Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates gave an update of his efforts to change the world at the TED conference earlier this month. The Gates Foundation is currently working on a number of very important problems, and one of the current goals is to draw more people in to work on those problems. The market does not drive scientists and governments to address these problems. Gates’s talk concentrated on two of the problems.
How do you stop malaria? In the 1930s, malaria deaths worldwide peaked at 5 million, but since then malaria has been largely eliminated from the wealthy countries in the world. However, it remains a significant problem in the poorer equatorial countries, and deaths in Africa have been growing since the 1970s as malaria has evolved to become more resistant to treatment. Eradication of the disease in any given area requires concentrated efforts. Gates is optimistic that this will be possible.
How do you make a teacher great? Successful people have typically had great teachers. However, educational quality now seems to be getting weaker – over 30% of children in the US do not finish high school. High quality teaching results in very significantly improved results compared with low quality teaching, yet little has been done to identify what makes a great teacher. We need to create ways of providing feedback and coaching to teachers.