It is the Teacher
Before we can run a sophisticated transport system we need to develop the people who will drive it.
However simple the technology tools, we also require an investment in teachers and trainers.
Bill Gates in the education part of his TED talk, presents, after eight minutes, some interesting fodder for this point.
The biggest variable in the outcome of students is a great teacher. A teacher in the top quartile can make a difference of as much as 10% per year. No other variable, seniority, pay, Masters degree made any difference. Subject matter expertise made some. Past performance made nearly all the difference.
While Gates said that we don’t know what makes a great teacher great, he alluded to predisposition. Passion.
We should be retaining, rewarding, cloning these people learning from them and transferring those skills. We should give them the tools to leverage what they do best.
I give full credit to my “great teachers” for who I am today. I was lucky enough to have several of these teachers (they always seemed to fall on the odd years, first grade, third, and fifth). The common factor: they were passionate about learning and they let us know it! They were all very different but we knew that they loved learning and they wanted us to love learning. They cared about us and let us know it often through their actions.
You mentioned it already – “Passion”.
This is what I consider as the primary and most critical attribute. May be you give an alternate name – “Dedication”. In fact learner also needs to have it. However a great teacher can (and does) contribute to inculcating the passion in the learner as well.