Q: (CNN) -- Educators and policymakers have long dreamed of providing universal, low cost, first-class higher education. Their wish may come true soon thanks to an unlikely source: Silicon Valley.

The mecca of the technology universe is in the process of revolutionizing higher education in a way that educators, colleges and universities cannot, or will not.

One of the men responsible for what may be an Athens-like renaissance is Sebastian Thrun, Google's vice president and pioneer in artificial intelligence and robotics. Known in science circles for his engineering feats -- like Stanley, the self-driving car -- Thrun is using his technological prowess to make quality higher education available to the world. I recently interviewed him on my radio show, "Morning In America."

Last year, while teaching a graduate level artificial intelligence class at Stanford University, Thrun lamented that his course could only reach 200 students in the suburbs of Palo Alto. So, he decided to offer his own free online class, with the same homework, quizzes and tests that he gives to Stanford students.

He announced the proposal with a single e-mail. Before he knew it, he had a flood of takers. "Usually I reach about 200 students and now I reach 160,000," said Thrun incredulously. "In my entire life of education I didn't have as much an impact on people as I had in these two months."

By utilizing online videos and educational resources, Thrun's class was being accessed by students from all corners of the world. In fact, the students themselves translated the class for free from English into 44 languages.

1. Silicon Valley
2. education
3. Sebastian Thurn
4. Google's vice president
5. yes
6. Stanley
7. a self-driving ca
8. Morning In America
9. no
10. a radio show
11. Stanford University
12. artificial intelligence
13. no
14. 200
15. Palo Alto
16. decided to give online class
17. 160,000
18. e-mail
19. unknown
20. 45

Numbered questions:
1. What location did the innovation in the article come from?
2. And what field is the innovation in?
3. Who was interviewed by the writer?
4. What's his job?
5. Is he famous for anything else?
6. Like what?
7. What is Stanley?
8. What show was the interview on?
9. Is that a TV show?
10. What kind then?
11. Where does Thrun teach?
12. What is his course about?
13. Is it for undergraduates?
14. How many students at the university could take the course?
15. Where is the university located?
16. What did Thrun do to change the situation?
17. How many students can take it now?
18. How did the tell people about the idea?
19. How long has he been giving the course online?
20. How many languages could students take the course in?

Q: (CNN)Australian-born actor Rod Taylor, who starred in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller, "The Birds," died this week in Los Angeles.

Taylor was 84.

He died at home Wednesday surrounded by his family and loved ones, his daughter, Felicia Taylor, said in a statement. No cause of death was given.

"My dad loved his work. Being an actor was his passion -- calling it an honorable art and something he couldn't live without," she said.

Rod Taylor appeared in dozens of films, including "The Time Machine," "The Train Robbers" and "Sunday in New York."

"There are so many incredible feelings I have for him," said Tippi Hedren, his co-star in "The Birds."

"Rod was a great pal to me ... we were very, very good friends," she said. "He was one of the most fun people I have ever met, thoughtful and classy, there was everything good in that man."

Taylor was born in Sydney -- the only child of a steel contractor father and a writer mother. He attended a fine arts college and a theater school in his hometown before heading to Hollywood in the 1950s.

Once there, his star kept rising with various high-profile roles in movies such as "The Train Robbers" and "The Catered Affair." In his final role, he played Winston Churchill in the 2009 movie, "Inglourious Basterds," with Brad Pitt.

Taylor is survived by his wife of more than three decades, Carol, and his daughter, Felicia, a former CNN News correspondent.

People we've lost in 2015

CNN's Veronica George contributed to this report

1. Rod Taylor, who starred in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller, "The Birds," died this week in Los Angeles.
2. Taylor was born in Sydney
3. No
4. Taylor was 84.
5. Tippi Hedren was his co-star.
6. yes
7. The Time Machine
8. The Time Machine
9. He died at home.
10. His family was with him.
11. Inglourious Basterds
12. Winston Churchill
13. Brad Pitt
14. yes
15. more than three decades
16. Carol Taylor
17. CNN
18. Felicia
19. No
20. Los Angeles

Numbered questions:
1. Who passed away?
2. Where was he born?
3. Did he have siblings?
4. How old was he?
5. Who starred alongside him in "The Birds" movie?
6. Were they friends?
7. Can you name another move he was in?
8. And one more?
9. Where did he die?
10. Was he alone?
11. What movie was he in in 2009?
12. Who did he play?
13. Who else was in that movie?
14. Was Taylor married?
15. For how long?
16. What's her name?
17. Taylor's daughter used to work for who?
18. What's her name?
19. Do we know her dad's cause of death?
20. What city did he die in?

Q: The Internet has greatly changed the way people communicate. But some teachers think the changes are not all for the better.

Eleanor Johnson, an English professor, thinks that text messaging has made students believe that it is far more acceptable than it actually is to just make terrible spelling and grammatical errors. And she says her students over the past several years have increasingly used less formal English in their writing. Words and phrases like "guy" and "you know" now appear in research papers.

Professor Johnson supposes there is a strong relationship between the rise of informal online communication and an increase in writing mistakes. But she says there may not be much scientific information, at least not yet.

David Crystal, a British linguist , says the actively changing nature of the Internet makes it difficult to keep up-to-date in studying its effects. But he believes its influence on language is small. The main effect of the Internet on language is the way it has added to the expressive richness of language, providing language with a new set of communicative tools that haven't existed in the past.

Erin Jansen is founder of NetLingo.com, an online dictionary of the Internet and text messaging terms. She says the new technology has not changed existing language but has greatly added to its vocabulary. Basically it's freedom of expression.

And what about those teachers who find these new kinds of mistakes in spelling and grammar in their students' work? What is her message to them?

Erin Jansen said, "I am always on the students' side and won't get angry or upset about that. If it's helping the kids write more or communicate more, that's great. That's what teachers and educators want--to get kids communicating."

But Erin Jansen and David Crystal agree with Eleanor Johnson on at least one thing. Teachers need to make sure students understand the uses and rules of language.

1. The Internet
2. no
3. Eleanor Johnson
4. text messaging
5. guy
6. linguist
7. British
8. no
9. expressive richness
10. NetLingo.com
11. no
12. added
13. expression
14. yes

Numbered questions:
1. What has greatly changed the way people communicate?
2. Does everyone think these changes are all for the better?
3. Who does not agree with the changes?
4. What does she blame for the acceptance of spelling errors?
5. What is one of the example phrases that has started appearing in research papers?
6. What is David Crystal's occupation?
7. And his nationality?
8. Does he believe the internet's influence on language is large?
9. What aspect of language does he believe it has added to?
10. What website did Erin Jansen start?
11. And does she believe that technology has changed existing language?
12. Does she believe it has added to or subtracted from existing language?
13. What freedom is this compared to?
14. Do Erin Jansen and David Crystal agree with Professor Johnson on anything?