The growing use of handheld devices and social media among
students is creating a technology tipping point for schools that
could completely break down the barriers between teaching
platforms within five to 10 years, Bill Gates said today. Tablet
computers, smartphones, e-readers, digital textbooks and the
accessibility of digital video including YouTube are playing
major roles in changing the way students are learning at both
the K-12 and higher-education levels, Gates said during the
keynote at the education arm of the South by Southwest
conference in Austin, Texas. Digital video exercises
incorporated into textbooks online are blurring the line between
teaching and assessment to the extent that there really isn’t a
boundary anymore between the two, the Microsoft co-founder and
chairman said. “Finally there are people looking at whether
textbooks should be fully digital,” he said, speaking to an
audience of teachers, administrators and representatives of
educational technology companies. Gates has champione