata siswa lulus ujian belum tentu berkualitas tinggi. Karena sejumlah faktor X bisa saja siswa berkualitas rendah lulus ujian.

Perlu dipertanyakan apa benar hasil UN mencerminkan kualitas pendidikan setiap sekolah/daerah? Perlu diketahui, salah satu tujuan UN untuk memetakan tingkat kemajuan kependidikan suatu daerah.

Bahan tulisan ini dari perbandingan latihan UN (pertengahan April) dan UN (awal Juni) tahun pelajaran 2004/2005 tingkat SMP di Kabupaten Kudus, Jawa Tengah. Khususnya mata ujian Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Inggris, dan Matematika. Data perbandingan diambil dari tes tertulis di 43 SMP di Kudus. Kecuali tiga SMP, yakni SMP Negeri 1 Kudus, SMP Negeri 1 Jati, dan SMP Negeri 3 Bae yang ujiannya pakai sistem contextual teaching learning (CTL).

Saat latihan UN ternyata dari 43 SMP peserta tes hanya ada 4 SMP yang lulus ujian. Sementara 39 SMP lain dinyatakan tidak lulus ujian. Meskipun satu SMP dinyatakan lulus, bukan berarti semua siswa di sekolah tersebut lulus uji coba. Begitu juga sebaliknya. Ketidaklulusan sekolah dapat dibaca mayoritas siswa disekolah tersebut memiliki nilai di bawah ambang batas kelulusan. Diperkirakan ada 5.000 siswa tidak lulus uji coba UN dari sekitar 6.800 peserta. Materi disiapkan pihak Musyawarah Guru Mata Pelajaran (MGMP) setempat mengacu kriteria kelulusan UN.

Meski berlabel latihan UN, tidak urung banyak pihak kebakaran jenggot. Mengomentari jebloknya hasil latihan UN di Kudus, Kepala Dinas P dan K Jawa Tengah Suwilan Wisnu Yuwono mengatakan, ”Biasanya soal untuk uji coba dibuat sulit untuk merangsang siswa agar nilai ujian nasional bisa bagus” (Kompas, 6 Juni 2005).

Dari tabel 1, 2, dan 3 dilihat sepintas apa yang dikatakan Suwilan Wisnu Yuwono masuk akal. Dapat dibaca, ke-43 SMP di Kudus mampu meningkatkan kualitas pendidikan dalam tempo sekejap. Angka ketidaklulusan mampu diminimalkan dari sekitar 5.000 siswa menjadi 979 siswa saja. Nilai rata-rata ketiga mata pelajaran juga meningkat cukup signifikan.

Mengingat kenaikan nilai dialami hampir semua peserta tes, banyak muncul pertanyaan. Contoh sebuah SMP, latihan UN jumlah rata-rata ketiga mata pelajaran hanya 10,79. Namun saat UN nilai meningkat dua kali lebih menjadi 23,31. Dari sekolah tersebut kenaikan sangat tinggi untuk mata pelajaran Matematika. Nilai rata-rata latihan hanya 2,25, tapi saat UN meningkat hampir 4 kali lipat menjadi 8,77. Dari sisi pendidikan mana yang bisa menjawab fenomena kenaikan drastis nilai seperti terjadi di Kudus ini?

Untuk menjawab pertanyaan di atas, kali pertama dilihat proses pra-UN di sekolah. Sejak nominasi peserta ujian, strategi menyiasati UN sudah dilakukan. Aturannya, satu ruang ujian diisi maksimal 20 siswa. Mereka duduk berlima ke belakang. Siswa pandai dinominasikan duduk di deret ketiga atau di tengah ruang ujian dan ”dikelilingi” siswa yang lain. Usulan nominasi ini biasanya diterima Diknas. Tapi di sejumlah daerah urutan nominasi memakai sistem urut nomor induk siswa.

Tata letak bangku dan kursi siswa punya andil ”meluluskan” siswa. Pada umumnya ruang kelas SMP relatif kecil, berukuran 7 x 7 m. Jarak tempat duduk peserta ujian relatif cukup dekat. Jarak siswa depan-belakang sekitar 0,5 m dan kanan-kiri 1 m saja. Ditambah model soal UN pilihan ganda, sah-sah saja peserta ujian sering lihat kiri-kanan, utamanya ”melirik” hasil kerja teman yang pandai. Banyak siswa mengaku untuk mengerjakan 30 soal, mereka hanya butuh 10 menit untuk menjawab. Celakanya, Peraturan Mendiknas Nomor 1/2005 tentang Ujian Nasional tahun pelajaran 2004/2005 tidak mengatur tata ruang UN secara mendetail. Hanya disebutkan, ruang ujian harus memenuhi syarat antara lain aman dan memadai.

Memang satu ruang dijaga dua pengawas (guru) lain sekolah yang dibayar Rp 15.000 per orang dipotong pajak 10 persen, untuk terus mendelik selama 120 menit. Tapi apa pengawas betah duduk terus? Perlu dipahami, banyak pengawas sering ngantuk, ngobrol satu sama lain, dan sesekali mencuri waktu keluar ruang tes untuk merokok.

Juga ada kedekatan emosional antara siswa dan guru saat UN. Ucapan ”siswa yang Anda jaga juga tidak lain murid Anda sendiri”, acapkali membuat bimbang para guru. Di satu pihak guru harus mengamankan kualitas pendidikan nasional, di sisi lain guru tidak tega anak didiknya gagal.

Seberapa valid kualitas kelulusan UN, Balitbang Depdiknas bisa mengecek silang dengan nilai rapor hasil rata-rata 3 tahun siswa belajar. Misal, siswa bernama A nilai UN Matematika mendapat 9,67. Hasil tersebut kemudian dibandingkan dengan nilai rata-rata rapornya selama tiga tahun belajar. Dari perbandingan ini bisa ditarik kesimpulan apakah nilai UN siswa bersangkutan valid atau tidak. Tentu saja jika si siswa memang berkualitas seperti yang diharapkan, nilai rata-rata rapor tidak jauh dari angka 9,67.

Dari contoh kasus di atas, Departemen Pendidikan Nasional tidak boleh gegabah mengambil nilai UN sebagai standar kemajuan pendidikan suatu daerah. Jika carut-marut UN tidak segera dibenahi, tidak salah banyak pihak mengatakan UN hanya dagelan belaka. Toh lulus atau tidak hanya ditentukan 3 kali 120 menit saja. Bukan hasil belajar tiga tahun.

Ingat, kita hidup di bumi Indonesia bukan di Karang Tumaritis: negeri pewayangan tempat tinggal Gareng dan Petruk yang penuh dagelan saban hari.

http://www.jakartateachers.com

Menembus SPMB dengan Jurus 3K

Oleh :
ARIEF ACHMAD

Ujian akhir nasional (UAN) telah usai dan dari 1.891.339 peserta ujian akhir nasional (UAN) sekolah menengah atas/madrasah (SMA/MA) dan sekolah menengah kejuruan (SMK) tahun 2004, hanya 88,55 persen (1.674.781 peserta) yang berhasil melewati nilai standar kelulusan 4,01 ke atas (¡Ý 4,01).




Setiap lulusan SMA/MA dan SMK (baca : sekolah menengah tingkat atas¡ªSMTA) berhak melanjutkan ke jenjang pendidikan selanjutnya, perguruan tinggi (PT), baik PT negeri (PTN) maupun swasta (PTS). Akan tetapi, seperti sudah menjadi tradisi tahunan, para siswa umumnya berbondong-bondong mendaftarkan dirinya menjadi calon mahasiswa PTN melalui jalur sistem penerimaan mahasiswa baru (SPMB). Walaupun untuk itu terkadang mereka bertindak tidak rasional dan proporsional.

Tidak sedikit calon mahasiswa mengikuti SPMB berdasarkan ¡°mode¡± belaka, ikut-ikutan, mengikuti arus teman. Pilihan program studi mereka di PTN pada galibnya adalah jurusan-jurusan atau fakultas-fakultas ¡°favorit¡± yang diminati oleh banyak calon mahasiswa. Umpamanya, kedokteran umum, arsitektur, teknik informatika, komputer, ekonomi, manajemen, akuntansi, sastra Inggris, dan lain-lain. Padahal untuk dapat diterima di situ dibutuhkan nilai ujian yang tinggi, mengingat banyaknya peminat. Jadi, semakin banyak calon mahasiswa yang meminati suatu program studi di PTN, maka akan semakin tinggi pula nilai ujian yang harus diperolehnya untuk diterima di sana. Begitu pula sebaliknya.

Seluruh PTN di Indonesia yang menyelenggarakan SPMB hanya akan menerima 86.607 mahasiswa baru yang tersebar pada 1.615 program studi (Kompas, 11 Juni 2004). Kalau lulusan SMTA yang ikut SPMB diasumsikan sekira setengah juta orang, berarti yang tidak lulus SPMB jumlahnya jauh lebih banyak daripada yang lolos.

Demikian sulitkah untuk menembus SPMB? Tidak juga, kalau calon mahasiswa mampu mengetahui, memahami, dan menerapkan strategi tembus SPMB dengan jurus 3K, yakni Kesempatan, Kemampuan, dan Kemauan, sebagaimana dielaborasi di bawah ini.



Kesempatan

Pada hakikatnya, menjadi peserta SPMB adalah suatu kesempatan, suatu peluang yang sudah semestinya disikapi secara positif oleh para siswa lulusan SMTA.

Setiap lulusan SMTA bisa mengikuti SPMB sampai tiga kali. Sewaktu baru lulus, setahun setelah lulus, dan dua tahun setelah lulus. Bagi siswa lulusan 2004 , SPMB tahun ini adalah kesempatan pertama untuknya dan jika tidak diterima, masih ada dua kesempatan lagi (2005, 2006). Bagi lulusan 2003, jika tidak diterima tahun ini, maka tinggal satu kesempatan (2005). Dan bagi lulusan 2002, tahun sekarang merupakan kesempatan terakhir untuknya, jika tidak diterima, maka hilanglah peluang menjadi mahasiswa PTN melalui SPMB.

SPMB 2004 diikuti 49 PTN seluruh Indonesia yang terbagi ke dalam tiga regional, yakni regional I meliputi PT di wilayah Sumatera, DKI Jakarta, Jawa Barat, dan Kalimantan Barat; regional II : Jawa Tengah, D.I. Yogyakarta, Kalimantan Selatan, Kalimantan Tengah dan Kalimantan Timur; dan regional III : Jawa Timur, Bali, Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi, Maluku dan Papua. (Data lengkap PTN per regional dapat dilihat di Buku Petunjuk SPMB 2004 atau di http://www.spmb.or.id)

SPMB diselenggarakan di kota-kota di mana PTN berada dan di kota-kota lain yang oleh panitia dianggap strategis. Seleksi ujian tersebut diselenggarakan pada saat yang bersamaan dan menggunakan soal yang sama atau setara. Peserta ujian disarankan memilih tempat ujian yang paling dekat dengan tempat tinggalnya.

Tempat ujian tidak merupakan kriteria penerimaan, sehingga peserta ujian tidak perlu mengikuti ujian di tempat program studi atau universitas yang menjadi pilihannya. Peserta ujian dapat memilih program studi di setiap PTN, dengan persyaratan salah satu pilihannya berada di regional di mana peserta mengikuti ujian; pilihlah tempat ujian yang paling dekat atau paling efisien. Lokasi ujian tidak menjadi pertimbangan diterima atau tidak diterimanya peserta di PTN, tetapi lebih ditentukan oleh nilai SPMB yang bersangkutan dan nilai-nilai dari pesaing di program studi pilihannya.

SPMB mempermudah siswa untuk bisa mendaftar dan diterima di PTN yang diminatinya. Mereka cukup sekali ujian dan memilih beberapa PTN tanpa harus pergi dan menginap ke lokasi di mana PTN pilihannya berada. Mereka hanya perlu mengadakan satu kali perjalanan setelah pasti diterima di PTN pilihannya.

Jadi, untuk dapat diterima di PTN, pilihlah program studi yang tidak favorit, yang berdaya saing rendah. Artinya, calon mahasiswa yang meminatinya tidak terlalu banyak. Strategi yang direkomendasikan di sini : pilihan ke-1 program studi nonfavorit, pilihan ke-2 program studi nonfavorit, dan/atau pilihan ke-3 (untuk yang mengikuti IPC) program studi nonfavorit juga.



Kemampuan

Pada dasarnya, SPMB adalah suatu proses seleksi akademis yang mencakup tiga kelompok ujian : IPA, IPS, dan IPC/Campuran (IPA dan IPS). Setiap lulusan SMTA, jurusan apa saja, boleh mengikuti SPMB kelompok IPA, IPS, atau IPC. Lulusan SMA jurusan IPS yang mengikuti SPMB kelompok IPA juga boleh memilih program studi apa saja di kelompok IPA, termasuk Kedokteran, Komputer, Teknik, Pertanian, dsb.

Secara umum, terdapat tiga mata ujian : kemampuan kuantitatif dan kemampuan verbal sebanyak 75 soal (yaitu matematika dasar, bahasa Indonesia, dan bahasa Inggris, masing-masing 25 soal), kemampuan IPA 75 soal (matematika, biologi, fisika, kimia, dan IPA terpadu, masing-masing 15 soal), dan kemampuan IPS 75 soal (sejarah, geografi, ekonomi¡ªmasing-masing 20 soal¡ª, dan IPS terpadu 15 soal). Peserta ujian harus mampu mengalokasikan waktu dengan jumlah soal yang tersedia, sehingga tidak ada alasan kekurangan waktu pengerjaan soal. Perlu dicatat, kemampuan verbal waktunya 180 menit, kemampuan IPA 150 menit, dan kemampuan IPS 90 menit.

Oleh karena setiap pelajaran mempunyai bobot yang sama, maka kerjakanlah semua soal ujian. Kalau peserta SPMB sama sekali tidak mengerjakan soal salah satu mata pelajaran, maka ia akan mendapat ¡°nilai-mati¡± untuk pelajaran tersebut. Sungguhpun nilai yang lain bagus sekali, kalau ada ¡°nilai mati¡± maka ia tidak akan diterima!.

Semua peserta SPMB akan diurutkan menurut nilai ujiannya, kemudian dialokasikan pada program studi pilihannya, dengan ketentuan bahwa peserta yang lebih baik mendapat prioritas untuk dialokasikan lebih dahulu. Jika masih ada tempat di pilihan pertama, ia akan diterima di program studi pilihan pertama. Jika tempat pada program studi pilihan pertama telah penuh, dan masih ada program studi pilihan kedua, ia akan diterima pada program studi pilihan kedua. Jika tempat pada program studi pilihan pertama dan program studi pilihan kedua telah penuh, maka ia tidak akan diterima walaupun nilainya masih cukup tinggi. Bagi yang memilih kelompok IPC dengan tiga pilihan, maka pilihan ketiga akan diproses dengan cara yang sama.

Pendek kata, SPMB tidak mengenal passing grade. Setiap program studi menerima calon mahasiswa sesuai urutan nilainya, nilai yang lebih baik mendapat prioritas untuk diterima lebih dulu, dan penerimaan berhenti setelah daya tampung terpenuhi.

Jadi, kalau calon mahasiwa memilih program studi favorit, maka ia harus berupaya untuk meraih nilai ujian maksimal. Dengan asumsi, apabila nilai ujiannya tinggi, maka akan dapat mengalahkan para pesaingnya di program studi itu.






Kemauan

Pemilihan program studi di PTN, idealnya, selain karena calon mahasiswa mampu menaklukkan soal-soal ujian SPMB juga harus selaras dengan minat dan bakatnya, sehingga ia diharapkan sukses menyelesaikan studinya di PTN. Namun, dalam SPMB, melalui uji keterampilan program studi keolahragaan dan kesenian saja minat dan bakat calon mahasiswa dapat diketahui. Sebab, berdasarkan Keputusan Mendiknas No. 173/U/2001 tentang Penerimaan Calon Mahasiswa pada Perguruan Tinggi, SPMB hanya bertujuan untuk memilih calon mahasiswa baru yang mempunyai kemampuan akademik untuk mengikuti dan menyelesaikan pendidikan di PTN sesuai dengan batas waktu yang telah ditetapkan. Dari sini, domain afektif dan psikomotor (menurut Taxonomy Bloom)¡ªkecuali untuk program studi keolahragaan dan kesenian¡ªtidak terungkapkan.

SPMB selain menafikan minat dan bakat calon mahasiswa juga tidak mengungkap perilakunya selama bersekolah di SMTA (misalnya : rajin, malas, tukang menyontek, sering kesiangan/terlambat, aktivis, trouble maker, dan lain-lain perbuatan positif maupun negatif siswa).

Berdasarkan uraian di atas, dalam mengikuti SPMB, calon mahasiswa hendaknya menggunakan hati nuraninya. Maksudnya, jangan menjadikan PTN sebagai ¡°tujuan¡±, tetapi sebagai ¡°alat¡± belaka untuk mencapai tujuan yang riil yakni dunia kerja atau masa depan.

Adalah wajar nian tatkala calon mahasiswa memilih program studi favorit di PTN, karena program-program studi itu memang menjanjikan dunia kerja atau masa depan yang relatif lebih baik; dengan gaji, penghasilan, atau kesejahteraan yang layak untuk hidup.

Jadi, biarpun gagal diterima di kedokteran umum, arsitektur, teknik informatika, komputer, ekonomi, manajemen, akuntansi, sastra Inggris, dan lain-lain program studi ¡°favorit¡± di PTN; hal itu bukanlah akhir dari segalanya. Toh, masih banyak PTS-PTS yang membuka program-program studi sejenis dengan kualitas pembelajaran yang tidak kalah dengan PTN dan biaya pendidikan yang cukup terjangkau calon mahasiswa. Lalu, mengapa tetap ngotot ke PTN, kalau tujuan utamanya adalah meraih masa depan yang lebih baik?. NNN Penulis, 10 tahun aktif di berbagai Bimbel di Bandung; kini tenaga fungsional di SMAN 21 Bandung NNN

http://www.artikel.us/art05-13.html

The impact of information architecture on academic web site usability

Review by: Dreier, Matthias (2005-03-21)

As information architecture became popular not until the late 1990ies, it is clear that in 1999 most web sites had flawed information architecture. The authors of this article examined the impact of information architecture on the usability of the web site of the Dalhousie University, Canada. The web site has won three design awards but is nevertheless an illustrative example for the lack of clear information structure.

The authors conducted a usability test with twenty-four participants from six faculties of Dalhousie University. The users were asked to answer six simple questions, that students at Dalhousie University might encounter, e. g. where does one get an e-mail account. Performance was measured by assessing the number of questions that were answered correctly and the time taken to find the answer. User satisfaction was assessed by a Likert-scaled questionnaire. Additionally the users’ actions were logged in order to analyse their navigation strategies.

On average the users were able to answer 3.7 out of six questions and took 88.3 seconds to find an answer. Pre-tests showed that an experienced user could find the answers in 13.6 seconds. The Likert-scaled results with an average 3.25 on a scale from 1 to 5 (‘1’ is ‘strongly disagree/dislike’ and ‘5’ the opposite) were not that disappointing. However, the qualitative feedback revealed a strong dissatisfaction. Users found the navigation scheme and the labels unclear, illogical, and misleading. They felt lost and they missed a search feature.

The navigation strategies were interesting as well. In general, the users tried to proceed systematically. They tried to understand the labels of the navigation elements. If the labels did not match their concepts they tried to exclude implausible elements. Eventually they used trial and error.

Although the authors describe only one case, readers can learn much from their findings. The Dalhousie University web site violated almost every rule of information architecture. The navigation structure was too narrow and too deep. Even the third hierarchy was rather abstract. Labels were ambiguous, for example ‘Academic’ and ‘Departments’ are individual menu items but are regarded as synonyms by the users. Other examples are ‘News’ and ‘What’s new?’ or ‘Academic rules’ and ‘University rules’. When the primary navigation fails and no search feature, no alphabetical index, no site map, and no FAQ page exists users rely on strange analogies: Because the computer centre is physically located underneath the library, some users started at the ‘Library’ web page to look for an e-mail account.

The article has only eleven pages but covers most of the important aspects of information architecture. It is not the scientific approach or the quantitative data that makes the article worth reading. A great benefit (and pleasure) are the quoted user statements. Nothing is more convincing (or embarrassing if it is your web site) than watching experienced users fail to complete simple tasks. Deduced from the users navigation problems the authors give hands-on recommendations for web site information architecture, ready to be applied to any kind of web site. Therefore this article provides a good introduction to information architecture for anyone who is involved in creating or designing web sites.

Source:
http://www.elearning-reviews.org/topics/human-computer-interaction/information-design-information-architecture/1999-gullikson-et-al-ia-academic-website-usability/

Applying Cognitive Theories to Multimedia Instructional Designs

Review by: Knauke, Charlotte (2005-01-04)

Each of the main cognitive theories, Organismic Developmental, Information Processing, Behavioristic, and Contextualistic, are played out in multimedia instructional design in various ways, according to which theory you prefer. Ellis expressed an opinion that Contextualistic, which incorporates the environment, the person and the system of delivery, holds the greatest promise for further study in cognitive science.

Ellis postulates that an instructional design will reflect the philosophical view point of the designer with respect to the cognitive theories. He posits that the cognitive science principles should be used to accommodate how people think, not what to manipulate them as to what to think.

Ellis outlined several design ideas for each of the cognitive theories stated above. Stated briefly and simply:

Organismic Developmental asserts that people progress through a series of developmental stages where knowledge is gained through the person's interaction between himself and the environment. The implications for multimedia instructional design are:

1. Understanding where the learners are requires that a needs assessment be done.
2. The design needs to enable the learner to explore the material at his own pace.
3. Since people establish knowledge through their relationship with the environment, the design may offer an alternate reality or a new experience that challenges the learner to assimilate or accommodate new information.

Information Processing states that knowledge can be gained through an underlying system of organization, such as chunking and cognitive maps. The implications for multimedia instructional design are:

1. Data should be chunked.
2. Use Mnemonic devices, such as pictographs and acronyms.
3. Use imaging which allows the student to explore through writing and drawing forms that are evoked by the material being studied.
4. Frames are more detailed than mnemonic devices or imaging. Frames are “essentially large images that provide a graphic representation of how the concepts interrelate.”

Behavioristic: This theory is based on Stimulus-Response chains. Implications for multimedia instructional design are:

1. Use repetition.
2. Provide a reward or incentive
3. Involve the participant emotionally in the subject matter.

Contextualistic theory examines the interactions between the learner, environment and the system being used for lesson delivery. Implications for multimedia instructional design are:

1. Use imagery to aid in internalizing the information. This differs from information processing theory in that here the approach encourages metacognition.
2. Make apparent the logic and thinking connections.
3. Use an event as the focus of a lesson (an anchoring device).
4. Include a variety of cultural perspectives.
5. Combining videodisc technology with goggles and headphones so that the learner is transported to a different reality (virtual reality).

For a learner new to cognitive theory, this overview of four cognitive theories enables the learner to build a framework for understanding this and other readings about cognition. The outlining of specific design implications helps the learner understand where his instructional designs conform to cognitive theory and suggests other instructional designs that he may want to incorporate.

Source :
http://www.elearning-reviews.org/topics/pedagogy/learning-design/1992-ellis-applying-cognitive-theories-multimedia-instructional-designs/

10 Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs

1. Think success. To attain the kind of success that you want, you need to dream big. Every success story starts with big dreams. You need to have big dreams for yourself - which you want to be somebody rich, famous or fulfilled. You need to have a clear vision of what you want to achieve. But it doesn't stop in dreaming alone. You should actively visualize success in your mind that you can almost feel it, touch it or it is within your reach. Play this image back at every opportunity. What does it feel to triple your current income? How will your life change? What will your business look like if you achieved the million-dollar mark?

Successful entrepreneurs possess an attitude of openness and faith that you can have what you want if you can simply envision it as the first step on the path of action to acquiring it. Management gurus have taught us the power of visualization - seeing yourself in your mind as having accomplished your dreams. If you want to be a successful writer, envision yourself signing books for a throng of people who have lined up to have your autograph. If you want to be rich, picture yourself in luxurious surroundings holding a fat bank account. And the process of envisioning success for you should be a constant activity! You need to think that you are successful (or will be one) every single waking hour. A personal development coach shared me her secret to help her continuously visualize her goals for the moment: when climbing stairs, recite your goal with every step you take. So if you want more money, say "I will have money" in every step of the stairs. This technique will reinforce your goal and keep it fresh in your consciousness.

2. Be passionate with what you do. You start a business to change any or all part of your life. To attain this change, you need to develop or uncover an intense, personal passion to change the way things are and to live life to the fullest. Success comes easily if you love what you do. Why? Because we are more relentless in our pursuit of goals about things that we love. If you hate your job right now, do you think you will ever be successful at it? Not in a million years! You may plod along, even become competent at the tasks, but you will never be a great success at it. You will achieve peak performance and do what you have to do to succeed only if you are doing something that interests you or something that you care about. Entrepreneurs who succeed do not mind the fact that they are putting in 15 or 18 hours a day to their business because they absolutely love what they do. Success in business is all about patience and hard work, which can only be attained if you are passionate and crazy with your tasks and activities.

3. Focus on your strengths. Let's face it; you cannot be everything to everybody. Each of us has our own strengths and weaknesses. To be effective, you need to identify your strengths and concentrate on it. You will become more successful if you are able to channel your efforts to areas that you do best. In business, for example, if you know you have good marketing instincts, then harness this strength and make full use of it. Seek help or assistance in areas that you may be poor at, such as accounting or bookkeeping. To transform your weakness to strength, consider taking hands-on learning or formal training.

4. Never consider the possibility of failure. Ayn Rand, in her novel The Fountainhead, wrote, "It is not in the nature of man - nor of any living entity, to start out by giving up." As an entrepreneur, you need to fully believe in your goals, and that you can do it. Think that what you are doing will contribute to the betterment of your environment and your personal self. You should have a strong faith in your idea, your capabilities and yourself. You must believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that you have the ability to recognize and fulfill them. The more you can develop faith in your ability to achieve your goals, the more rapidly you can attain it. However, your confidence should be balanced with calculated risks that you need to take to achieve greater rewards. Successful entrepreneurs are those who analyze and minimize risk in the pursuit of profit. As they always say, "no guts, no glory."

5. Plan accordingly. You have a vision, and you have enough faith in yourself to believe that you can achieve your vision. But do you know how to get to your vision? To achieve your vision, you need to have concrete goals that will provide the stepping-stone towards your ultimate vision. Put your goals in writing; not doing so just makes them as intangible fantasies. You need to plan each day in such a way that your every action contributes to the attainment of your vision. Do you foresee yourself as the next Martha Stewart of hand-made home furnishings? Perhaps today, you need to see an artist to help you conceptualize the new line of hand-made linens that you hope to launch. Intense goal orientation is the characteristic of every successful entrepreneur. They have a vision, and they know how to get there. Your ability to set goals and make plans for your accomplishment is the skill required to succeed. Plan, plan and plan - because without which failure is guaranteed.

6. Work hard! Every successful entrepreneur works hard, hard and hard. No one achieves success just by sitting and staring at the wall every single day. Brian Tracy puts it out this way, "You work eight hours per day for survival; everything over eight hours per day is for success." Ask any successful businessperson and they will tell you immediately that they had to work more than 60 hours per week at the start of their businesses. Be prepared to say goodbye to after-office drinks every day, or a regular weekend get-away trip. If you are in a start-up phase, you will have to breathe, eat and drink your business until it can stand on its own. Working hard will be easy if you have a vision, clear goals, and are passionate with what you do.

7. Constantly Look for Ways to Network. In business, you are judged by the company you keep - from your management team, board of directors, and strategic partners. Businesses always need assistance, more so small businesses. Maybe the lady you met in a trade association meeting can help you secure funding, or the gentleman at a conference can provide you with management advise. It is important to form alliances with people who can help you, and whom you can help in return. To succeed in business, you need to possess good networking skills and always be alert to opportunities to expand your contacts.

8. Willingness to Learn. You do not need to be a MBA degree holder or PhD graduate to succeed in your own business. In fact, there are a lot of entrepreneurs who did not even finish secondary education. Studies show that most self-made millionaires have average intelligence. Nonetheless, these people reached their full potentials achieved their financial and personal goals in business because they are willing to learn. To succeed, you must be willing to ask questions, remain curious, interested and open to new knowledge. This willingness to learn becomes more crucial given the rapid changes in technologies and ways of doing business.

9. Persevere and have faith. No one said that the road to success is easy. Despite your good intentions and hard work, sometimes you will fail. Some successful entrepreneurs suffered setbacks and resounding defeats, even bankruptcy, yet managed to quickly stand up to make it big in their fields. Your courage to persist in the face of adversity and ability to bounce back after a temporary disappointment will assure your success. You must learn to pick yourself up and start all over again. Your persistence is the measure of the belief in yourself. Remember, if you persevere, nothing can stop you.

10. Discipline yourself. Thomas Huxley once said, "Do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you like it or not." Self-discipline is the key to success. The strength of will to force yourself to pay the price of success - doing what others don't like to do, going the extra mile, fighting and winning the lonely battle with yourself.

Source :: http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol19/secrets.htm

‘E-books' get a boost with new kids' offerings

Two leading children's publishers, Scholastic Inc. and Disney, soon will discover whether the laptop compares to the lap book in the hearts of young readers.


Scholastic is officially launching BookFlix, an educational web site pairing short films based on popular picture books along with nonfiction e-books that allow early readers to follow the text online.


For example, click on the bar that reads "People and Places," and you'll find a pair of offerings on Abraham Lincoln: an animated film of a storybook, Jean Fritz's Just a Few Words, Mr. Lincoln, and the animated image of a nonfiction work, Will Mara's Abraham Lincoln--with children able to turn pages, backward or forward, by clicking on an arrow on the lower right- or left-hand side.



Other books include such favorites as Jules Feiffer's Bark, George, placed alongside Alyse Sweeney's Pets at the Vet, and Syd Hoff's Danny and the Dinosaur, featured with Susan H. Gray's Dinosaur Tracks.


"We're so lucky to live in an era when kids can have books in multiple formats. Each format offers something that the other doesn't," says Francie Alexander, Scholastic's chief academic officer. "The e-book offers a wonderful ability for helping children learn to read--what academics call building ‘mental models.'"


Meanwhile, the Disney Publishing Group plans a similar project later this year, making favorites such as The Jungle Book and Cinderella available online. While Scholastic, for now, is sticking to the school and library market, Disney will offer books to general consumers, charging a fee--still to be determined--for downloads.


"We saw a void in the marketplace and decided to act upon it," said Jon Yaged, U.S. publisher of the Disney Book Group.


E-books for early readers come as electronic sales overall have been rising quickly, even if they remain a fraction of a $35 billion industry. The market for trade releases nearly doubled from 2005 to 2006, from $11 million to $20 million, and already totals $8 million in the first quarter of 2007, according to the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF), a trade and standards association.


IDBF Executive Director Nick Bogaty said he had no statistics for the educational and library market, but he believed the numbers were at least triple those for commercial releases.


"It's starting to become real," Bogaty said of growth in the digital market. "Publishers are starting to take this seriously."


Unlike a few years ago, e-books have users in high places within the industry, including Penguin Group CEO David Shanks and Borders Group Inc. CEO George Jones.

Moree..