Task 12: Speculative Future
Throughout the week I spent time thinking about the potential relationship we have with media, education, text, and technology – and what that could look like in the next 30 years. It is fascinating and terrifying to think about what the future could have in store for us – the conceptual designs that deal with the unreality.
Speculative Future Narrative 1: ESN (Education Support Network).
As a teacher, in the last couple of years, there has been a noticeable amount of technology entering into classrooms to support students and teachers to be more efficient and effective. Something I have always thought is that someday learning, curriculum, differentiation, and the school experience will be transformed into a program package. This program would be able to tailor everything for that individual student in order to support them to reach their highest potential.
Speculative Narrative 2: Personal Wellness Coordinator.
For this narrative, I got inspiration from all the health and wellness technology, such as the Fitbit. Within the past few years, the demand for the wrist bands or watches, apps, online coaches has become quite popular. I can only see these types of devices continuing to grow and develop into more sophisticated parts of our lives that we will give control too – such as to our financials in order to help us manage our wealth without really having to think about it.
Final thoughts…
My speculative future narratives used online text to speech program. It allowed me to select automated voices for different narratives. I felt this characteristic was important – as I replayed the narratives the automated voice, to me, gave me the sense of something futuristic. This was an interesting task to tackle. It seemed daunting and somewhat impossible but it was a delight to be able to spend time in the idea of a possible future – whether positive or negative. I agree with Dunne and Raby (2013) when they said that, “idea of possible futures and using them as tools to better understand the present and to discuss the kind of future people want…and do not want.” (pg 2-3)
Resources:
Dunne, A. & Raby, F. (2013). Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming. Cambridge: The MIT Press. Retrieved August 30, 2019, from Project MUSE database.