Having browsed through the Core 77 Design Awards 2019, one in particular stood out that I can already personally relate to, and that is Community Choice Prize winner Pinelopi Papadimitraki’s speculative inflatable devices “that disrupt our current tech-based quirks or generate new ones, as a means to enact alternative interaction repertoires between ourselves and our environment”
(Core 77 Design Awards 2019).
One of the presented designs is the “Detext” which wraps around an individual’s neck to prop one’s head upwards rather than allowing it to point downwards in the typical “texting” position. This led me to think about my own challenges with back pain since having a baby. My chiropractor has told me that the constant positioning of my head downwards (while breastfeeding and generally looking towards the floor to meet my toddler’s eyes) is taking a considerable toll on my posture and causing back pain. Surprisingly, he also stated that this problem is no longer confined to new mothers, but is shared by the texting generation (which I’m certainly a part of as well). Thus, a speculative future one must consider as not far from today, is one characterized by increased back pain. It may seem like a small issue, hardly one that should define a whole future, but in reality, this affects so much more than one’s back. Students will face postural and spinal issues at younger and younger ages; alternative seating will be the norm in classrooms to compensate for the horrible posture that personal devices will be forcing; and images such as the one below will be frighteningly accurate in illustrating the evolution of our physical bodies.
To counteract this however, a rise in physical activity will be essential, but difficult to enforce, because, traditional classrooms will likely seize to exist in the same way they do today. Tech companies are already encouraging/supporting alternatives work hours, under the belief that productivity cannot be confined to 9-5. This leads me to propose a second speculative future, one that will likely occur in a more distant future than the issues presented in the one above. Future classrooms will likely employ the same ideas used by the corporate world today, and that is, encouraging learning outside of the traditional classroom, and inevitably, outside of traditional school hours. Home-based learning, project- and inquiry based learning will be even more influential than today, teachers will be moderators and facilitators, often providing virtual meetings over physical ones, and AI will be more prevalent.
However, it’s difficult to accurately assess the degree to which these technological advancements will overshadow physical well-being – if at all – because Social Emotional Learning will continue to be prioritized, even more so than it is today. At present, we are seeing a balance evolve between our use of technology but also our abilities to disconnect, with so many mindfulness and well-being approaches out there. I suspect this dichotomy will continue to compete for our time in the future, but both parts will be even more extreme – greater use of technology, and even more need for mindful, “unplugged” routines.