Hotel Dash – Suite Success (35 MB download)
When Quinn’s new travel business hits a snag, she needs Flo’s patented elbow grease to help renovate and run hotels all over DinerTown! As Flo, you will deliver guest’s luggage, drop off room service and provide extra towels, blankets and anything else they may need to stay happy and leave big tips! Along the way you will use your tips to decorate and restore each hotel back to its original charm. Watch out for the mysterious mishaps and accidents that threaten your progress! Do you have what it takes to keep everyone happy, or will the mysterious shadow halt your success?

October 27th-29th was a very important date for Owlpoo, as I was able to exhibit my website and show my work to all visitors. Thanks to eye of Dubai, an online portal for everything Dubai, I was given my own space and large TV screen to show Owlpoo on big screen.

It was a very sucessful event which was greatly receieved and a lot of interest was formed. Owlpoo made numerous new contacts, clients and business opportunites.

Owlpoo will shortly be working very closely with schools and now we are working constantly to create Owlpoo into education software for children.

With new inspiration, new stories will be added soon. There will also be an option to translate the stories into arabic and have an audio feature.

See below, a new set of desert character have been created. These will eventually be stories promoting wildlife in the UAE. These are organic illustrations showing the gecko, caracal, camel and falcon.

Owlpoo can’t wait for next Dubai Character and Licensing show in 2010!

www.owlpoo.com
Organic Illustration

Fishdom Frosty Splash (46 MB download)
Use your imagination to recreate the chilly fun atmosphere of winter in your tank. Earn money as you complete colorful match 3 levels and use it to buy festive fish and winter-themed decorations. Take a frosty splash in this sparkling sequel to Fishdom !

So it occurred to me that we’ve yet to formally introduce ourselves to some of you.

Hello.  I am Gigi.  I am an Dominant woman and owner of the lovely sissy maid kaye.  Now, please, before some of you start prostrating yourselves at my feet or towering over kaye let me say I am not on the market.  Neither is kaye.  We are in an exclusive, monogamous relationship in which we are completely and utterly dedicated to one another.  Please do not waste your time by contacting us with propositions of love, situation or carnal exploits.  When we do play with others it is within our close, personal network of community family.  We are not apposed to playing with new “delights”, but such times are well planned and researched.

Now that’s out of the way, let me tell you all a little about why we are here.

For those of you who know me you know I am, by nature, a leader and an educator.  In the recent past I was called upon to represent the BDSM lifestyle in a federal court of law and asked to give the general public a realistic view of who we are, as a community.  Where others who have claimed a connection to our lifestyle publicly have failed us in the past, I knew it was my duty and responsibility to stand up for our ways and defend who we are publicly and proudly with integrity.  During that time I also came to the realization that, try as so many might, our community is severely deficient in strong, educated, honourable people who will stand publicly to defend our ways.  As tight as we are within our own communities –and behind our dungeon walls– all too often the best representations of our kind scurry like mice when a spotlight is turned on us.  I completely understand the importance of privacy and discretion for many different reasons, however when we are capable of doing so I feel it is just as important to stand strong and not run from public view when we are glared upon from the outside.

So, it is because of such beliefs that kaye and I have created this public diary.  We feel it is important to show the world, both inside our community and out, that we can be proud of who we are publicly while maintaining privacy as well.  We want our diary to be an educational tool that gives the general public a glimpse into a healthy, loving and committed relationship which just happens to be “kinky”.  We are not freaks.  We are not sick.  We do not need to be saved and we are not insane.  We are simply normal people, with normal jobs, living normal lives exactly like you.  Just as the Gay and Lesbian community fights for their right to be ‘normal’, so do we.  Just as religious communities fight to be respected, so do we.  And just as minority groups fight for equality, so do we.  It is our hope that –in time– the BDSM lifestyle will no longer be looked upon as abnormal, crazy or criminal, but instead will be seen as simply different than what some others may want for themselves.  We know such endeavors aren’t going to be easy and the road will be long, but we also know it will be worth it in the long run.

It is the desire of every human being to be accepted for who they are, no matter their beliefs or ilk.  We of the BDSM community are no different. Equality and acceptance for everyone is what we wish to achieve and that is what this diary is all about.  Won’t you join us on our journey?

I will provide specific examples of various social and political commentaries from Hunter Thompson’s article “The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved.” I will examine Thompson’s place and importance within the culture he was critiquing as well as within the realm of journalism itself. Although he was most often under the influence of one or a variety of substances his words and insight have influenced many who knew or read him. He dedicated himself, compulsions and all, to the craft of journalism. He has personally been one of my favorite writers since I read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas several summers ago. What drew me to Thompson was his ability to make the ordinary remarkable. I feel his style is reflective of the subjectivity that has seeped into our culture, beginning with the rise of New Journalism, a style that had many similarities to Gonzo Journalism.

Thompson’s article is immersive due to its exploration of the surroundings and the writer’s obsessive practice of the continual, unquestioned traditions and indulgences in question. Steadman calls this going “native,” which they do, becoming the “real beasts” they have come to see perform. Many of Thompson’s generation sought to expand their minds, they often achieved this by pushing their bodies to extremes while the upright citizens of the day deplored their degrading behaviors. Thompson was perhaps speaking out in opposition to some acts of depravity but lived his life according to his own moral code. I identify with his tactics and works because I too notice a trend of alienation, of increasing anti-social tendencies and isolation. Thompson spoke for his generation because while he felt his views were important he felt equally responsible to point out any biases he had as a journalist. Thompson achieved this with his over-the-top style.

Thompson’s judgments are meant to be humorous at first glance however; they contain relevant cultural critiques and provide readers insight of the times and of the widely different levels of experience that were available within a famous southern tradition. One of the most intriguing aspects of the article was the attempt of the journalist and illustrator to find a proper caricature, a representative face of the entire culture: “He had done a few good sketches, but so far we hadn’t seen that special kind of face that I felt we would need for a lead drawing. It was a face I’d seen a thousand times at every Derby I’d ever been to. I saw it, in my head, as the mask of whiskey gentry–a pretentious mix of booze, failed dreams and a terminal identity crisis; the inevitable result of too much inbreeding in a closed and ignorant culture” (Thompson 5). Thompson and Steadman were seeking more than just an illustration for the piece; Thompson wanted a symbol “of the whole doomed atavistic culture that makes the Kentucky Derby what it is” (Thompson 5). In the end, journalist and illustrator hit the bottom of the barrel but somehow make it out alive. Thompson wakes after consuming mass amounts of alcohol, admirable by even Derby standards and doesn’t even recognize himself in the mirror at first, he has transformed into the caricature he was seeking.

The piece is also littered with Nixon references. Nixon, a caricature of everything Thompson stood against, seemed to serve as the reason and bane of his existence simultaneously. Even if the piece isn’t about Nixon or war or any of the freedoms Thompson cherished those themes would creep in, serving as a backdrop for whatever scene Thompson felt like making. Everyone has a streak of rebellion within and Thompson let his run its full course. He was always against the power, fighting even when losing is inevitable.

Thompson was always able to fin something about any situation that held a special significance to him or to the culture at large. He focused on his own experience and interpretation of things, giving us not only a snap shot of the culture or the event itself but sharing himself as well. We get a whole new level with Thompson, a level that is intentionally missing from Capote and Hersey’s work, (each for different reasons) the element of psychology. Readers are fascinated with Thompson’s bizarre and demented psychology, especially when it starts making sense to them.

Critics of Thompson are quick to jump on this strong, subjective voice that seems harsh and judgmental at times as well as his lack of conventional research. Thompson does these things intentionally and I admire his sense of humor and honesty because in the end he is even willing to turn his words on himself: “For a confused instant I thought Ralph had brought somebody with him–a model for that one special face we’d been looking for. There he was, by God–a puffy, drink-ravaged, disease-ridden caricature…like an awful cartoon version of an old snapshot in come one-proud mother’s family photo album. It was the face we’d been looking for–and it was, of course, my own. Horrible, horrible…” (Thompson 9). Thompson writes highly stylized prose that is funny at times while still managing to be poetic. I am a poet myself and I enjoy fiction that borrows from the poetic tradition. Similarly, I have been able to connect with nonfiction that borrows these techniques. Gonzo Journalism is highly idealistic, like its creator but there is something beautiful in its mission to tear down the artifice of government, uncover the deceit of war and end the suppression of freedoms in favor of false securities in a society of increasing unrest.

I had to pick any topic and write an argument paper about it. I chose to write about this. Tell me what you think. It’s pretty long so you dont have to read the whole thing or you can skip some of the research part to get to the heart of the argument:

Not too many simple blue collar Americans have seen an upper class man with a salary of at least $500,000 passing them a hamburger and shake through the window at McDonalds. They most likely haven’t seen a wealthy woman cleaning their floors to a polished shine. No, these are jobs that are reserved for the lowest of class, the people working paycheck to paycheck to make end’s meat. In a country that is financially dominated by the higher 1% of its population, the bottom 50% are overruled and run down. Why is this? Why is the gap in America’s socioeconomic classes so high? Why is it that once into poverty it is almost impossible to come out? If you were to just sit and think about these questions you would notice that the answer is quite simple. If America did not have that lower class, who would mop the floors, serve the dinners and pick up the trash. Those services are needed in order for our society to keep functioning smoothly, but are we guaranteed to have these people? In this country is a motto of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but why is that pursuit eluding the many American’s after it? Could it possibly be that the people who run this country purposefully keep the lower class in their places in order to stay rich and keep their helpers? Though this may seem outrageous, that our country is designed for the higher class to stay rich and the lower class to stay poor, education is the strongest evidence that speaks against the contrary. Education is a key factor in maintaining the distance between the social classes and the disparities of income, wealth and success. “Schools attended by […] the poor often have unchallenging curricula, under-qualified faculty, few instructional resources, and insufficient funding” (Haycock par.1) If the key to success is a good education and children are the future, thousands of future’s will look bleak because of the lack of a respectable education on the grade school level, which leads to either the lack of interest in higher education or no means of acquiring it, furthering the distance of attaining a good, sustainable job and therefore becoming “successful”. If a high class baby is born into a world where he is automatically entered into the best, competitive schools and almost guaranteed a one way ticket to college, is he not seen as having an advantage at a better life than is low class counterpart? Is it not thought that his family will remain wealthy and prosperous for years to come while the ladder will continue to struggle?

            For the basis of this essay, social class will refer to a group of people who share a similar economic position in society based on wealth and income, essentially focused on upper, middle, working and lower class. The upper class usually includes owners of large amounts of property, major shareholders, owners of large corporations, top financiers, rich celebrities and politicians and members of very prestigious families. This group covers about the highest earning 5% of the US population. The middle class, which is the bulk of the population at about 45%, includes college-educated managers, supervisors, executives, small business owners, professionals and their families. Our working class, which boasts about 35% of our population, includes factory workers, office workers, clerks, and manual laborers. Most working class citizens don’t attend college. Finally, America’s lower class includes the “poor” 15% of American’s who work for minimal wages doing society’s dirty work and are often unemployed. For the context of this paper, I am determining success by focusing on the financial aspect of it, including income, wealth, property, education, etc. With that said, the likeliness of a family starting off in the lower class and remaining in financial ruin is still very high in this country, partly due to the standards of our educational systems.

            According to a study found by Kati Haycock, the author of “the Growing Education Gap”, “In low-poverty schools, fewer than 1 in 5 English classes are taught by a teacher who does not even have a minor in English, while in high poverty schools, approximately 1 in 3 courses is so taught”. (qtd. in Haycock 2) English classes is just one of the injustices that low income children have to face in school daily, compared to the education of those children from a high class background. The wealthiest 1% of the nation currently have wealth than the bottom 90% put together, and it shows in their children’s education. Education is the access through which prosperity in America is realized. In this country, private and prep schools, which are occupied by those who can afford to pay for their children’s education, generally achieve higher testing scores for core curriculum classes, which is one of the main contenders for measuring the effectiveness of teaching at a particular school. According to a study done by the NCES, or the National Center for Educational Statistics, “[…] the average of the mean

NAEP reading scores among private schools is estimated to be almost 15 points higher than the average of the mean NAEP reading scores among public schools.”  Test scores have become an increasing important competence tool for major colleges and universities, and now for elementary and secondary schools to receive funding in order to achieve the high scores in the first place. The higher a schools score, the more knowledgeable, and therefore well off, the students are presumed to be. This is not to say that public schools are not good for anything. As Benjamin Page and James Simmons of the University of Chicago Press said it best, “U.S. public schools have been widely praised for accomplishing many things: training an industrial workforce, helping “Americanize” immigrants from many foreign cultures, training Americans in democratic citizenship.” (2) Though schools are made so that everyone has the equal opportunity to receive education, the education received is not equal at all. The private and the schools in wealthier neighborhoods teach the curriculum so that the children receive the necessary skills to further their education. In contrast, public schools in the poorest of neighborhoods teach their children “a trade and to go to work immediately out of school rather than encouraging them to pursue higher education”, basically having their only goals as not becoming burdens on society. (anon. 2)

            Also the environment that kids of different backgrounds are subjected to significantly alters educational performance. According to Benjamin Page and James Simmons:

In contrast to the expansive facilities (good buildings, abundant libraries and computers), well-trained and well rewarded teachers, and ambitious peers often found in affluent suburbs, many inner-city students have to cope with skimpy funding, decaying (sometimes dangerous) buildings, scarce supplies, burnt-out teachers and segregated, demoralized fellow students. Schools with high concentrations of poor students tend to have older buildings that are more in need of maintenance, less qualified teachers, less challenging and advanced curricula, fewer books, fewer computers and fewer internet connections.

            The accessibility of colleges and university’s is an even worse discrimination than that of grade schools, astonishingly due to institutions having seen diversity primarily through race. As Keene said it, “Higher education serves as a gateway into the economy”, but community college seems to be the only representation of access for low-income students and is therefore “purported to be the gateway to low-income and minority students’ realization of the ‘American Dream’”, the American Dream being the idea that people have the opportunity to achieve prosperity with effort and ability. (1-2) This information is devastating because according to Peters Sacks in “Educating the Hierarchs”:

[…] of students who started at a community college and expected to eventually transfer to a four year college, just 23 percent had earned a bachelor’s degree within six years of transferring to a four year institution. Of students who expect to earn at least a bachelor’s degree, just 21 percent from both the bottom and the lower middle socioeconomic classes actually transferred to a four year institution. In contrast, 36 percent of the upper middle class quartile and 49 percent of the top socioeconomic quartile transferred to a four year college or university. (4)

When regarding public four year institutions “more than 90 percent of the freshman enrolled at the most selective 146 colleges and universities in the United States came from families in the top two quartiles in the socioeconomic distribution. Just 9 percent of students at those colleges came from families in the bottom two quartiles”. (2)

            The staggering cost is one of the main deterrents in higher education for low- income students. According to Sacks, “In 1999, a family in the lowest fifth income bracket faced net costs at a four year public university totaling 39 percent of the family income. By 2008, this family would have to pay 55 percent of its yearly income to send a single child to a public university.” (6) Compared to these families, “families in the top fifth of income faced net college costs totaling just 7 percent of their incomes.” Regarding community colleges, which most see as an option for those with low-incomes, the yearly financial burden on a low-income family to send a child to a community college has been only modestly less than sending them to a public university, thereby making affordability issues, even at community colleges, prominent for low-income students.

            Another deterrent is the increased importance of test scores for college admittance. As discussed with the elementary schools, institutions are beginning to rely heavily on test scores as some sort of access to a prediction of student’s academic success. As Sacks stated,” Because of the powerful relationship between SAT performance and a students social class, […] America’s affluent classes continue to dominate the enrollments of selective colleges and universities.” As I stated before, private, prep and schools located in the center of prominent neighborhoods dominate the field connected with test scores so, of course, the children coming from these same schools dominate college aptitude tests and are offered an advantage when choosing an educational path.

            So, because of hereditary advantages and disadvantages in education, the lower class of America is doomed to stay at the bottom of the socioeconomic pyramid. So isn’t the natural conclusion that the rich stay rich while the poor stay poor? Life is a cycle, much like the educational system. Citizens of the lower class cycle are born into poverty, grow to attend schools with remedial and dumbed-down education with low testing scores and out of date books, then attend a high school where they are not properly prepared to take standardized tests or college prep exam such as SAT or ACT. If they do decide to go on to higher learning, they are more likely to go to a community college with dumbed-down classes or a major college or university and drop out. They then go on to dull jobs, never having sustained a career, or become chronically unemployed, if not having already been thrown in jail or worse. When they have their children, they, as well as their children’s children, are subjected to the same terms, virtually repeating the cycle and keeping the poor, poor.  In contrast, the rich are born into a world with prominent, educated parents, are subjected to the most competitive schools with the best supplies, given courses that prepare them for tests and colleges, attend college, go on to high paying jobs with their educational and hereditary influences and have children, repeating their cycle.

            So the question is: Why would society be set up for the rich to stay rich and the poor to stay that way? The answer is simple. In Felice Yeskel’s book Coming to Class, it was stated that, “According to a New York  Times poll conducted in 2005, 80% of those surveyed believe that it is possible in the U.S. to start out poor, work hard and become rich.” (4)Unfortunately for these people, the working class of America is the backbone of our economy. We have to sustain that middle and lower group in order to uphold these principles and keep our democratic country running smoothly. They are needed to do the jobs that are “beneath” the higher class, such as simple cooking and cleaning, office duties, garbage pickup, car repair and the list goes on and on. If everyone in America was in high class, nothing would get done and it would be a terrible downfall for our economy. The thing is, shouldn’t everyone have the opportunity to become high class citizens, no matter what circumstances they are from? Should our futures be predetermined because it is for the good of our country? Should the government be given that much power?

            Of course there are many that would argue that my hypothesis is outrageous. Some might oppose and say that it isn’t the fault of rich kids. They are born into their world just as the poor are and they work hard to be successful. I am in no way doubting that the rich work hard to stay successful. I am more than positive that they do. I am simply saying that they have the advantage when it comes to being successful over those who were not born into the world that way. Also, I am not saying that where you are from and how much your family makes determines your life prosperity. It is possible that a person can work hard and make it out of their current circumstances. I am simply pointing out that for the majority of lower-class U.S. citizens, that prosperity will never come. And, according to my logic, rich kids should all be successful, business owning tycoons, but many are not. Just as some poor kids have the opportunity to become rich, some rich have the opportunity to blunder. As with everything, there are some that might not necessarily fit in, the exception to every rule. But again, for the majority, the cycle still applies.

            So how do those poor people that make it beat the system? Success is possible, and your life clearly doesn’t have to be inevitable. To step out of this cycle, the government should first provide more funding to these underprivileged schools. This will allow for better resources, improved curriculum, higher pay for the teachers and an overall higher teaching standard. Also, schools need to assure that the teachers have a reputable and commendable background in their fields. That is one of the key differences between high income and low income schools. A school can have all the resources in the world but they need teachers that care. Lastly, if our country could become integrated, which is a solution that would take the most effort and the longest time, we would probably start to see the end of this dilemma. When the country begins to see the incomes, and races for that matter, of its citizens come to live together, the kids will truly begin to see equal education. But this is a challenge that America has been facing for centuries and I see no end in the near future.

            Once the grade schools start to show a difference for the low income students, the colleges will eventually have to follow suit. With the same resources as those from wealthier backgrounds, there will be fewer obstacles for the poor to make it to college. I’m not saying that there will not be any. Many of the obstacles that are faced will persist, but with more change comes more possibilities.

            Even though the citizens of America are proud to live in the land of the free and have equal opportunities as defined by our Declaration of Independence in “Life, liberty and pursuit of happiness”, our country is not very equal at all. At birth we are all started off with a segregation that has nothing to do with our skin color, disabilities or sexual creed. The way to keep this segregation prominent is by dividing our educational system, which is essential to the idea of equal opportunity. Unfortunately, some fall behind due too their bad luck in choice of parents and home environment. I assume that they should feel better about their struggling lives while the upper class sits pretty because, unfortunately for them, they are sustaining our economy.

I just wanted to take a few minutes today to wish all my blog readers and friends a very Happy and Safe Thanksgiving! I hope you all had a great day spending time with your family and friends!

Also, in light of Black Friday, I wanted to extend to you all a Discovery Toys Sale! This is only for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday ( November 27, 28, and 29th). All orders EMAILED to me by 10pm Sunday, November 29th will receive a 10% discount! Get your holiday shopping done from home this weekend with me and Save!

Email your orders to dawnslearningtoys@gmail.com . If you order from My Site, you will not receive the 10% discount, so please be sure to email your orders to me!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Enjoy Sudoku was one of the earliest Sudoku games on the store and with 360 ratings averaging 4 starts, it is one of the most popular. It’s been US$2.99 for the last year, but you can get it now at the bargain price of $0.99. If you don’t yet have a Sudoku game you like on your iPhone or iPod touch, then check this one out.

I have had many conversations with friends, colleagues, peers of mine in regards to controversial topics like malnourishment, poverty and such. These conversations usually led to the conclusion that being so far away from it all doesn’t give you the perspective you need to do something about it. I believe that this, however, isn’t the case.

Across the years, centuries, millennia even, greed is part of the typical human’s nature, at some point in everyone’s life, they will be greedy. Whether it be in regards to money, taking that last muffin in the bakery when a young, saddened child wanted it so dearly. It might just be that at the end of the world, you’re going to steal someone’s car in hopes of aimlessly away from it all, much like in something such as 2012. We can’t help it, we’ve been raised in a society which thinks greed is okay, a society in which we think that greed is the norm. That is why hardly anyone ever does anything against greed.

But hey, aren’t you fed up of being in the somewhat 6.5-billion person, crowded bandwagon? Jump out already, do something to go against greed. Give something. That’s the beautiful thing about what the United Nations are doing, you can give something, without actually giving something. Except a few minutes of your time, or be it a few hours if you really want to make a difference. You see blood drives, food collection, charities knocking on your door? No, you wouldn’t see that here. Because all you need is a little grasp on something called basic knowledge, and an internet connection.

The UN has, for a while, since 2008 to be exact, evoked the help of the public, individual citizens like you and me, sometimes people who feel like they will never make a difference, and well.. They want you to do exactly that. Make a difference. I assume you’re asking, How? It’s easy. There are two websites on the vast world wide web, which require you to answer questions on basic trivia (with increasing difficulty if you like a challenge.) What happens if you answer correctly? The UN donates 10 grains of rice/a spoonful of flour, to malnourished and starving citizens throughout the world. Said sites would be found at www.freerice.com and www.freeflour.com. You really didn’t expect that, did you? For it to be that easy? Well it is. If you ever find yourself to be bored, and in the vicinity of a computer, you now have no reason to not provide someone with their dinner, which will cost you absolutely nothing. The world needs it. For the first time in history, the number of exceedingly hungry people this year will reach 1 billion, almost one seventh of our entire population. Also if you’d like to go one step further and donate an extra 5,000 grains of rice just from browsing the web, you can install the freerice toolbar. Who knows, you may even learn something.

Last week we, the HK Chefs Association (www.hongkong-chefs.com ) and the US Potato Board had organized a seminar about US potatoes, with 10 Invited HK Chefs, 10 from Malaysia and 10 from Singapore. Additionall at the HKCA we had about 12 Chefs put together recipes, pictures and demonstrations put together to give at the seminar. it was a 2 day event which was a great event I have to say it was interactive, hands on and educational. Demo’s were given, recipes supplied and then the same dishes had to be re-cooked by team participants!

a fun few days it was, here are the images and some of the innovative recipes!

Mr. Potato Head Dim Sum

Potato Quiche as Appetizer

Yellow Potato and Tuna Salad

Potato Salad

Potato Dumplings (Dessert)

Potatoes used

Chinese Baked Potatoes with Mickey Mouse Logo

Sweet Potato Brulee

Tuna and Steamed Potato

Gnocchi

Roesti

Hide & Secret 3: Pharaoh’s Quest (71 MB download)
Continue your globetrotting adventure around the world to reunite the spirits of an Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh and Queen, separated for over 2000 years. Use your wits to track down and collect their priceless stolen artifacts and place them in the correct locations to appease the Pharaoh. Solve timeless riddles and perplexing puzzles as you journey deep into undiscovered Pyramids and Temples to solve hidden mysteries in a quest to unlock the Secrets of Eternity!

Latar Belakang

Setiap manusia lahir dengan segala potensi yang dimiliki, termasuk potensi pikiran. Namun, pada praktik pembelajaran, penggunaannya masih jauh dari optimal. Hal ini tercermin dari berbagai kesulitan yang muncul pada pembelajaran, seperti kesulitan dalam memusatkan perhatian atau mengingat, yang berujung pada rendahnya hasil pembelajaran. Dalam praktik pembelajaran di sekolah, kondisi ini masih diperburuk oleh praktik pembelajaran yang keliru, seperti pemberian tambahan pembelajaran baik di dalam maupun di luar sekolah. Padahal proses tersebut, hanya dapat bermakna repetisi dari proses pembelajaran sebelumnya dan tidak memberi nilai tambah bagi pemahaman siswa.

Pembelajaran tidak hanya terbatas pada membaca buku atau mendengar pengajaran yang tidak memberi pemahaman. Menurut Yovan (2008), pembelajaran melibatkan pemikiran yang bekerja yang bekerja secara asosiatif, sehingga dalam setiap pembelajaran terjadi penghubungan antar satu informasi dengan informasi yang lain. Pembelajaran sangat erat kaitannya dengan penggunaan otak sebagai pusat aktivitas mental mulai dari pengambilan, pemrosesan, hingga penyimpulan informasi. Dengan demikian, pembelajaran merupakan proses sinergisme antara otak, pikiran dan pemikiran untuk menghasilkan daya guna yang optimal.

Untuk mengoptimalkan hasil pembelajaran, maka proses pembelajaran harus menggunakan pendekatan keseluruhan otak. Menurut Potter (2002), ketika manusia berkomunikasi dengan kata-kata, otak pada saat yang sama harus mencari, memilah, merumuskan, merapikan, mengatur, menghubungkan, dan menjadikan campuran antara gagasan-gagasan dengan kata-kata yang sudah mempunyai arti itu dapat dipahami. Pada saat yang sama, kata-kata ini dirangkai dengan gambar, symbol, citra (kesan), bunyi, dan perasaan. Sekumpulan kata yang bercampur aduk tak berangkai di dalam otak, keluar secara satu demi satu, dihubungkan oleh logika, di atur oleh tata bahasa, dan menghasilkan arti yang dapat dipahami.

Salah satu upaya yang dapat digunakan dalam membuat citra visual dan perangkat grafis lainnya sehingga dapat memberikan kesan mendalam adalah peta pikiran. Peta Pikiran merupakan teknik pencatat yang dikembangkan oleh Tony Buzan dan didasarkan pada riset tentang cara kerja otak. Peta Pikiran menggunakan pengingat visual dan sensorik alam suatu pola dari ide-ide yang berkaitan. Peta ini dapat membangkitkan ide-ide orisinil dan memicu ingatan yang mudah. Oleh karena itu, proses pembelajaran seharusnya dapat menggunakan teknik pencatatan peta pikiran sebagai salah satu cara belajar yang dapat dilatihkan kepada siswa. Penggunaan Peta Pikiran (Mind Mapping) dalam pembelajaran diarapkan dapat meningkatkan hasil belajar dan kreativitas siswa.

Rumusan Masalah

Berdasarkan latar belakang pemikiran di atas, maka masalah dapat dirumuskan sebagai berikut:

1. Bagaimanakah cara belajar yang berbasis pada konsep Peta Pikiran (Mind Mapping)?
2. Bagaimanakah implementasi pembelajaran berbasis Peta Pikiran (Mind Mapping)?
3. Bagaimanakah pengaruh pembelajaran berbasis Peta Pikiran (Mind Mapping) terhadap hasil belajar siswa ?

Belajar Berbasis pada Konsep Peta Pikiran (Mind Maping)

Belajar didefinisikan sebagai semua perubahan pada kapabilitas dan perilaku organisme, baik secara mental maupun fisik, yang diakibatkan oleh pengalaman (Yovan, 2008). Kemampuan belajar merupakan alat andalan dalam mempertahankan kehidupan. Menurut Potter (2002), ada dua kategori umum tentang bagaimana kita belajar, yaitu pertama, bagaimana kita menyerap informasi dengan mudah (modalitas), dan kedua cara kita mengatur dan mengolah informasi tersebut (dominasi otak). Dengan demikian, cara belajar merupakan kombinasi dari bagaimana menyerap, lalu mengatur, dan mengolah informasi.

Belajar berbasis pada konsep Peta Pikiran (Mind Mapping) merupakan cara belajar yang menggunakan konsep pembelajaran komprehensif Total-Mind Learning (TML). Pada konteks TML, pembelajaran mendapatkan arti yang lebih luas. Bahwasanya, di setiap saat dan di setiap tempat semua makhluk hidup di muka bumi belajar, karena belajar merupakan proses alamiah. Semua makhluk belajar menyikapi berbagai stimulus dari lingkungan sekitar untuk mempertahankan hidup.

Dari tinjauan Psikologis, belajar merupakan aktivitas pemrosesan informasi, yang dapat diartikan sebagai proses pembentukan pengetahuan (proses kognitif). Menurut Peaget, setiap anak memiliki skema (scheme) yang merupakan konsep atau kerangka yang eksis di dalam pikiran individu yang dipakai untuk mengorganisasikan dan menginterpretasikan informasi. Sedangkan menurut Vygotsky, kemampuan kognitif dimediasi dengan kata, bahasa, dan bentuk diskursus, yang berfungsi sebagai alat psikologis untuk membantu dan mentransformasi aktivitas mental (Santrock, 2007).

Fakta yang harus disadari, bahwa dunia pembelajaran bagi anak saat ini dibanjiri dengan informasi yang up to date setiap saat. Ketidakmampuan memroses informasi secara optimal di tengah arus informasi menyebabkan banyak individu yang mengalami hambatan dalam belajar ataupun bekerja. Menurut Yovan (2008), hambatan pemrosesan informasi terletak pada dua hal utama, yaitu proses pencatatan dan proses penyajian kembali. Keduanya merupakan proses yang saling berhubungan satu sama lain.

Dalam hal pencatatan, seringkali individu tanpa disadari membuat catatan yang tidak efektif. Sebagian besar melakukan pencatatan secara linear, bahkan tidak sedikit pula yang membuat catatan dengan menyalin langsung seluruh informasi yang tersaji pada buku atau penjelasan lisan. Hal ini mengakibatkan hubungan antaride/informasi menjadi sangat terbatas dan spesifik, sehingga berujung pada minimnya kreativitas yang dapat dikembangkan setelahnya. Selain itu, bentuk pencatatan seperti ini juga memunculkan kesulitan untu mengingat dan menggunakan seluruh informasi tersebut dalam belajar atau bekerja (Yovan, 2008).

Sedangkan dalam hal penyajian kembali informasi, kemampuan yang paling dibutuhkan adalah memanggil ulang (recalling) informasi yang telah dipelajari. Pemaggilan ulang merupakan kemampuan menyajikan secara tertulis atau lisan berbagai informasi dan hubungannya, dalam format yang sangat personal. Hal ini merupakan salah satu indikator pemahaman individu atas informasi yang diberikan. Dengan demikian, proses pemanggilan ulang sangat erat hubungannya dengan proses pengingatan atau remembering (Yovan, 2008).

Salah satu hal yang berperan dalam pengingatan adalah asosiasi yang kuat antarinformasi dengan interpretasi dari informasi tersebut. Kondisi ini, hanya bisa terjadi ketika informasi tersebut memiliki representasi mental di pikiran. Contohnya, jika seseorang ingin mengingat “mobil”, maka sebelumnya ia perlu merepresentasikan mobil dalam pikirannya, mungkin berupa gambar, merek, harga atau kecepatan. Hubungan tersebut perlu dipahami secara personal, sehingga setelahnya tercipta representasi mental yang lebih mudah diingat.

Bentuk pencatatan yang dapat mengakomodir berbagai maksud di atas adalah dengan Peta Pikiran (Mind Map). Dengan peta pikiran, individu dapat mengantisipasi derasnya laju informasi dengan memiliki kemampuan mencatat yang memungkinkan terciptanya “hasil cetak mental” (mental computer printout). Hal ini tidak hanya dapat membantu dalam mempelajari informasi yang diberikan, tapi juga dapat merefleksikan pemahaman personal yang mendalam atas informasi tersebut. Selain itu Mind Mapping juga memungkinkan terjadinya asosiasi yang lebih lengkap pada informasi yang ingin dipelajari, baik asosiasi antarsesama informasi yang ingin dipelajari ataupun dengan informasi yang telah tersimpam sebelumnya di ingatan (Yovan, 2008).

Busan (1993) dalam Djohan (2008) mengemukakan, bahwa A Mind Map® is powerful graphic technique which provides a universal key to unlock the potential of the brain. It harnesses the full range of cortical skills – word, image, number, logic, rhythm, colour and spatial awareness – in a single, uniquely powerful manner. In so doing, it give you a freedom to roam the infinite expanses of your brain. Dari pengertian tersebut, Johan (2008) menyimpulkan bahwa Peta Pikiran merupakan suatu teknik grafik yang sangat ampuh dan menjadi kunci yang universal untuk membuka potensi dari seluruh otak, karena menggunakan seluruh keterampilan yang terdapat pada bagian neo-korteks dari otak atau yang lebih dikenal sebagai otak kiri dan otak kanan.

Ditinjau dari segi waktu Mind Mapping juga dapat mengefisienkan penggunaan waktu dalam mempelajari suatu informasi. Hal ini utamanya disebabkan karena Mind Mapping dapat menyajikan gambaran menyeluruh atas suatu hal, dalam waktu yang lebih singkat. Dengan kata lain, Mind Mapping mampu memangkas waktu belajar dengan mengubah pola pencatatan linear yang memakan waktu menjadi pencatatan yang efektif yang sekaligus langsung dapat dipahami oleh individu.

Menurut Yovan (2008), keutamaan metode pencatatan menggunakan Mind Mapping, antara lain:

1. tema utama terdefenisi secara sangat jelas karena dinyatakan di tengah.
2. level keutamaan informasi teridentifikasi secara lebih baik. Informasi yang memiliki kadar kepentingan lebih diletakkan dengan tema utama.
3. hubungan masing-masing informasi secara mudah dapat segera dikenali.
4. lebih mudah dipahami dan diingat.
5. informasi baru setelahnya dapat segera digabungkan tanpa merusak keseluruhan struktur Mind Mapping, sehingga mempermudah proses pengingatan.
6. masing-masing Mind Mapping sangat unik, sehingga mempermudah proses pengingatan.
7. mempercepat proses pencatatan karena hanya menggunakan kata kunci.

Mind Mapping bertujuan membuat materi pelajaran terpola secara visual dan grafis yang akhirnya dapat membantu merekam, memperkuat, dan mengingat kembali informasi yang telah dipelajari. Mind Mapping adalah satu teknik mencatat yang mengembangkan gaya belajar visual. Mind Mapping memadukan dan mengembangkan potensi kerja otak yang terdapat di dalam diri seseorang. Dengan adanya keterlibatan kedua belahan otak maka akan memudahkan seseorang untuk mengatur dan mengingat segala bentuk informasi, baik secara tertulis maupun secara verbal. Adanya kombinasi warna, simbol, bentuk dan sebagainya memudahkan otak dalam menyerap informasi yang diterima.

Mind Mapping yang dibuat oleh siswa dapat bervariasi pada setiap materi. Hal ini disebabkan karena berbedanya emosi dan perasaan yang terdapat dalam diri siswa setiap saat. Suasana menyenangkan yang diperoleh siswa ketika berada di ruang kelas pada saat proses belajar akan mempengaruhi penciptaan peta pikiran. Dengan demikian, guru diharapkan dapat menciptakan suasana yang dapat mendukung kondisi belajar siswa terutama dalam proses pembuatan Mind Mapping. Proses belajar yang dialami seseorang sangat bergantung kepada lingkungan tempat belajar. Jika lingkungan belajar dapat memberikan sugesti positif, maka akan baik dampaknya bagi proses dan hasil belajar, sebaliknya jika lingkungan tersebut memberikan sugesti negatif maka akan buruk dampaknya bagi proses dan hasil belajar.

Implementasi Pembelajaran berbasis Peta Pikiran (Mind Mapping)

Pembuatan Peta Pikiran

Menurut Djohan (2008), proses pembuatan sebuah Mind Mappig (MM) secara step by step dapat dibagi menjadi empat langkah yang harus dilakukan secara berurutan yaitu :

1. Menentukan Central Topic yang akan dibuatkan MM-nya, untuk buku pelajaran Central Topik biasanya adalah Judul buku atau Judul bab yang akan dipelajari dan harus diletakkan ditengah kertas serta usahakan berbentuk image/gambar.
2. Membuat Basic Ordering Ideas – BOIs untuk Central Topik yang telah dipilih, BOIs biasanya adalah judul Bab atau Sub-Bab dari buku yang akan dipelajari atau bisa juga dengan menggunakan 5WH (What, Why, Where, When, Who dan How).
3. Melengkapi setiap BOIs dengan cabang-cabang yang berisi data-data pendukung yang terkait. Langkah ini merupakan langkah yang sangat penting karena pada saat inilah seluruh data-data harus ditempatkan dalam setiap cabang BOIs secara asosiatif dan menggunakan struktur radian yang menjadi ciri yang paling khas dari suatu MM.
4. Melengkapi setiap cabang dengan Image baik berupa gambar, simbol, kode, daftar, grafik dan garis penghubung bila ada BOIs yang saling terkait satu dengan lainnya. Tujuan dari langkah ini adalah untuk membuat sebuah MM menjadi lebih menarik sehingga lebih mudah untuk dimengerti dan diingat.

Dalam membuat Mind Mapping, Tony Buzan telah menyusun sejumlah aturan yang harus diikuti agar Mind Mapping yang dibuat dapat memberikan manfaat yang optimal. Berikut adalah ringkasan dari Law of MM:

1. Kertas: polos dengan ukuran minimal A4 dan paling baik adalah ukuran A3 dengan orientasi horizontal (Landscape). Central Topic diletakkan ditengah-tengah kertas dan sedapat mungkin berupa Image dengan minimal 3 warna.
2. Garis: lebih tebal untuk BOIs dan selanjutnya semakin jauh dari pusat garis akan semakin tipis. Garis harus melengkung (tidak boleh garis lurus) dengan panjang yang sama dengan panjang kata atau image yang ada di atasnya. Seluruh garis harus tersambung ke pusat.
3. Kata: menggunakan kata kunci saja dan hanya satu kata untuk satu garis. Harus selalu menggunakan huruf cetak supaya lebih jelas dengan besar huruf yang semakin mengecil untuk cabang yang semakin jauh dari pusat.
4. Image: gunakan sebanyak mungkin gambar, kode, simbol, grafik, table dan ritme karena lebih menarik serta mudah untuk diingat dan dipahami. Kalau memungkinkan gunakan Image yang 3 Dimensi agar lebih menarik lagi.
5. Warna: gunakan minimal 3 warna dan lebih baik 5 – 6 warna. Warna berbeda untuk setiap BOIs dan warna cabang harus mengikuti warna BOIs.
6. Struktur: menggunakan struktur radian dengan sentral topic terletak di tengah-tengah kertas dan selanjutnya cabang-cabangnya menyebar ke segala arah. BOIs umumnya terdiri dari 2 – 7 buah yang disusun sesuai dengan arah jarum jam dimulai dari arah jam 1.

Aplikasi Mind Mapping dalam Pembelajaran Dalam tahap aplikasi, terdapat empat langkah yang harus dilakukan proses pembelajaran berbasis Mind Mapping, yaitu:

1. Overview: Tinjauan Menyeluruh terhadap suatu topik pada saat proses pembelajaran baru dimulai. Hal ini bertujuan untuk memberi gambaran umum kepada siswa tentang topik yang akan dipelajari. Khusus untuk pertemuan pertama pada setiap awal Semester, Overview dapat diisi dengan kegiatan untuk membuat Master Mind Map® yang merupakan rangkuman dari seluruh topik yang akan diajarkan selama satu Semester yang biasanya sudah ada dalam Silabus. Dengan demikian, sejak awal siswa sudah mengetahui topik apa saja yang akan dipelajarinya sehingga membuka peluang bagi siswa yang aktif untuk mempelajarinya lebih dahulu di rumah atau di perpustakaan.
2. Preview: Tinjauan Awal merupakan lanjutan dari Overview sehingga gambaran umum yang diberikan setingkat lebih detail daripada Overview dan dapat berupa penjabaran lebih lanjut dari Silabus. Dengan demikian, siswa diharapkan telah memiliki pengetahuan awal yang cukup mengenai sub-topik dari bahan sebelum pembahasan yang lebih detail dimulai. Khusus untuk bahan yang sangat sederhana, langkah Preview dapat dilewati sehingga langsung masuk ke langkah Inview.
3. Inview: Tinjauan Mendalam yang merupakan inti dari suatu proses pembelajaran, di mana suatu topik akan dibahas secara detail, terperinci dan mendalam. Selama Inview ini, siswa diharapkan dapat mencatat informasi, konsep atau rumus penting beserta grafik, daftar atau diagram untuk membantu siswa dalam memahami dan menguasai bahan yang diajarkan.
4. Review: Tinjauan Ulang dilakukan menjelang berakhirnya jam pelajaran dan berupa ringkasan dari bahan yang telah diajarkan serta ditekankan pada informasi, konsep atau rumus penting yang harus diingat atau dikuasai oleh siswa. Hal ini akan dapat membantu siswa untuk fokus dalam mempelajari-ulang seluruh bahan yang diajarkan di sekolah pada saat di rumah. Review dapat juga dilakukan saat pelajaran akan dimulai pada pertemuan berikutnya untuk membantu siswa mengingatkan kembali bahan yang telah diajarkan pada pertemuan sebelumnya.

Pengaruh Pembelajaran Berbasis Peta Pikiran (Mind Mapping) terhadap Hasil Belajar Siswa

Prestasi belajar adalah puncak hasil belajar yang dapat mencerminkan keberhasilan belajar siswa terhadap pencapaian tujuan belajar yang telah ditetapkan. Hasil belajar siswa dapat meliputi aspek kognitif (pengetahuan), afektif (sikap), dan psikomotorik (tingkah laku). Salah satu tes yang dapat melihat pencapaian hasil belajar siswa adalah dengan melakukan tes prestasi belajar. Tes prestasi belajar yang dilaksanakan oleh siswa memiliki peranan penting, baik bagi guru ataupun bagi siswa yang bersangkutan. Bagi guru, tes prestasi belajar dapat mencerminkan sejauh mana materi pelajaran dalam proses belajar dapat diikuti dan diserap oleh siswa sebagai tujuan instruksional. Bagi siswa tes prestasi belajar bermanfaat untuk mengetahui sebagai mana kelemahan-kelemahannya dalam mengikuti pelajaran.

Mind Mapping atau pemetaan pikiran merupakan salah satu teknik mencatat tingkat tinggi. Informasi berupa materi pelajaran yang diterima siswa dapat diingat dengan bantuan catatan. Peta pikiran merupakan bentuk catatan yang tidak monoton karena memadukan fungsi kerja otak secara bersamaan dan saling berkaitan satu sama lain. Dengan demikian, akan terjadi keseimbangan kerja kedua belahan otak. Otak dapat menerima informasi berupa gambar, simbol, citra, musik dan lain lain yang berhubungan dengan fungsi kerja otak kanan.

Pembelajaran konvensional adalah pembelajaran yang memusatkan kegiatan belajar pada guru. Siswa hanya duduk, mendengarkan dan menerima informasi. Cara penerimaan informasi akan kurang efektif karena tidak adanya proses penguatan daya ingat, walaupun ada proses penguatan yang berupa pembuatan catatan, siswa membuat catatan dalam bentuk catatan yang monoton dan linear.

Penggunaan metode pembelajaran yang sesuai sangat menentukan keberhasilan belajar siswa. Dengan metode pembelajaran yang sesuai, siswa dapat mencapai prestasi belajar yang tinggi dan dapat mengembangkan potensi yang tersimpan dalam dirinya. Proses belajar siswa sangat dipengaruhi oleh emosi di dalam dirinya. Emosi dapat mempengaruhi pencapaian hasil belajar apakah hasilnya baik atau buruk. Pembelajaran berbasis peta pikiran, berusaha menggabungkan kedua belahan otak yakni otak kiri yang berhubungan dengan hal yang bersifat logis (seperti belajar) dan otak kanan yang berhubungan dengan keterampilan (aktivitas kreatif). Dengan demikian, adanya teknik Mind Mapping atau pemetaan pikiran patut diduga dapat meningkatkan pencapaian hasil belajar siswa.

Pengaruh Mind Mapping terhadap Kreativitas Siswa

Kreativitas adalah segala potensi yang terdapat dalam setiap diri individu yang meliputi ide-ide atau gagasan-gagasan yang dapat dipadukan dan dikembangkan, sehingga dapat menciptakan suatu produk yang baru dan bermanfaat bagi diri dan lingkungannya. Kreativitas muncul karena adanya motivasi yang kuat dari diri individu yang bersangkutan. Produk dari kreativitas dapat dihasilkan melalui serangkaian tahapan yang memerlukan waktu relatif lama. Secara efektif, individu kreatif memiliki ciri rasa ingin tahu yang besar, tertarik terhadap tugas-tugas majemuk yang dirasakan sebagai tantangan, berani mengambil resiko untuk membuat kesalahan, mempunyai rasa humor, ingin mencari pengalaman-pengalaman baru.

Mind Mapping dapat menghubungkan ide baru dan unik dengan ide yang sudah ada, sehingga menimbulkan adanya tindakan spesifik yang dilakukan oleh siswa. Dengan penggunaan warna dan symbol-simbol yang menarik akan menciptakan suatu hasil pemetaan pikiran yang baru dan berbeda. Pemetaan pikiran merupakan salah satu produk kreatif yang dihasilkan oleh siswa dalam kegiatan belajar.

Sistem limbik pada otak manusia memiliki peranan penting dalam penyimpanan dan pengaturan informasi (memori) dari memori jangka pendek menjadi memori jangka panjang secara tepat. Dalam proses belajar, siswa menginginkan materi pelajaran yang diterima menjadi memori jangka panjang, sehingga ketika materi tersebut diperlukan kembali siswa dapat mengingatnya. Belahan neocortex juga memiliki peranan penting dalam penguatan memori. Belahan otak kiri yang berkaitan dengan kata-kata, angka, logika, urutan, dan rincian (aktivitas kademik). Belahan otak kanan berkaitan dengan warna, gambar, imajinasi, dan ruang atau disebut sebagai aktivitas kreatif. Jika kedua belahan neocortex ini dipadukan secara bersamaan maka informasi (memori) yang diterima dapat bertahan menjadi memori jangka panjang.

Mind Mapping merupakan teknik mencatat yang memadukan kedua belahan otak. Sebagai contoh, catatan materi pelajaran yang dimiliki siswa dapat dituangkan melalui gambar, simbol dan warna. Mind Mapping mewujudkan harapan siswa untuk memori jangka panjang. Materi pelajaran yang dibuat dalam bentuk peta pikiran akan mempermudah sistem limbik memproses informasi dan memasukkannya menjadi memori jangka panjang.

Keuntungan lain penggunaan catatan Mind Mapping yaitu membiasakan siswa untuk melatih aktivitas kreatifnya sehingga siswa dapat menciptakan suatu produk kreatif yang dapat bermanfaat bagi diri dan lingkungannya. Hal lain yang berkaitan dengan sistim limbik yaitu peranaannya sebagai pengatur emosi seperti marah, senang, lapar, haus dan sebagainya. Emosi sangat diperlukan untuk menciptakan motivasi belajar yang tinggi. Motivasi yang tinggi dapat menambah kepercayaan diri siswa, sehingga siswa tidak ragu dan malu serta mau mengembangkan potensi-potensi yang terdapat dalam dirinya terutama potensi yang berhubungan dengan kreativitas. Pemetaan pikiran adalah salah satu produk kreatif bentuk sederhana yang dapat dikembangkan. Dengan teknik mencatat pemetaan pikiran patut diduga bahwa kreativitas(sikap kreatif) siswa akan meningkat.

Menurut Yovan (2008), aplikasi peta pikiran dapat meningkatkan kreativitas individu maupun kelompok. Hal ini disebabkan karena peta pikiran memungkinkan penggunaan unsure-unsur kreativitas seperti gambar, bentuk, warna, dan lainnya dalam membentuk representasi mental. Selain itu, peta pikiran juga mengakomodir berbagai sudut pandang yang berbeda dari individu dan kelompok. Berbagai teknologi pikiran yang memacu kreativitas seperti, brainwriting, brainwalking dan semantic intuition sangat kompatibel dengan aplikasi peta pikiran.

Kesimpulan

Berdasarkan pembahasan terhadap masalah dalam tulisan ini, maka dapat disimpulkan sebagai berikut:

1. Belajar dengan menggunakan konsep Peta Pikiran (Mind Mapping), merekam informasi/materi pelajaran yang diperoleh dalam bentuk grafis yang memadukan kinerja otak kiri dan otak kanan sehingga dapat membuka potensi yang dimiliki.
2. Implementasi pembelajaran berbasis Peta Pikiran (Mind Mapping) dapat dilakukan melalui empat langkah, yaitu overview, preview, inview, review.
3. Pembelajaran berbasis Peta Pikiran (Mind Mapping) dapat meningkatkan hasil belajar dan kreativitas siswa.

Saran

Berdasarkan kesimpulan di atas, maka dapat diajukan saran sebagai berikut:

1. Pentingnya melatihkan dan membiasakan anak keterampilan membuat Peta Pikiran (Mind Mapping) sebagai salah satu cara belajar.
2. Perlunya dilakukan penelitian ilmiah terhadap integrasi Peta Pikiran (Mind Mapping) dalam implementasi model pembelajaran yang telah ada.

DAFTAR PUSTAKA

Djohan. 2008. Aplikasi Real-time Buzan Mind Mapping. Indomindmap® Learning Center – ILC. Applied RT-MM pdf.

Gunawan, A. 2007. Born to be a genius. Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama.

Mulyanto, A. 2009. Mind Map Sebagai Teknik Mencatat. Dari http://mulyanto.blogdetik.com. Diakses pada tanggal 30 Oktober 2009.

Porter, B dan Hernacki, M. 2002. Quantum Learning. Bandung: Kaifa.

Rostikawati. 2008. Mind Mapping Dalam Metode Quantum Learning Pengaruhnya Terhadap Prestasi Belajar dan Kreatifitas Siswa. Dari http://pkab.wordpress.com. Diakses pada tanggal 2 September 2009.

Santrock, J.W. 2007. Psikologi Pendidikan. Penerbit Kencana. Jakarta

Yovan, P. 2008. Memori dan Pembelajaran Efektif. Jakarta: Yrama Widya.

Notes: Tulisan ini juga diposting di http://mahmuddin.wordpress.com

Genesis 1: 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was [a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Hehe, can you guess the reasons I used an envelope to represent Day 0?

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

Shiiiiiiiiiing!!! Check out the glow

6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

Clouds to represent the bodies of water in the sky!

9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

Day 3 - part one

11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

Day 3 - part two

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

Starting to look really nice!

20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

Turn the blue foam over on the reverse side, and ta dah - sea creatures! Ah ha, what's on the other side of the orange foam...?

24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

Now that's really crowded!

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Click here for instructions on how to make a storyboard backing. 

Our cell group has just started an apologetics bible study series on DVD, and the first of the series is on the Creation account, which inspired me to do up a storyboard for the kids.  In our preparation, I found that when I tried to go through the frames from memory without referring to the Genesis account, I got the order all mixed up between Days 3-5.  That’s a 43% error rate, shame on me! 

So it turned out to be a really good and timely Sunday School revision.

Educational videogames

The use of educational games, e-learning and videogames in school education became one of the main objectives of many research centres around the world.

In United States Microsoft, Columbia University and New York University had started a partnership with the Games for learning institute, to conduct different researches on educational games, e-learning and videogames.
In Europe the need for an implementation of new educational tools in school education is the new scientific research’s challenge.
The aim of all these organizations is to conduct differnet researches on the use of games, e-learning and videogames as learning tools, trying to find the perfect implementation of these new digital tools  in school education.

The European Schoolnet recently completed a survey project called Games in School, developed to analyze the use of educational videogames in European schools.

E-learning school

The survey considers 8 countries: Austria, Denmark, France, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Spain and United Kingdom.
The idea behind the survey is simple and its result is really interesting because show how the European education system is evolving thanks to a more focused attention on life skills and concrete abilities teaching, rather than on “classic” school’s subjects learning.
Now the big question is: how e-learning and new educational games can face this challenge?

In the survey, teachers from primary and secondary schools reported that they had used educational games, such as videogames, online games, PC games, console, mobile, etc., for the following reasons:

• to increase the motivation of students
• to develop some skills (visual, social, manual, spatial, etc..)
• Consolidate the knowledge of educational content.

According to the same teachers, the adoption of electronic games had positive effects on their students. The videogames helped many students to develop an analytic and critical thinking and to be more autonomous in their study.
Videogames are also a way to personalize learning and develop team working skills.

Those kinds of games are primarily used to learn foreign languages, but also for history, geography and mathematics.

But there are also obstacles to the introduction of electronic games in schools:
• Lack of games suited to school’s subjects;
• Lack of computers in schools;
• Cost of educational videogames and e-learning material;
• Teachers and parents’ opinion of new educational games.

The studies so far already proved the importance of e-learning and educational videogames, and the importance of their implementation in schools’ programs.

Find in the video below an intervew with Paul Holdsworth of the European Commission for the Lifelong Learning Program.

If you’re looking for practical tips to choose, educational videogames and e-learning tools, in the references you can find the links to the studies quoted above.

References:

Digital games in schools handbook for teachers
Digital games in schools study (final report)
Digital games in schools study (syntesis report)

Thanksgiving has been a long-standing American tradition. The pilgrims first celebrated Thanksgiving in the early 17th century to “give thanks” to God and celebrate a plentiful harvest. Now, Thanksgiving has little to do with giving thanks to a creator and more to do with turkey, which wasn’t even around during the first feast, and football, which I thoroughly enjoy. Like many traditions and holidays, we’ve shifted focus away from any “god” and placed it more or less on ourselves.

I don’t think it’s wrong to appreciate humanity- ourselves and loved ones. I think it’s healthy and wise as a lot of unity, compassion, and self-esteem stems from being grateful for who we are and what we have. However, for me, as much as my thankfulness is with regard to humanity, it also consists of a deeper gratitude extended toward a creator. I believe appreciation for some thing, or some one, greater actually increases appreciation for the seemingly “smaller things.” It does, however, depend on how you view the “some thing greater.” Our ability to be thankful is dependent on our perception of God and our place in this great universe.

How we view our Creator determines our view of creation. In other words, if I think God is a big, grey bearded man, who bitterly sits on a throne and waits for humanity to make a mistake so he can punish them, then my view of creation will likely stem from a place of apathy. I’ll care less about the environment, and the people within that environment because God is just waiting to punish. If I don’t see God as being grateful and loving toward creation, then I too will lose a sense of gratitude and love toward creation. Nevertheless, if I see God as a loving and compassionate creator who is madly in love with all of creation, then I will see creation with those same “eyes.”  If I acknowledge that God, the everlasting and all powerful, values me and my fellow neighbor more than I ever could, then who am I to not place value on either? Who am I not to be grateful for all I’ve been given and for all that I am?

Beauty is in the eye of  the beholder, and so is love,  gratitude and thanksgiving. Yet how much more gratitude can the eye of the beholder have if she understands that she is beheld as beautiful and lovable in the eye of the creator of beauty, thankfulness, and love?

I love to make long exposures of star trails, particularly star trails that feature Polaris – the North Star* – so you get nice circular trails. But there are some gotchas when doing this the traditional way.

Back in the film days, long exposures opened you up to reciprocity failure. And that meant if it was a cold night you were going to be colder then usual.

Reciprocity, and its failing, is not an issue with digital sensors, but noise is. If you want to do a one-hour exposure, for example, you really open yourself up to fixed-pattern noise – something we covered a few weeks ago. Now you can deal rather easily with that noise by using your camera’s long-exposure noise reduction turned on – but the trade off is that this requires an additional exposure at the same length as your first exposure. So a one-hour exposure turns into a two-hour exposure and once again you’re goinna be colder then usual.

I presented a technique just over a year ago that got into stacking – the idea of taking many shots over the same time period instead of just one. This has a number of advantages to it in terms of how long you spend in the field but means a little more work on the computer after the fact. I’m perfectly at home with that idea on a cold night actually. But to make it even better, I found a tutorial about star trails on the Interwebs this morning from Reno, NV-based photographer Dan Newton that absolutely rocks. Dan meticuously outlines his in-camera and post-processing techniques so that anyone can pull this off. It’s so good that I plan to abandon all previous techniques and just use his method. In fact I think if you make a nice “long-exposure” image with his technique you should post a link to the image in the comments of this post. The nice thing about Dan technique is the fact that it doesn’t rely on long-exposure NR at all – at least in camera. Instead of doing your one-hour exposure and then one-hour of noise reduction, imaging doing 120 30-second exposures (one hour) and then ONE 30-second exposure (30 seconds) for all of you noise-reduction. Yeah – I can dig that. Dude.

If you spend a little time on Dan’s Portfolio site, you can see plenty of examples on star trails. It’s some nice work – and some of it was just featured on the cover of the UK’s Practical Photography magazine. Also, here’s some additional background on long-exposure/star trails from photographer Dan Heller that focuses more on the traditional one-shot technique.

* – you noticed the asterik at the top of the article? Hooray. There’s a little mystery over the North Star. It is not the brightest star in the sky – in fact it’s a little on the dim side (but fortunately surrounded by even dimmer stars making it a little easier to find). The magic is – in the Northern Hemisphere – is that it is the pole star. If you stood exactly on the north pole, this star would be almost perfectly overhead. Imagine then, as the earth rotates, that the North Star would stay perfectly still while all other stars rotate around it. The bonus is you still get that effect if you put the North Star in your shot – all other stars appear to rotate around it as the earth spins beneath you – it just takes a little time to see the effect. So it would probably be helpful if you knew how to find the North Star (also called Polaris), doncha think?

UPDATE: I was reading more old posts on Dan Newton’s site, and I came across this update to his technique post. He’s started using an intervalometer to overcome the buffer limitations on his camera. Some cameras have an intervalometer built in (lucky me and my D300). Some require a cable-release with a built-in intervalometer. His original technique is still king, but requires a little higher ISO because of the 30-second limitation in shutter speed. And most cameras, on continuous, eventually fill up their buffers before very long. With the intervalometer, the file is written out after every shot and you can shoot until you fill the card. And you can shoot slightly longer at a better ISO.

This article will hopefully appear in the uni paper in its entirety, though I somewhat doubt it. Anyway, I thought I’d post it up here too, as I think it’s an important issue.

This week, Kent Union hosts what it optimistically called “Love Your Body” week, which as far as I could tell consists of handing out condoms and urinating into a cup in exchange for some underwear. What they admirably want to promote is sexual health awareness and a general good-feeling about one’s own body, but I somehow think the message is getting lost somewhere. Partly because students are unlikely to partake in anything unless dragged kicking and screaming to such an event, but also because I think they’re putting too much emphasis on the wrong thing. Whilst it is of course a serious issue, sexual health awareness has been done to death and the more worrying, but underplayed factor of body awareness is the growing problem of body image. There has never really been as much pressure for people to conform to what are generally unattainable ideals as there is now, and this is something that applies not to just women, but men also.

Travelling on the Underground, I see wall posters inviting women to cut themselves up in the name of ‘beauty’. I see magazines with gratuitously breasted girls and men with ridiculously sticky-out six-packs. A quick browse around the internet will show men “how to get ripped in four weeks” or women that they’re a little over the ‘average’ waist size and that this is somehow against nature. There is of course the whole ‘size zero’ debate, unlikely to be helped by Kate Moss saying that she lives by the motto “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”, a slogan emblazoned across many pro-ana sites, who’ve managed to confuse the psychological disorder anorexia nervosa with a lifestyle choice. All this has caused a backlash against anyone remotely thin, even those who are naturally so, and altogether, no-one quite knows what they’re supposed to look like.

It’s easy to say that you’re not influenced by what the current social climate dictates you should do or what you should look like, but it is a lot more difficult to actually live by that. It may come as a surprise, but most adults are actually of a perfectly reasonable weight. Yes, we all have those little things that we wish could be improved, but just remember that everyone does, and there is no need to go on a crash diet or for a doctor to cut you up and replace your skin with silicon, because you’re lovely the way you are, honestly. We know that most people diet for their own self-image rather than what others will think of them, and I detest the whole debate over body size. There is a huge backlash against both extremes, with the government demonising the overweight, and the general public demonising anyone who dares to be thin, almost certainly as a counter balance to make themselves feel better about their own weight.

Perhaps this is what “Love Your Body” should have concentrated on. The idea was admirable, but it was aimed at the wrong cause. It should have been more about teaching people to feel more comfortable with the body they were given. Some people are designed to be skinny, some people are designed to be curvy and some people are designed for a medium somewhere between. The chances are that you’re perfectly fine the way you are. Demonising people for being a certain shape is heartless and ultimately dangerous, as though research shows that bullying is not the primary cause of eating disorders, it is certainly a contributing factor. Bullying (and it is bullying, this isn’t something purely reserved for school playgrounds) is often caused by dissatisfaction with one’s self, and ‘bullies’, for want of a better term, often attack the trait they dislike most in themselves, because otherwise, they’d attack themselves in whatever manner would prove most hideously effective.

As Ms Aguilera unrelentingly yelled, “we are beautiful, no matter what they say”, and whilst eating disorders are a complex field, a field which my Psychology-studying friend could probably write twice as much on, ‘bitchiness’ is sometimes a contributory factor, and is ultimately a pointless, damaging and dangerous activity. Once you learn to love yourself, you won’t need to hate others anymore and no longer will words bring us down.

PS. My friend Miss Dorza provided this: