In addition to benefiting teachers and students, Graphite can help strengthen the market for educational technology
American business magnate and philanthropist Bill Gates is backing a new initiative called Graphite that is a free online resource to help teachers discover and share education technology.
Graphite is a partnership between Gates and the education non-profit Common Sense Media. The idea is to provide educators with free online resources — which have already been tested, evaluated, and reviewed — to better teach their K-12 classrooms. The resources available on the Web site include apps, games, links to other sites, and digital curricula.
“What’s surprising is given how the Internet has changed how we buy airline tickets and books and how we look up things, is that formal education hasn’t changed hardly at all,” Gates said. “The technology sector deserves its blame — it could be doing more here. But now is the time.”
“I’m very optimistic about the potential of technology to transform education and help every teacher and student excel. Melinda and I meet regularly with a team of experts to review the latest exciting innovations in educational technology, everything from video games that help students learn algebra to lectures they can watch online. There’s a lot of amazing work going on, but teachers need more support to understand what’s out there, what works, and how to use it,” says Gates.He adds, “So today, in collaboration with Common Sense Media, I’m excited to launch a new free product called Graphite. Graphite will focus initially on ratings and reviews for educational web sites, apps, and services. A staff of experienced educators will offer their own editorial reviews. We’re also building an active community of teachers who are using these products and sharing their own opinions. The video above explains more about how Graphite will work.”
He further says, “In addition to benefiting teachers and students, Graphite can help strengthen the market for educational technology. Right now, a lot of developers have a hard time getting feedback on their products from teachers and students. If we get this right, Graphite will make it easier for these developers to tailor their products to their customers’ needs.”