Learning Connections Conference 2024

Thinking about the long-term future can be difficult because it is too abstract and too ambiguous. However, it is critical to engage in that long-term thinking exercise, since the choices we make today will shape the futures that are possible. To support that long-term thinking capacity, the Research and Foresight team at eCampusOntario have designed “artifacts from the future of higher education” which is based on the trends synthesized in our foresight reports. Artifacts from the future are imaginary objects designed by extrapolating possibilities from the patterns of change we see today. They are created to give a “tangible” experience of what a possible future could be like. Artifacts from the future are intentionally provocative; their purpose is to spark critical and creative conversations and reflections about future possibilities. In this workshop, participants will be able to explore four different artifacts that represent educational technologies that could exist in the future and, by 2034, could be as mainstream as the LMS is today. Then, participants will play a game designed to spark critical and creative conversations to explore a broad spectrum of implications that the artifacts from the future may present for the post-secondary education sector and its stakeholders. Please note that articipants are asked to bring a device that can connect to the internet in order to play the game and access the session materials. This session will only be facilitated in English (even though the Artifacts are available in English and French).