New Learning MOOC’s Updates

The maturity of the past

Looking back on my twenty years as an educator, I have lived through a seismic shift in the very nature of learning. I began my career in a pre-smartphone era, a time that, in retrospect, felt like it had a different rhythm. We had more time—time to delve deep into a subject, time for students to struggle through a problem and find their own way, and time to build knowledge step by step.

The arrival of technology and the ubiquity of smartphones brought incredible tools to our fingertips, but it also fundamentally altered the cognitive and emotional landscape of the classroom. I've witnessed a palpable acceleration in expectations. The prevailing mantra has become "I need it for yesterday." Students, accustomed to the instant answers and rapid-fire stimulation of digital platforms, often show little patience for the journey of learning. They want the destination—the finished product, the correct answer, the key takeaway—delivered to them pre-packaged. The valuable process of questioning, failing, and patiently constructing understanding is increasingly seen as an inconvenience rather than the essence of education.

My greatest challenge now is not just teaching the subject matter, but teaching the value of slowness and depth in a world that glorifies speed. It's a constant, and crucial, part of my work today.

  • Adonias Manjate
  • Eugene Valencia