This week we are asked to create two different speculative narratives that demonstrate what education, technology, and literacy will be like in 30 years. As we also have freedom to select the medium of the narrative, I have selected a medium that I think is very suiting for what the future looks like: advertisements. If there is one thing I do not think will disappear easily, it is social media and advertisements. We may change how we use it, but given that it presents such a significant element of the marketing, current events, and information streams that generates huge revenue through advertisements, I think it will remain present in our lives at least for the next 30 years.

My two narratives take the form of digital advertisements for a university, much like what we may see on LinkedIn or Facebook. For each narrative, I have created two advertisements.

Narrative 1

In this first narrative, the advertisements are appealing to how technology can be used to increase personal effectiveness towards social good. While there is the possibility that we will not recognize society 30 years from now because technology is rapidly changing, I personally think the changes will be more gradual, much like the last 30 years has been. As such, reading these ads may seem familiar or of a content that advertisements may use today.

While technological changes may be more gradual, what I do think will happen is we will get more sophisticated in our use of technology. Instead of seeing technology and self as separate, I think we will look for ways that we can become more effective, professionally, socially, and personally. Similarly, environmental concerns are very present now and this will continue into the future. The literacies of education will shift to include more environmental and psychological aspects. Educational will be less about preparing for a specific job, but learning how you can learn, adapt, and use your own talents.

Narrative 2:

In the second narrative, I focus on another aspect of the future of technology: Robotics, Automation, and Artificial Intelligence. We are already seeing the integration of robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence in many industries. Often times, these technologies are approached with fear, as in some industries they have the potential to eliminate jobs. Playing with this notion, I thought about what professional and career trajectories and education programs may look like in 30 years.  Imagine that the reality of working with robots is a reality for many people, what business skills might the career colleges advertise?

In a world that normalizes working with robots, there would need to be some sort of robot literacy. One would need to be able to communicate with robots, be it through computer programs, learning a particular verbal or visual code, or another operational aspect.  Working with and managing robots would then become a skillset that business look for and career colleges would appeal to this demand.

While both of these narratives are different, I do not think they are necessarily contradictory. Rather, they could very well occur at the same time and at the same school, as they outline different focuses in education of the future. A great example is the advertisements you see for our local colleges. Sometimes they focus on social or personal development aspects of education, while others focus on tangible career-focused education. I did this intentionally, so as not to paint a picture of a uni-dimensional education system in the future. If anything, it will become more diverse and we will have more fields of inquiry to contend with. Additionally, as the medium is advertisement, I certainly think ads will become even more dynamic and tailored to user preferences in the future. In this way, simultaneous, and maybe even sometimes competing narratives, will exist for most businesses.