a creative vision...

It is not the technology that inspires or even transforms education - it is the teacher. Someone explained it this way: using a chisel or a paintbrush is not in itself inspirational or transformational. It is the skilled hands of the sculptor or the painter that changes a lump of stone or a bare wall into the work of art. Similarly, computers, social media, any web tools we get our hands on, can only be used in this way if the practitioner has a creative vision. The video of 'Hole in the Wall' we watched in the class the other day reinforced this thought in me much more.

The need to repurpose education in the face of a changing world offers those working with technologies to support and enhance learning a range of opportunities previously unknown. The range of technologies is bewildering with social and mobile technologies, personal web-based tools and corporate systems all having things to offer. However who chooses the systems in any given context is also changing fast, with agendas like life-long learning and work-based learning introducing ever more stakeholders into the learning experience, and individuals being increasingly able to "opt-out" of using institutional systems.
How will institutions cope with this "new world" where not everything is under the control of the institution and increasingly both staff and students can "do their own thing"? A conflict of control between the individual and the institutional is growing, and the danger of innovation being stifled by the drive for "School regulations" is very real. The answer will be found in policies - but what policies are needed and who will frame them?
Reference:
Hole in the Wall (Full Report from TED): http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_shows_how_kids_teach_themselves.html