Learning curve

The practice of distance education, teleconferencing and the like is not in fact new to us. Some institutions were probably quick to start, anticipate and respond quickly that this is the future that is now being faced that others are caught unaware of. Far more to the scholarly and business world as the need to communicate to people who are miles away. This pandemic is currently pushing others to keep up with the demand, expose ourselves to the virtual world and its intricacies.

And for me, who is about to finish my professional service in the university, and perhaps for others who are also in their twilight years, this is a challenge and a desire to quickly track our last years of work. It is a huge challenge, depending on the degree of our technological exposure, even before the pandemic.

But even for those in their forties and thirties, I found early on that there are many novel developments that certainly form part of the learning curve. And a whole host of important factors take the journey of knowing new skills. For one, the susceptibility and openness of an individual towards the new changes is a major factor. While others are more than willing to acquire new skills for personal and professional development, others would feel that they have reached the exhaustion level and that knowing new things would add to the complexity of life and they would therefore not enjoy the last years of their lives.

Institutional support will be another aspect. Such support would come from the institution's effort to identify those who need assistance, and to utilize both human and non-human resources to help those who need technical assistance to capacitate them.

For us who are in our last few years of our professional career, we will be dealing virtually with our students who are digital natives, the millennials and Generation Z. These are students who are technically adept given their expanded exposure to the many intricacies of the worldwide web. And these are my teachers on this occasion who will guide me through the world of technological unknowns. But this doesn't dampen my spirit to always share my experience and knowledge. And the next few months will be a grueling stage in my life to keep up with the constantly shifting world of teaching. It looks like I have no other choice but to adapt. Adaptation, being a skill, takes the courage to accept our limitations and look for ways to cope, and be relevant. It is our willingness to change because, after all, life won’t stay the same.

One mark of the most successful people is their acceptance of ch ange, their adaptation to its constant state. That adaptability requires a degree of flexibility and humility that most people are unable to handle.