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Summary from Academica Top Ten - 23 July 2014
Bill Gates offers perspectives on PSE
In his keynote address to the National Association of College and University Business Officers, Microsoft founder Bill Gates offered his perspective on a number of PSE-related issues. Gates said that it is “oversimplistic” to focus on PSE as being just about getting a job; “citizenship, developing deeper understanding, other things, are all important” he said. He also warned his audience of the pitfalls of approaches that focus solely on completion rates, which could lead some colleges to steer clear of challenging students. Metrics based on graduates’ salaries are also problematic, he said. Gates noted that public PSE institutions typically do a poor job at justifying money spent on unprofitable sports programs or luxury dorms. Gates was lukewarm to some education technologies; he said massive open online courses (MOOCs) were typically “mediocre” but added that he expects competition will improve quality over the next 5 or 6 years. In this time, he predicted, a handful of “clearly excellent” courses will emerge in each field. But, he said, “I still believe in physical places of learning for a fairly significant part of what goes on.” Inside Higher Ed | The Chronicle of Higher Education
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