Say what you will about Microsoft, they’ve always been big on the charity front and today is no different. Microsoft is currently running their “Partners in Learning” conference in Washington, DC to discuss technology in education and as part of the initiative have donated $1,000,000 to help train teachers in Africa.
As reported by TechFlash, Microsoft’s donation will be used to build 80 “digital hubs” in schools across the continent and is expected to “train 20,000 teachers and provide 100,000 learners and communities with digital access.” These technology centers will be using Microsoft MultiPoint servers that allow multiple students to use the same PC as others, but use their own keyboard/monitor/mouse, similar to a remote desktop connection.
In addition to the large donation, Microsoft also announced that they will be taking control of teach.gov, a resource that is used to attract and retain teachers. The site will be renamed to teach.org and Microsoft will work other companies to improve the offerings in an attempt to help reform teaching in the United States.
Similar to Apple infiltrating schools in the United States in the 80s and 90s, Microsoft will be gaining a foothold in developing countries in Africa. While it remains to be seen what the long term benefits are of this announcement, improving education is very important.