Feature

Drupal 8 is right around the corner; it's time to start brushing off your old textbooks, taking notes, asking questions, and preparing for all the awesomeness coming your way.

For most of us, Drupal 8 represents a departure from what we've come to know about how to create with Drupal. In short, we've got a learning curve we're going to have to overcome before we can be proficient with Drupal 8. But I'm here to tell you: it’s okay, we're in this together, and, given the proper learning environment and a little bit of guidance, you'll be Drupal 8 ready in no time.

In the glorious words of Douglas Adams, “Don't panic!”

While most of us have a tendency to want to jump right into the documentation and start poring over code samples, this is a good opportunity to take a step back and make sure we're ready to learn before we dive in. So let’s take a minute to think about education theory and the environment we put ourselves in when preparing to learn a new technology. How do we remove blockers from the learning process and set ourselves up for success?

Consider:

• What is my motivation for learning this?
• Where can I practice what I'm learning?
• How will I know if I have learned the right thing?

How motivated are you?

Are you learning for fun, or for work?

Because you want to, or because you have to?

Our motivation – and our understanding of it – allows us to decide whether it is worth the investment in time and energy necessary to learn something new today – right now – which we may not use until tomorrow.

One of the best ways to assess whether or not you've learned something is to teach it to someone else. Lucky for you, you're not the only one embarking on the quest to learn Drupal 8; there are plenty of opportunities to share your new knowledge with others. Local user groups, co-workers – even friends on IRC – all represent great teaching opportunities. Moreover, these interactions often turn into discussions, and discussions are one of the best ways to get beyond the how and into the why.