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Monday, March 11, 2013

Bill Gates Has a Solution for Higher Education: Yoda | Inside Higher Ed

Bill Gates Has a Solution for Higher Education: Yoda | Inside Higher Ed:


Bill Gates Has a Solution for Higher Education: Yoda

Bill Gates has diagnosed what ails higher education, and the cure is all about technology, and also Yoda.
Speaking at the SXSW technology conference, as reported by CNN Money, “Gates’ main theme was personalized learning, which can be enhanced by new technology.”
And Yoda.
Again according to CNN Money, Gates maintains that, “Yoda was a great teacher because the Jedi master understood when Skywalker is losing interest.”
In Gates’ own words, “With this wave of software that's being created that personalizes to the student ... there's real promise here that the kids can go back and engage in a way they couldn't before."
So Bill Gates and I, and just about everyone else I’m aware of, agree on two big things: 1. That large lecture classes are non-ideal atmospheres to engender learning. 2. The better alternative is personalized learning