Gates and Brown: Tech transforming education

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has laid out a vision for how technology is going to transform education, while Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown emphasised how IT can help the UK face the challenges of globalisation.

Speaking at the Microsoft Government Leaders Forum in Edinburgh, Gates said: "We need to be humble in making predictions of how technology will affect education" - because people made big predictions about how TVs, video tapes and software would influence education that haven't come true, he said.

But Gates believes the reasons people choose great universities or schools - access to professors' lectures, the ability to discuss issues with other students and the need to attend classes to gain a degree - will all be changed by technology.

Lectures will be distributed for free over the internet, students will hold discussions at a distance in chatrooms, and testing and accreditation will happen online for people anywhere in the world, Gates explained.

He said: "Technology allows for more specialisation and improvement [in education]."

The role of the teacher is still fundamental to learning, Gates stressed, but more effort must be put into training teachers in IT - and more tools must be created for them - for instance software which could help them create curriculum from online sources.

As part of its educational efforts, Microsoft announced it is expanding its Innovative Schools programme - which helps local partners modernise schools - into the UK and 11 other countries including Brazil, Canada, Chile, Finland, Germany, Ireland and Sweden.

In the UK Microsoft has been working with local authorities in Kent, Knowsley, Lewisham, Sandwell and Sheffield to integrate technology into educational institutions.

Damian Allen, executive director of Children's Services at Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council, said Microsoft created "a clear roadmap to improve operations, learning, and communication between the classroom and home through the use of technology".

Also today at the Government Leaders Forum, the Chancellor spoke about the role technology can play in improving education so the country can remain competitive in the face of globalisation.

Brown said: "Liberating technology makes it possible to say every person can and should enjoy the advantage of education."

A global economy in which people are more connected than ever before is becoming more of a reality each day, he said - and to prepare government must promote innovation.

He added: "The answer is not protectionism. The answer is not turning back the clock... but to invest more in science, technology and creative industries."

Brown also stressed the need to include the whole population in this change - and not widen the digital divide. He asked: "How can we make technological innovation work for not just some of the people but all of the people?"