Bill and Melinda Gates: Online learning makes textbooks obsolete - Xinhua

Online learning with software has made textbooks obsolete, and digital tools are a better choice for today's students, said Bill and Melinda Gates, co-chairs of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In their 2019 annual letter released Tuesday, Bill Gates said even the best textbook can't figure out which concepts you understand and which ones you need more help with. It certainly can't tell your teacher how well you grasped last night's assigned reading. But now, thanks to software, the stand-alone textbook is becoming a thing of the past. He gives algebra as an example. Instead of just reading a chapter on solving equations, you can look at the text online, watch a super engaging video that shows you how it's done, and play a game that reinforces the concepts. Then you solve a few problems online, and the software creates new quiz questions to zero in on the ideas you're not quite getting. http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-02/12/c_137816237.htm