I remember the nights I spent slurping noodles in Owada Yokocho, Tokyo. This was before the AI era, and I was designing an adaptive learning model, a way for a learning platform to adjust to each learner. I mapped out the steps in Moodle, the free, open-source learning management system that many schools use.

I lived in a high-rise hotel nearby. At night I would look down over the lights of Tokyo, and when I got stuck, the ramen shops were a few blocks away. There was no chatbot to talk to and no tool to help me build the thing. To me, an algorithm was no different from a bowl of ramen. The noodles stay the same, and what changes is the ingredients and the broth.

Years later, I'm at a different stage of life, and I still think about adaptive learning the same way. I don't think anyone has cracked it yet.

Khan Academy gave its platform a face with Khanmigo, and Duolingo did the same with Duo. Watching them, I started doodling ideas for a face for Manaboodle. Doodling, Moodle and slurping noodles all went into the name, and the face that came out of it is Mana.

Mana's job is to doodle and explore alongside me while I keep working on adaptive learning. Apart from the favorite food, which is noodles, I don't know much else about Mana yet. Come back to see how Mana grows while learning adaptive learning.