Thursday 20 October 2011
Wednesday 19 October 2011
Spark Of Corporate - Steve Jobs
“I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come”.
Steve Jobs started his career as Co-founder of Apple in 1976.By his introduction of Apple -2 and Macintosh computers, he democratized computers i.e. can be used by any person who knows basic computer languages, much user friendly. Later he was out of Apple in 1985.Again he was back in Apple in 1997 as an Interim- CEO.This was the first step forward of Steve to save Apple from bankruptcy and reported losses of $700mn. Within two years as Interim -CEO, Steve changed the strategies of product lines and introduced iMac, Mac G3 tower and Wi-Fi product; turned around Apple and gained back its old legacy.
Steve Jobs took up reigns as full time CEO on January 5; 2000.He worked hard and launched various path-breaking products like MacOSX with 3Dgraphics, iPod, iTunes,
iDVD, iPhoto, iCal, iApps, Apple retail stores, Apple TV, iPhone, iPad etc.He worked extensively for two decades to design, create and innovate all these products at Apple. This shows his profound passion for technology. He not only unveiled these products, but also took all possible ways to create awareness and interest in consumers through stage shows, commercial ads, retail Apple stores as many as hundred throughout U.S. ,thus followed powerful marketing strategies. He created a Golden Era of revolutionary products for Apple Inc. Apple Inc reported its last losses in 2001.In Jobs tenure all these revolutionary products created revenue of nearly $350mn.His contributions to technology and Apple Inc are outstanding.
He crated a revolutionary technology in music world that captured major market share and Steve remained in hearts of many people. He became Emperor of technology. This shows his keen knowledge and quick exploration of technology, which will be admired by the consumers. Steve was Perfect blend of vision, leadership, management, and technical Know-how. The design and the features of the products he introduced show the way he thinks beyond the expectations ; which makes him stand ahead of leaders in the industry in thinking and framing strategies and the way he changes the change before the change changes him. He became charismatic icon for millions of people by succeeding in making technology seamless, intuitive, exiting, beautiful and easy to use rather than dull and complicated. He also paved way for 3D animation, which was not possible without him. He lived his dreams of making big things. As Steve was suffering with ill health, he resigned as CEO on August 25, 2011, with Tim Cook as his Successor. Steve was legendary and all time strategist and great visionary, who looked decades ahead. He laid a concrete path to follow for the future generation leaders, managers and visionaries. He left the world for good on October 5, 2011, but his revolutionary technological achievements always remind him to us. His loss created a vacuum in the world of technology. Steve forever stayed in the pages of history and this would be the greatest tribute of humanity to him. Impressions and Impact of great leaders like Steve Jobs cannot be erased. Career Outlook Career of Steve Jobs was like a roller coaster ride with full of excitement and a dream to achieve heights in making a world’s best computer. Jobs in 1974 was desperately in need of money and took a job at Atari; known to be a first video gaming company making pinball machines, started by Bushnell. When he was at Atari, he made a trip to India to meet a baba for enlightenment, but returned disappointed. In 1974, Steve worked for Atari and his high school friend Woz was working for HP; and both of them attended Homebrew, a computer hobbyists club. Steve found the potential and got interested in homemade computer of Woz, thought that computer is essential to run software programs. Finally, they planned to assemble the computers themselves and sell the whole board at Homebrew meetings. Therefore, in 1976, Steve and Woz started Apple Computer Co; the name was suggested by Jobs after visiting an “apple orchard”. To get 1,000 dollars required to make the first computer board, Jobs sold his Volkswagen van and Woz his HP 65 calculator. Both the friends shared 45% of shares of the company each and remaining 10% was given to Ron Wayne ,Job’s friend at Atari; who helped them for paperwork to start the company and drew the logo for the company. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Steve and Woz assembled the computer parts in Job’s garage and sold them to Homebrew members. It costed them $200 and they sold it for $500 at a margin of 33%. This way they sold a few hundreds and the response was not very promising as they expected. Later Ron was sent out; paying him some amount and the company was incorporated on April 1, 1976. Steve and Woz started working on Apple-2, based on Apple -1 design with improved design and it was a huge breakthrough. Apple -2 created a revolution in personal computing, because it was the first computer that was user-friendly and could be used by any one who knows basic programming language. It was the only computer that could produce color, with any color TV you would plug it in; It could handle high-resolution graphics and sound, and had a basic interpreter built-in software called VisiCalc (first spreadsheet brought to the market) that worked only on Apple -2, which added upon to its success. After Apple 2 was finished, Steve and Woz were looking for venture capitalists, who could fund the company and that was done by Mike Murukkula a former Intel employee 34yrs old .He met Steve and Woz, got impressed by their vision and was sure of return on his investment. Mike drew a plan to manufacture 1,000 computer units for 250,000 dollars. The logo of Apple was also changed with a bitten Apple and the colored stripes that represented to emphasize the Apple -2’s ability to display color and the Apple computer was placed in a plastic case and looked like a professional computer. Its sales were sky rocketing until 1980. The company had revenue of $47 million in fiscal year 1979, making Steve Jobs a millionaire owning $7 million worth of private stock. Finally, on December 12 1980, Apple Computer Inc went public; the operation was a huge success beyond anyone’s expectations. It was the biggest public offering in American history. After the IPO, Steve Jobs was worth $217.5 million, $210 million more than the day before. Apple -3 and Lisa encountered unbelievable failure and Steve was not in both the projects, because he was a tough and harsh manager and the Engineers did not want to work with him. Therefore, Mike decided to send out Steve, as a head to handle Mac team. At this time, Apple was dependent on its 6yrs old version Apple-2 for its revenue. John Sculley was brought in as CEO, who had a good relation with Steve at the beginning. Macintosh was given number one priority in Apple. The computer world was shaken by introduction of IBM’s PC. Despite of huge commercial advertising and release of Macintosh as a revolution to a cheering crowd at Cupertino’s Flint Center auditorium; the response was damn slow in first two months. With Apple's stock price sinking, conflicts between Jobs and Sculley mounted. Sculley won over the board in 1985 and pushed Jobs out of his day-to-day role leading the Macintosh team. Jobs resigned his post as Chairperson of the Board and left Apple within month. Steve Jobs’ main passion was still in building computers that made him to start a company named NeXT, and the NeXTCube was released in 1988. Unfortunately, due to its high price- tag and a lack of useful software, the computer did not sell well. After years of trying to improve the machine and cut the price, sales still did not improve, and the company’s co-founders left, one after the other. In 1993, NeXT gave up its hardware business and focused only on its advanced software technology. Meanwhile, in 1986, Steve Jobs bought the Pixar Company for $10 million. This company had been trying to sell advanced graphic workstations to specialized markets without success. In 1990, the company focused on developing an advanced 3D language called RenderMan. The animation division remained because its work on TV commercials was bringing in revenue. Pixar was contracted by Disney to make a full feature film with computers in 1991, but this contract was cancelled by the end of 1993.But, Pixar returned to Disney with an improved script for the Toy Story feature film, and the project was re-ignited. Realizing the power of the Disney brand, Steve Jobs took Pixar public the week after Toy Story was released and cashed in on the media hype surrounding the first computer-generated animation movie, with great success Steve got 80% share in the company and his net worth rise to over $1.5 billion. In 1996, Apple was running down at an alarming rate, failing to deliver new products on time and lagging behind in software development. Gil Amelio was CEO, starting in February 1996. In the same year, Gil bought Next for $400mn and Steve was appointed “informal adviser” to CEO Gil Amelio. Gil Amelio lost his position as CEO after announcing Apple’s losses of $700 million for the first quarter of 1997, and Steve Jobs was named interim CEO in July of that year. Steve started working hard in 1997 to get Apple back on track. He hired Tim Cook, as COO in 1998.His first decision was to kill Mac, which affected the hardware sales and that Apple would drop its 20+ product lines and make just four great products: a Consumer desktop, a Consumer notebook, a Pro desktop, and a Pro notebook. The first product lines to be reinvented by Steve Jobs were the Pro products, Power Mac and PowerBook, which he unveiled in November 1997, only eleven months after he came back. These machines were relatively fast machines designed for creative professionals, which outperformed their Pentium-based competitors in many respects. Apple was back to profitability, it had made a $45 million profit in the last quarter of 1997. Steve unveiled the iMac on May 6 1998, at the Flint Center auditorium in Cupertino. The iMac was also the first personal computer only with CD-ROM drive. Most striking feature of iMac was its design; it was a translucent, blue/green, round machine in a boring world of beige boxes, which influenced a whole generation of designers. The iMac proved one of Apple’s biggest hits, selling two million units in its first two years. Steve made two product announcements at Macworld San Francisco, in January 1999. First was a brand new Power Mac G3 tower that was not only faster, but also featured a new, appealing design inspired by the original iMac. Second was that the iMac would now come in several colors. After six months, Apple to fill its product matrix with powerful product mix of breakthrough computers, in July 1999, Steve unveiled the iBook at Macworld New York. In the same show, Apple launched first Wi-Fi product, the AirPort base station. Wireless connectivity was typical of an Apple innovation. After two years as Interim CEO, Steve Jobs completely turned Apple around. He restored the company’s public image, implemented a winning and focused strategy, attracted software developers, and launched highly innovative and inspiring products on the marketplace. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Apple’s software developers worked on new Digital Lifestyle Applications, namely iDVD for movies, iTunes for music. In addition to iMovie, iDVD and iTunes, iPhoto was released in 2002, followed by iCal later that year, Garage Band (for recording and editing music) in 2004, and iWeb (for making websites) in 2006. The reason Apple was able to develop such breakthrough Software so rapidly was, mainly Mac OS X, with its Object-oriented environment inherited from NeXTSTEP.The iApps was a killer application, by which all the windows users had to switch over to Mac, as they do not have complete digital life solution on their platform. In late October 2001, iPod was released which created a digital revolution for music lovers. Shiny white ipod has click wheel, user interface made browsing easy and fast, and its 5GB memory stored nearly 5000 songs; in your pocket. This mind-blowing product is connected to your Mac via FireWire, which was 30 times faster than your typical USB MP3 player that synchronizes with iTunes. Steve unveiled an iTunes music store on April 28, 2003, at a special Music event. Five million songs were sold in first eight weeks, and another eight million in the next fifteen weeks, bringing iTunes’ share of legal music downloads to 70%, but was only Mac-compatible. Steve unveiled iPod mini, a smaller version of the iPod, in January 2004, which came in attractive colors and soon captured the MP3 player market in the world. A year later, he launched the iPod shuffle, a cheap, flash version of the iPod, to go after the rest of the competition. The Company improved its product line every year, introducing the iPod nano in September 2005 and the iPod video the following month. Every year after that, the iPod line was refreshed every September. As of 2006, Apple’s market share in music world was 70% and remained at same level even today. Apple fought for approximately a decade to gain market share in PC industry. The entire product line was ported to Intel in less than a year. In January 2006, the iMac and the Pro notebook replaced Mac Book Pro, then came the Mac mini in February, followed by the Mac Book (replacing the iBook) in May and the Mac Pro (former Power Mac) and XServe in August. The Apple TV was officially released at Macworld in 2007, but it has yet to prove itself as a successful product. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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health problems, Steve has made an impressive comeback in 2010 and on January 27, Steve Jobs finally launched iPad(on which he started working even before the iPod), Apple’s much-anticipated tablet. The iPad turned out an amazing success. Apple sold 7.5 million of them as of September 2010, representing close to 8% of its revenue for FY 2010.Apple Inc came out of bankruptcy and became dominant player in the high tech industry under the leadership of Steve Jobs. Steve resigned from Apple Inc as CEO on August 24, 2010 with Tim Cook as his successor. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Steven Paul Jobs was born on February 24, 1955, in San Francisco. Both his biological mother and father were students at the time Steve was born; Joanne Simpson an unmarried graduate student and Abdulfattah Jandali was student from Syria. Simpson gave Steve for adoption to Clara and Paul Jobs; a lower middle class working couple living in Los Altos, California; taking a word from them that they would send him to college. The couple who adopted Steve started calling him Steve Paul. Steve’s father was a machinist from Middle West and was educated very little; not even high school. The couple moved to Santa Clara County, when Steve was a toddler. Three years later in 1958, the couple adopted a baby girl called Patti, who was Steve’s sister. Steve in his early childhood days did not care much about his schooling. In 4th grade a teacher called ‘Teddy Hills’; whom Steve stated “saint of his life” ; bribed him with candy’s with her own money and created an interest in him and put him back on track. He skipped 5th grade and went to Crittenden Middle School, it was a poor area, and children were not really working on anything good, except bullying other kids. So, Paul Jobs and Clara Jobs moved to Los Altos to send Steve to Cupertino Junior High. This was an ever-best decision made by the couple, which was a turning point to Steve’s future. Silicon Valley was a place where billions of dollars of government funds were spent on upcoming technology of computing and space races. A person in Silicon Valley won noble prize for invention of transistor and HP was the robust company in 1939.As Steve was growing in Los Altos; he was very attracted and curious towards the field of electronics, inspired by the things happening around. Especially the Heathkits introduced by his father build a tremendous self-confidence, learning complex things by exploring things around our environment. These Heathkits would come with a detailed manual to assemble smaller parts, which are differentiated by a color code. Steve build few of the Heathkits, which made the things clear and he experienced the essence of human creation. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Later Steve Jobs stated: “After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. Moreover, here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. Therefore, I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting”. Steve also did all the way different things like experimenting with Eastern mysticism. He read weird books and tried many philosophical things like fasting for long periods, eating only fruits like apples, having a laggered hippie etc. One of his best friends at Reed was Dan Kottke, who shared his interests in such philosophies. He married Laurene Powell on March 18, 1991, at Yosemite .Few months later Laurene had Steve’s second child named Reed Paul. A media report reveals that, Steve Jobs spent most of his time with his family. When Jobs was able to make it to Apple, he would finish his work for the day and immediately return home for dinner with his wife and children. Little is known of Steve Jobs' personal life, and he wanted it that way. His obsession with secrecy continued until the day he died. As news of the seriousness of his illness (pancreatic cancer) became more widely known, Jobs was asked to attend farewell dinners and to accept various awards. He turned down the offers. "He was very human," Ornish was quoted as saying. "He was so much more of a real person than most people know. That's what made him so great." He saw a few close friends and kept in touch with Apple executives in advance of the iPhone 4S launch. He also made time for his final conversations with Isaacson, even though on one visit his biographer found him “curled up in pain” in a downstairs bedroom, too weak to climb the stairs. In one of their writing sessions, Isaacson asked why Jobs had finally agreed to co-operate for a biography. “I wanted my kids to know me,” he replied. “I wasn’t always there for them, and I wanted them to know why, and to understand what I did.” Finally, Steve Jobs a Great Star Entrepreneur of the world left his last breath peacefully, surrounded by his family on October 5th ,2011 .His loss was not only felt by his family ; but also was felt by the whole world of technology. Steve’s Commencement Speech at Stanford University (2005) "Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart." Inspiring Quotes of Steve Jobs “That has been one of my mantras - focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. Nevertheless, it is worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains”. “Technology is nothing. What is important is that you have a faith in people, that they are good and smart, and if you give them tools, they will do wonderful”. “I have a great respect for incremental improvement, and I have done that sort of thing in my life, but I have always been attracted to the more revolutionary changes. I do not know why. Because, they are harder, they are much more stressful emotionally. Moreover, you usually go through a period where everybody tells you that you have completely failed”. “Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty, because they did not really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That is because they were able to connect experiences they have had and synthesize new things”. “Again, you cannot connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. Therefore, you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life”. “Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations”. “My favorite things in life do not cost any money. It is clear that the most precious resource we all have is time”. “I have always wanted to own and control the primary technology in everything we do”. “Being the richest man in the cemetery does not matter to me. Going to bed at night saying, we have done something wonderful that is what matters to me”. “I am an optimist in the sense that I believe humans are noble and honorable, and some of them are smart. I have a very optimistic view of individuals”. “For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, that has to be carried all the way through”. “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower”. “Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Do not lose faith”. “Stay hungry, stay foolish”. Management Style of Steve Jobs Management style of Steve Jobs sounds all the way too different. Here are few instances of his management style: "We've got 25,000 people at Apple. About 10,000 of them are in the stores. My job is to work with sort of the top 100 people, that’s what I do. That does not mean they are all vice presidents. Some of them are just key individual contributors. So when a good idea comes, you know, part of my job is to move it around, just see what different people think, get people talking about it, argue with people about it, get ideas moving among that group of 100 people, get different people together to explore different aspects of it quietly, and, you know - just explore things." Job’s approach on hiring people "When I hire somebody really senior, competence is the ante. They have to be smart. However, the real issue for me is, Are they going to fall in love with Apple? Because if they fall in love with Apple, everything else will take care of itself they will want to do what is best for Apple, not what is best for them, what is best for Steve, or anybody else? "Recruiting is hard. It is just finding the needles in the haystack. We do it ourselves and we spend a lot of time at it. I have participated in the hiring of maybe 5,000-plus people in my life. Therefore, I take it very seriously. You cannot know enough in a one-hour interview. So, in the end, it is ultimately based on your gut. How do I feel about this person? What are they like when they are challenged? Why are they here? I ask everybody, 'Why are you here?' The answers themselves are not what you are looking for. It's the meta-data." Steve Jobs was an unconventional leader His management style was not the stuff of university textbooks – he wasn’t known for his consultative or consensus building approach. In contrast, Mr. Jobs has gone against that trend, ruling with an iron hand, attending to every little product detail, and keeping employees on a roller coaster of praise and fear. He was a "high-maintenance co-worker" who demanded excellence from his staff and was known for his blunt delivery of criticism. Nevertheless, it was his sheer genius combined with his ability to articulate his vision and bring staff, investors, and customers along on the journey - plus the lessons learned in a major career setback - that made it work. The results were indisputable. Despite Mr. Job’s harsh management style, Apple employees are devoted. "That is because his autocracy is balanced by his famous charisma, he can make the task of designing a power supply feel like a mission from God. Ten Golden Lessons of Life from Steve Jobs His accomplishments and character helped define a generation and change the world. He is co-founder of the fairytale company we now know as Apple Computers. He is the visionary of the personal computers world that led the entire computer hardware and software industry to restructure itself. Here is a selection of some of the most insanely great things he said, golden lessons to help you succeed in life, Jobs-style: “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” Innovation has no limits. The only limit is your imagination. It is time for you to begin thinking out of the box. If you are involved in a growing industry, think of ways to become more efficient; more customer friendly; and easier to do business with. If you are involved in a shrinking industry – get out of it quick and change before you become obsolete; out of work; or out of business. Remember that procrastination is not an option here. Start innovating now! “Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.” There is no shortcut to excellence. You will have to make the commitment to make excellence your priority. Use your talents, abilities, and skills in the best way possible and get ahead of others by giving that little extra. Live by a higher standard and pay attention to the details that really do make the difference. Excellence is not difficult – simply decide right now to give it your best shot – and you will be amazed with what life gives you back. “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” I have it down to four words: “Do what you love.” Seek out an occupation that gives you a sense of meaning, direction, and satisfaction in life. Having a sense of purpose and striving towards goals gives life meaning, direction, and satisfaction. It not only contributes to health and longevity, but also makes you feel better in difficult times. Do you jump out of bed on Monday mornings and look forward to the workweek? If the answer is ‘no’ keep looking, you will know when you find it “You know, we don’t grow most of the food we eat. We wear clothes other people make. We speak a language that other people developed. We use a mathematics that other people evolved… I mean, we’re constantly taking things. It’s a wonderful, ecstatic feeling to create something that puts it back in the pool of human experience and knowledge.” Live in a way, which is ethically responsible. Try to make a difference in this world and contribute to the higher good. You’ll find it gives more meaning to your life and it’s a great antidote to boredom. There is always so much to do. Talk to others about what you are doing. Don’t preach or be self-righteous, or fanatical about it, that just puts people off, but at the same time, don’t be shy about setting an example, and use opportunities that arise to let others know what you are doing. “There’s a phrase in Buddhism, ‘Beginner’s mind.’ It’s wonderful to have a beginner’s mind.” It is the kind of mind, which can see the things, as they are, which step -by -step and in a flash can realize the original nature of everything. Beginner’s mind is Zen practice in action. It is the mind, which is innocent of preconceptions and expectations, judgments and prejudices. Think of beginner’s mind as the mind that faces life like a small child, full of curiosity and wonder and amazement. “We think basically you watch television to turn your brain off, and you work on your computer when you want to turn your brain on.” Reams of academic studies over the decades have amply confirmed television’s pernicious mental and moral influences. Most TV watchers know that their habit is mind numbing and wasteful, but still spend most of their time in front of that box. So turn your TV off and save some brain cells. But be cautious, you can turn your brain off by using a computer also. Try to have an intelligent conversation with someone who plays first person shooters for 8 hours a day or auto race games, or role-playing games. “I’m the only person I know that’s lost a quarter of a billion dollars in one year…. It’s very character-building.” Don’t equate making mistakes with being a mistake. There is no such thing as a successful person who has not failed or made mistakes, there are successful people who made mistakes and changed their lives or performance in response to them, and so got it right the next time. They viewed mistakes as warnings rather than signs of hopeless inadequacy. Never making a mistake means never living life to the full. “I would trade all of my technology for an afternoon with Socrates.” Over the last decade, numerous books featuring lessons from historical figures have appeared on the shelves of bookstores around the world. Socrates stands with Leonardo da Vinci, Nicholas Copernicus, Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein as a beacon of inspiration for independent thinkers, but he came first. Cicero said of Socrates that, “He called philosophy down from the skies and into the lives of men.” So use Socrates’ principles in your life, your work, your learning, and your relationships. It’s not about Socrates, it’s really about you, and how you can bring more truth, beauty and goodness into your life everyday. “We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?” Did you know that you have big things to accomplish in life? Did you know that those big things are getting rather dusty while you pour yourself another cup of coffee, and decide to mull things over rather than do them? We were all born with a gift to give in life, one that informs all of our desires, interests, passions and curiosities. This gift is, in fact, our purpose. And you don’t need permission to decide your own purpose. No boss, teacher, parent, priest or other authority can decide this for you. Just find that unique purpose. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. Most important thing is, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” Are you tired of living someone else’s dream? No doubt, it’s your life and you have every right to spend it in your own individual way without any hurdles or barriers from others. Give yourself a chance to nurture your creative qualities in a fear-free and pressure-free climate. Live a life that YOU choose and be your own boss. Each lesson might be difficult to integrate into your life at first, but if you ease your way into each lesson, one at a time, you’ll notice an immediate improvement in your overall performance. So go ahead, try them. Source : http://www.wisdomjobs.com | ||||||||||||||||||||
Tuesday 18 October 2011
The FUNdamentals of Biology: How to Teach Biology
The word science conjures up different ideas for different people. Others may genuinely be interested on such topics such as cell division or genetics, while others end up wondering why they have to study something that is so difficult to understand. Others may love the idea of learning something new while others have to be guided into the learning process kicking and screaming. Young people have different opinions on science as a subject and this perhaps, affects the way they learn.
Some students pick up easily on scientific concepts unlike the others. This is why you, as a teacher, should be aware that a science subject such as biology is not one that should be taught exclusively through the traditional way (meaning, textbooks and memorization). As a teacher, you should take note of the various learning styles of your students and try to make the lessons fun and exciting for them.
Science, as men of science have always stressed, can be seen anywhere and at any time. There is always a reason why things around us are the way they are. This is especially true for biology, the “science of life.” From the inner workings of the human body to the blooming of a dainty flower, science can be easily understood. With that said, you can use the things around you to teach your students. You can use the world to teach about the world. Yes, text books may be useful, but this is not the be-all and end-all of teaching biology. Do not limit your classes to just school books and illustrations on the blackboard. There are other ways to make students learn more, it’s just a matter of thinking outside the box. Here are a few ideas to get you started on making biology a subject that your students can truly enjoy.
Let your teaching materials evolve. Do away with the usual black and white illustrations found in textbooks. They may have all the information that both you and the class need, but they are not that aesthetically pleasing to the eye. When teaching, make the concepts more tangible and real to the students by providing them with interactive visual aids. For instance, if you’re going to teach about plants, bring a real live plant to the class and show its different parts. Allow your class to have a close look at the plant either by passing it around or letting your students look at it one by one. These interactive visual aids will peak the students’ senses as well as give them a first-hand experience of the concepts that you are trying to teach them. As they say, seeing is believing. Giving your students a hands-on experience with science will not only make them learn better but actually spark an interest in the subject.
Take ‘em out. Field trips need not include a bus, chaperones or permission slips. Nor does it need to be a full day of activities or visits to various museums or parks. A field trip can happen right inside the school grounds and within class hours. For example, a simple stroll around the school or a garden to show various flora and fauna can already be a learning experience for your biology students. It is in these kinds of field trips that they are able to see life in its natural form. This gives them a glimpse of science as something that is included in our daily lives, instead of it being just a subject. Also, the classroom can be a bit constricting when the students are cooped up for too long. Field trips provides the students a new setting which can greatly help them in learning.
Television Teleportation. Television networks like National Geographic, Discovery Channel and Animal Planet showcase different topics of interest for biology students in an informal way. Instead of the usual lectures that occur inside the classroom, these TV shows are able to transport the students to various places in a snap and allow the students to witness phenomena that a textbook can only dream of describing. A flower in bloom can never be fully described in detail in textbooks. Such things are better seen than read. These TV shows also show different applications of science in our daily lives, giving it a new perspective.
Turn to an unlikely ally. The Internet. Though oftentimes a distraction to students, you can also harness the power of the World Wide Web in teaching biological concepts. There are various websites that can be used as teaching aids. Many science websites feature interactive illustrations and animations for explaining a concept, as well as quizzes, trivia, games and videos. Some websites also suggest fun activities that can be used for teaching. When making a simple research about concepts, make use of Google and other search engines. These will help you find answers in a snap. Finally, believe it or not, YouTube can also be used as a tool for teaching science. Though it is not known to be a fountain of educational videos, YouTube does in fact have videos about science are uploaded into the website; it is just a matter of finding them.
Save the frogs. Though no student can get away from the dissection activity in school (RIP, millions of frogs all over the world), that doesn’t mean that there can’t be other more enjoyable and less squeamish activities that don’t require being in a laboratory or be near a dissection table. Try assigning your students to do a play about the cell or about the different systems in the body. The students can role play the different functions of each part. Not only will they learn the lesson, but they’ll also enjoy learning and working with others. Another idea would be a holding a quiz bee with the class. This activity can serve many functions, it can compel students to learn their lessons for the game, it can assess the progress of the students and it can serve as a review for the students before a big test.
Use simple language. Photosynthesis. Xylem. Phloem. Biogenetics. Superior vena cava. Capillaries. Deoxyribonucleic acid. Say what?
You’ve been there before, so you know how hard it was to memorize such terms. Now that you’re the one on the other side of the classroom, try not to bombard your students with words they can barely spell. Introduce the terms one at a time instead of cramming all the words into a sentence. If it helps the students understand the lesson when you use slang words, then by all means use them. Simple and understandable language definitely goes a long way when you’re tackling a complicated subject.
There are many other ways to make learning biology an enjoyable experience. What is important is to always keep your students in mind during your lessons. Always try to make learning—for any subject—a fun activity. Teaching doesn’t always mean lectures in the classroom—sometimes teaching means thinking out of the box and putting the student’s needs first.
Source : http://factoidz.com
Saturday 15 October 2011
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