Bill Gates on education, patents, Microsoft Bob, and disease
Speaking at Microsoft's Faculty Summit Monday, Gates took questions from an audience of researchers about the work of his foundation and other topics.
Education
The Gates Foundation is investing in education, even in rich countries like the U.S. He is a big fan and funder of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), such as the Khan Academy, and other digital tools that personalize, gamify and quantify teaching and learning as ways to help solve a worldwide education crisis, including the U.S., which suffers from the highest drop out of any "rich" country.
The Gates Foundation is investing in education, even in rich countries like the U.S. He is a big fan and funder of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), such as the Khan Academy, and other digital tools that personalize, gamify and quantify teaching and learning as ways to help solve a worldwide education crisis, including the U.S., which suffers from the highest drop out of any "rich" country.
He discussed how educational institutions, such as the big lecture hall, need to adapt. "Just sticking a camera in front of someone with a captive audience doesn't measure up to what is needed," Gates said. The big lecture will be more akin to recorded music, with rock stars lecturers who are extremely good at presenting specific information and with the budget to edit and create richer experiences for students.
"If want to learn about oceanography, meteorology, game theory or knot theory, in 24 hours I know more about those topics and can test my knowledge. That's where a lot of deep innovation is going to come," Gates said. "It's only the beginning of something quite profound, even though the temptation to oversimplify is quite great."
Gates doesn't believe that education should be treated like a menu without restrictions. He mentioned how some of the universities his college-age daughter visited allow students to design their own majors and don't force any courses on them. "I'm a big believer that there should be one or two subjects that you should know something about in a pretty deep way. Everybody should know machine language, of course," he joked.