Mentordom

Information is now widely accessible. Even Pedagogy is moving to an on-demand model where prospective learners can pick and choose among various teaching methods to slake their thirst. Excellent teachers will make fortunes delivering the best content in the best possible way. But what will be the next step? Once most of the world’s lessons and interpretations are virtually available at almost no cost to everyone?

Here comes the rise of mentors, those deciphers, these curators, them aggregators. Life coaching will take on a whole new meaning. For as long as we are humans we have needed guidance. The emphasis used to be on the organising and transmission of information. The new era will give back its method to its madness.

Mentordom will be a mix of menus, schedules and rituals. Driven by a society of constant change, it will act as the crucial funnel which arranges data distribution at a human scale. Nobody said those mentors had to be people. They too can be algorithms, tailored to each subject and learners. Artificially slowing down the pace for us to gracefully catch up.

The future’s students might subscribe first and foremost to a method of learning. The curriculum will be secondary. What will matter is the flexibility, speed and perspicacity of the learning path. It will be a lifelong endeavour. Those mentors, be they digital or human, will be judged on the lifetime performance of their subjects not the temporary bursts of cramming.

It is the cycle of creation and destruction. The famous information overload calls for the emergency netting of filters. Structure is a resounding response. It will do its best to catch us from our overspilling minds. There is hope. Mentors can tame the infinity monster we have created.