Link: https://blogs.ubc.ca/etec540ss/tasks/task-12-speculative-futures/

For my final linking assignment, I selected Sarah’s speculative narratives thanks to the interesting questions that they raise. Whereas I avoided using dialogue within my narratives, for Sarah they were a major component. Through these dialogues, she was able to suggest the sort of familial conversations that might be had in the near future as technology takes a stronger hold over our daily lives and the ways in which we live and learn.

In her first narrative, she addresses the idea of playground intelligence being one of the multiple intelligences one can have, modelling a comical situation in which a kid doesn’t understand the basics of a slide (you need to sit at the top to operate, not the bottom). Though I don’t think low playground intelligence will ever be as pronounced as in her scenario, I do think that some more advanced playground activities might be lost to kids in the future if technology dominates their lives to too great of an extent – things like how to throw a ball (well), or climb a tree. Admittedly, I felt a little shame reading this and making connections to the types of knowledge and skills that I don’t have which would have been seen as more necessary within earlier generations, such as how to properly gut a fish or *successfully* change a tire (I know the basic idea, I just haven’t executed it myself as of yet).

As for her second narrative, Sarah looked at the issue that arises when technology creates an imbalance between knowledge and wisdom – in knowing something and having the understanding of how to apply that knowledge. In the scenario, a child is talking with their parent about their new glasses which, rather than being used for sight, are used in a manner more akin to Google Glass. The child is asked about the capital of Sweden, and they in turn look to their new glasses technology to answer the question. I think her narrative speaks to a pedagogical concern that has been raised more and more frequently as of late: what should we teach, now that students have instant access to information? How much will education shift away from information retention towards teaching students the skills to evaluate and use the information they encounter on their own?