Education

Kno, which showed off a fancy dual-screen tablet for education earlier this year, said today that it also has plans for a cheaper, single-screen option.

The company is aiming at the education market and had touted the two-screen option as a great way to read and take notes at the same time. However, in announcing the new model on Monday, the company acknowledged that the added glass also adds cost to a product aimed at a cost-sensitive market.

"Even though the Kno pays for itself in 13 months, the smaller up-front investment of the single screen version will allow … Read more

Microsoft on Wednesday is launching Redu, a Bing-powered site that aims to act as a "homeroom" for people interested in learning more about the state of American schools. The Web site, to which Microsoft plans to link from Bing.com, aspires to be an online hub for those looking to donate to schools, volunteer locally, or work in education.

"This new site is a great way to galvanize interest and focus on public education," Pamela Passman, vice president of corporate affairs at Microsoft, said in an interview Tuesday.

Among its features is a Bing Map that … Read more

TRUCKEE, Calif.--One Laptop Per Child founder Nicholas Negroponte said that in two years the company has managed to rebuff one of the biggest critiques of his effort--the idea that you can't just give a kid a laptop connected to the Internet and walk away.

"You can, you actually can," Negroponte said, speaking on a panel at the Techonomy conference here. "Kids in the remotest places," he said, "not only teach themselves how to read and write, but most importantly--and we found this in Peru--teach their parents to read or write."

Negroponte … Read more

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Bill Gates didn't leave Harvard on Wednesday with a degree, but the Microsoft chairman said he did leave feeling that the top colleges are paying more attention to the needs of the developing world.

"Schools are really doing more," Gates told CNET in an interview, as he headed to the airport following his three-day college tour. "These leading institutions are out in front... Certainly versus when you go back all the way to when I was here, there were no poverty classes."

At MIT, for example, Gates met with students working on projects … Read more

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--As he has at each of the stops on his college tour, Bill Gates took time Wednesday morning to meet with a group of minority students whose university education has been funded by his family's foundation.

After a few photos were taken, the group of several dozen Gates Millennial Scholars here at Massachusetts Institute of Technology had a chance to speak with their benefactor. Most just wanted to say thanks, while a few had questions about how they could make a difference.

One student asked what Gates expected from the scholars.

"The dream is that it … Read more

PALO ALTO, Calif.--Bill Gates was feeling pretty good Monday night, though the Microsoft chairman said he's still honing his pitch to convince college students to change the world.

"I can always say to myself, 'Hey, I could have answered that question better.'" Gates said. "I'll get better as time goes on."

But Gates, who travels to Chicago on Tuesday before wrapping up the three-day tour in Boston on Wednesday, said he is pretty pleased with how things have gone so far.

"There's only so much you can squeeze into a day,&… Read more

PALO ALTO, Calif.--Microsoft may be known for PowerPoint, but Bill Gates' college tour has just one slide in it.

In his effort to convince students to devote more time and energy to society's big problems, Gates points to one chart--the decline in death rates of children during the past 50 years. In 1960, roughly 20 million kids younger than five died each year, a figure that has dropped to less than 9 million due in large part to vaccines.

Already Gates said, more people are focusing on global health, something he said is making a difference.

"I … Read more

BERKELEY, Calif.--While the world faces enormous challenges feeding its populations, developing clean energy, and fighting diseases, many of its best and brightest citizens are focused on other issues.

That notion was reinforced for Bill Gates several weeks back as he sat with several friends who were engaged in a passionate discussion on two key topics: March Madness and the reforms being debated for Wall Street.

The philanthropist and Microsoft chairman said he would like to see some of this brain power shifted to issues like education.

"How possible is it that we could be having this same intense … Read more

BERKELEY, Calif.--The University of California at Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall is still empty, but that won't last long.

In just over an hour, Bill Gates will kick off a three-day speaking tour of college campuses. While such gigs were frequent during his days at Microsoft, this is the first such tour that Gates has done in his role as full-time philanthropist.

"On our way to Berkeley & Stanford for day 1 of the college tour," Gates said Monday, in a post on Twitter. "I am very excited to talk with students and see the work … Read more