School on the Cloud: Towards Unity not Uniformity in Education

Abstract

This paper, in examining the issues that underline the reality of the European pedagogical system, shows that in order for the system to provide the two fundamental concepts in today's education, namely unity(all schools to have equal opportunities, recourses and possibilities) without uniformity (avoiding "typical" common teaching and learning practices), there is: a need to work within a susceptible to present conditions educational paradigm; to have an appropriate instrument to be able to do so; and a suitable educational environment to apply these concepts. The solutions for fulfilling these needs are presented in the form of three unconventional, but necessary propositions for education to move forward. The first suggests that we are in an era of a new network-centred education paradigm. The second is that Cloud Computing is the main instrument of this new paradigm. The third one proposes a new School, the School on the Cloud.