Tag Archives: emerging technology

The Tomorrow Project is an initiative by Intel, that encourages people to imagine the role of technology in the future and the effect it has on their lives, through a series of FREE online videos and short science fiction stories. (Note: Some stories may not be appropriate for your students. Read them first!) When I first heard about The Tomorrow Project I was so thrilled. I could immediately see the potential of this initiative. I want you to see it too! For this reason, I plan to write a series of articles about how The Tomorrow Project can be integrated into curriculum.

Previous article about The Tomorrow Project

Integrate the FREE resources from The Tomorrow Project into curriculum.

You Can Fit the Tomorrow Project into your Existing Schedule

I know you are busy, that there is too much content to teach, and computer lab time is limited. However, you CAN fit The Tomorrow Project into your schedule. It is important that your students become responsible digital citizens and one way to do that is to encourage them to imagine the possibilities of the future. Besides, digital citizenship is a NETS requirement so you likely have to address it anyway within your curriculum. Why not make it fun and relevant?

There are times throughout the school year, where you could include an activity designed around The Tomorrow Project, such as a group discussion, written reflection, debate, creative writing assignment, or report. For example:

• Schedule a Few Classes Between Units: Often when you finish one unit, you need a bit of time before you start the next one. Instead of just giving students “free time”, schedule activities related to The Tomorrow Project.
• Before School Breaks: You likely do not want to introduce a new project right before the beginning of Winter or Spring break. If you have a few classes before the holidays have your students either watch a video or read a short story from The Tomorrow Project. Afterwards, design an assignment that encourages critical thinking about emerging technologies and the future.
• Incorporate The Tomorrow Project into Existing Assignments: As the computer teacher you are interested in developing technology skills in your students and incorporating the use of technology into curriculum. The Tomorrow Project can be used as a tool that sparks the imagination to achieve these goals.

Activities that Integrate The Tomorrow Project

This doesn’t have to be EXTRA work! The good news is that The Tomorrow Project can integrate into the activities you already have planned. Consider the videos and short stories the “spark” or “springboard” to an existing unit. There are so many fun activities your students can complete that target language arts, science, mathematics, visual arts, drama, and technology learning objectives. For example:

• draft a letter to potential investors to fund the development of an emerging technology
• produce a commercial advertising a futuristic gadget based on emerging technology
• develop a web page explaining the benefits of an emerging technology
• produce a brochure that describes a vacation that might take place in the future
• present facts about an emerging technology in a multimedia slide show
• design a model of a futuristic home, vehicle, or gadget
• conduct a survey about peoples’ attitude towards an emerging technology
• create a comparison table that lists the advantages and disadvantages to an emerging technology
• write a paragraph in a spy novel that describes a character using a gadget based on emerging technology
• illustrate a futuristic device based on emerging technology and explain how it works
• draw a comic book page that includes the use of a device based on emerging technology
• create an instructional manual for a futuristic device
• conduct a mock interview with an inventor of an amazing new technology
• debate the advantages and disadvantages of an emerging technology with a focus on the potential applications, privacy concerns, security issues, cost, and hazards
• write a chat session between friends in the future planning a celebration that incorporates emerging technology
• generate a logbook that charts a day in the life of a person in the future, include a description of the technology that is part of each event

Tomorrow Project Articles

1. Discover the Tomorrow Project by Intel
2. The Tomorrow Project Anthology and your Students
3. The Tomorrow Project and Video Conversations about the Future
4. Six Teaching Ideas for Integrating the Tomorrow Project into Curriculum
5. Integrate the Tomorrow Project into Curriculum

How can teachers use Intel’s The Tomorrow Project to motivate students? Have your students either watch a video or read a science fiction short story from The Tomorrow Project. Afterwards, lead a classroom discussion to spark students’ interest and imaginations, and then assign a task based on the ideas produced.

Previous article about The Tomorrow Project

Inspire your students to consider how emerging technologies will improve life in the future.

The assignment can take the form of a written reflection, short story, blog or diary entry, debate, report, script, screenplay, advertisement, movie, or presentation. If you want to have students learn more about emerging technologies they can follow the hyperlinks at the end of each story, watch videos on the Intel YouTube Channel or visit the MIT Technology Review website. Below are some teaching ideas you can use to frame the discussion or focus an assignment:

1. Provide Scenarios: Provide students with situations to inspire them to reflect on the future and consider how technology can improve our lives.
• You have traveled 20 years into the future in a time machine. Describe a new technology you encounter. How have people benefited from this invention?
• Select a gadget you use every day, such as a cell phone, music player, video game device, computer, or television. What do you wish that it could do? Imagine how your life will change when the technology is invented that will make your dream a reality.
• Transportation in the future will likely be highly computerized. Describe how you will get around in the future based on emerging technologies.
• You are a futuristic teenager. What items do you have in your room based on emerging technologies? How do they shape how you communicate, have fun, complete school work, or do other activities?
2. Assume a Role: Have students select a role, design a technological device based on emerging technologies, and then explain how it will improve life in the future.
• You are a scientist. What new product have you invented? How will it help people?
• You are a doctor. What new futuristic technology have you tested? How will it help sick people?
• You are a businessman. What technology have you introduced in the workplace? How will it improve productivity?
• You are an environmentalist. What new technology have you implemented? How will it help the planet?
• You are an athlete. What new advancement helps your training? How will it transform the sport?
• You are a teenager. What new gadget do you use daily? How will it change your life?
3. Highlight Security and Privacy Issues: Have students consider the importance of security in technology and what can happen if data is not safe.
• In the highly computerized world of the future, it will be more important than ever that networks, financial transactions, and information are secure. What kind of devices would ensure security? What would they look like? How would they work?
• Air traffic control must be secure and safe. What could happen if aviation security was breached due to human error, software glitches, or intentional sabotage? What safeguards could prevent any malfunctions?
• The health care sector will rely heavily on digitized information in the future. Medical equipment and information must be protected from accidental or deliberate damage. What could happen if computers malfunction? What medical devices that human life depends on could be compromised? How can hospitals safeguard against disruption to their technology systems?
4. Create the School of the Future: Ask students to envision the school building, curriculum, and learning processes of the future.
• What do you think schools will look like 20 years from now?
• What subjects will still exist? What subjects will have been eliminated?
• What skills will be most important to prepare students for the workplace?
• How will instruction occur? Will there still be teachers?
• What technology devices will be used to promote learning?
• What kind of assignment will students complete? How will work be assessed?
• How will people communicate and share ideas?
5. Design an Advertising Campaign: Have students promote a new product based on an emerging technology.
• What is the product?
• Who is the target audience for the advertising campaign?
• What benefits does the product provide?
• What catchphrase or slogan will you use to promote the product?
• What selling techniques will you use to attract attention to the advertisement?
• What form of media, such as print, radio, television, or Internet, will you use to launch your advertising campaign?
6. Promote Responsible and Ethical Use: Have students consider how the intentional misuse of technology is a problem which may grow as our dependence on computers increases.
• What qualities make a good digital citizen?
• What consequences should occur if a person uses technology to cause harm, invade privacy, or disrespect the rights of others?
• Do you think limits should be placed upon the people inventing new technologies?
• What concerns do you have about emerging technologies and the future?

Tomorrow Project Articles

1. Discover the Tomorrow Project by Intel
2. The Tomorrow Project Anthology and your Students
3. The Tomorrow Project and Video Conversations about the Future
4. Six Teaching Ideas for Integrating the Tomorrow Project into Curriculum
5. Integrate the Tomorrow Project into Curriculum

Students today are surrounded by multimedia. It makes sense to use modern technology at school to make learning relevant. The Tomorrow Project offers teachers FREE resources that will connect with students in a meaningful way. The Tomorrow Project is an initiative from Intel that encourages people to imagine the future and the implications the role technology will play in our daily lives and the planet. Part of the project includes a collection of videos that will inspire your students to think critically about emerging and futuristic technology.

Inspire your students to envision the future using videos from The Tomorrow Project

Take Only a Few Minutes to Imagine the Future

There are a range of videos only a few minutes long.
In this short time period your students will be challenged to imagine tomorrow, learn about the possibilities presented by emerging technology, and consider their role in the future. For example, your students can watch celebrities discussing their passion for technology, scientists explaining the latest discovery, or a model of technology as it works now or how it may function in the future.

I know that in many schools students cannot watch videos that are on the Internet as often filters prevent online viewing or the connection is too slow for multiple users. Great news! This problem is solved with The Tomorrow Project. Students can watch the videos on the Connected Social Media website. However, if online viewing is prohibited teachers can download the videos and save them in a shared location where students have access.

Benefits to Watching The Tomorrow Project Videos

There are several benefits to viewing The Tomorrow Project videos:

• resources are FREE
• media is relevant to students
• provides access to current science facts that are unfamiliar to many people
• able to control the playback of a video which is helpful for discussion purposes
• reading ability is not an obstacle to understanding the concepts
• latest technology is explained simply without confusing jargon
• video provides illustrations that make complex ideas easy to visualize

Watch Conversations about the Future

Brian David Johnson, a futurist with Intel, chats with artists, scientists, and researchers about their visions for technology in the future. The underlying message in these conversations is that the future can be shaped by people. These videos will invite your students to become active participants in designing the technology of tomorrow and will encourage them to imagine how technology can improve lives. Use the videos to provide background information about emerging technologies, stimulate discussion, and inspire assignment ideas.

Like the videos? Intel has a YouTube Channel that allows you to learn about robotic fish, virtual reality and clothing design, personalized medicine, and more!

Tomorrow Project Articles

1. Discover the Tomorrow Project by Intel
2. The Tomorrow Project Anthology and your Students
3. The Tomorrow Project and Video Conversations about the Future
4. Six Teaching Ideas for Integrating the Tomorrow Project into Curriculum
5. Integrate the Tomorrow Project into Curriculum

Your students have the power to shape the future. Inspire them to envision this future using The Tomorrow Project Anthology of short stories. The Tomorrow Project is an initiative by Intel that encourages people to imagine the role of technology in the future. As a computer teacher, you can use the anthology to encourage your students to consider the effect of current, emerging, and future technologies on their daily lives.

What is The Tomorrow Project Anthology?

The Tomorrow Project Anthology has 4 science fiction short stories.

The Tomorrow Project Anthology is a collection of four short stories written by popular science fiction writers. Each story is about people in the future. Often science fiction writing portrays a frightening or negative view of the future. The Tomorrow Project encourages a positive vision of the future as it portrays how futuristic technologies can influence daily life in a constructive, optimistic way. Emerging technologies are interwoven throughout the story events. At the end of each story are hyperlinks to videos or information about the emerging technologies introduced.

(Note: Some stories may not be appropriate for your students. Read them first!)

• Last Day of Work: This story envisions a world where humans no longer work. The concept of interstellar migration, virtual quark microscopes, and telepathic devices are subtly interwoven.
• The Mercy Dash: This story describes a couple rushing to the hospital after a family member has been in an accident. Robot chauffeurs, computer managed traffic, and virtual assistants help them along their trip.
• The Drop: This story explores the life of a young woman who is unhappy with her job. Armband sensors and mind control software are an integral part of her journey. NOTE: It uses profanity.
• The Blink of an Eye: This story illustrates the routine of a man at home in the evening. The dependency upon caretaking technology is brought into question.

The blending of science fact with science fiction makes it easy for your students to envision the possibilities of emerging technologies. The focus of the science fiction writing in The Tomorrow Project is about people, not about the technology. In thinking about how lives can be improved and enriched by technological advances, your students can gain a greater understanding of digital citizenship.

Futuristic Technologies in The Tomorrow Project Anthology

Some of the technology topics that The Tomorrow Project highlights include:

• Nano-bots: tiny robots that adapt to their environment
• Interstellar Migration: seed another planet with DNA
• Photonics: data transfer at the speed of light
• Virtual Assistant: helpful assistants for home and work
• Automated Traffic Flow System: computerized cars drive themselves to improve safety and traffic flow
• Dynamic Physical Rendering: manipulate a simulated 3D image
• Intelligent Devices: sensors that are used to alter the environment to improve efficiency and quality of human life

Science Fiction and The Tomorrow Project Anthology

Science fiction is the genre used to inspire a vision of the future. If you have time, your students can research an emerging technology and then write their own short story or an animated digital story. However, if time is limited consider the ideas below:

• Select a technology in one of the short stories. List three ways that you would use it today to improve your life.
• Illustrate an emerging technology from one of the short stories.
• Produce a poster to promote the benefits for a technology in one of the short stories.
• Write a blog or diary entry criticizing a technology in one of the short stories.
• Write a classified ad to sell a technology item in one of the short stories. It must be no more than 60 words.
• Continue the story. For example, in Last Day of Work you could write two paragraphs that describe what the main character does after he retires or in The Blink of an Eye write whether the main character turns off the artificial intelligence devices in the morning.

Tomorrow Project Articles

1. Discover the Tomorrow Project by Intel
2. The Tomorrow Project Anthology and your Students
3. The Tomorrow Project and Video Conversations about the Future
4. Six Teaching Ideas for Integrating the Tomorrow Project into Curriculum
5. Integrate the Tomorrow Project into Curriculum