As Microsoft founder and chairman Bill Gates prepares to leave the company he has been associated with for the last three decades, school leaders are reflecting on the enormous impact he has had on both education and technology.

Gates' legacy in educational technology no doubt will be influenced by people's opinions of Microsoft itself. While there is no arguing that Gates helped bring computing to the masses and set the standard for office productivity software, his critics would say that Microsoft overcharged millions of customers and engaged in monopolistic business practices in order to crush competitors--helping Gates amass one of the largest fortunes in the world, worth an estimated $58 billion.

Now, Gates is leaving Microsoft at the end of the month to devote his full attention to the foundation he and his wife, Melinda, created to make a difference with this enormous fortune. And with Gates taking a more active role in the foundation, many observers say schools are likely to benefit.

"As Bill [Gates] turns full attention to his work with the foundation, there is great potential to see even more significant work supporting technology in education arising there," said Don Knezek, chief executive officer for the International Society for Technology in Education.

Gates has been a leading proponent of high school reform. Three years ago, he addressed the nation's governors and urged them to redesign America's high schools to meet the challenges of the new century.

"America's high schools are obsolete," Gates told the governors that day (see "What's wrong with U.S. high schools--and how we can make them better"). "By obsolete, I don't just mean that our high schools are broken, flawed, and under-funded--though a case could be made for every one of those points. By obsolete, I mean that our high schools--even when they're working exactly as designed--cannot teach our kids what they need to know today. Training the workforce of tomorrow with the high schools of today is like trying to teach kids about today's computers on a 50-year-old mainframe. It's the wrong tool for the times."

Through his charitable foundation, Gates has committed tens of millions of dollars to projects that aim to redesign high schools and make them more relevant for the 21st century.

"Bill Gates is a rare and unique individual who has used his wealth and gain to promote and reinvigorate public education," said James Harmon, an English teacher and Apple Distinguished Educator at Euclid High School in Ohio.

"Gates understands that large, comprehensive high schools have become far too impersonal for the unique needs of current students. He recognizes the importance of students making personal connections to their education and their teachers through collaboration and technology," Harmon said. "The proof will be in these students' ability to participate in the new global economy. I wish him well in his future philanthropic endeavors and look forward to his next initiative."