What futurists (or “futurologists”) do is to help people plan and prepare for the future, as opposed to offer predictions about the future. This can involve looking at future trends, notably about new technologies and technology trends, and a lot more besides.
If you’re looking for a conference speaker, a keynote speaker, or a workshop presenter or facilitator on this topic, the examples below represent some of the keynote speeches or workshop presentations I’ve given as a futurist speaker in the past. But each presentation is created specifically to suit your needs. If you don’t see a presentation about the future that would work for your conference, by all means contact me, and we’ll see if we can create one specifically for you.
The Force of the Future: Post-Secondary Education in Tomorrow’s World
The world around and within post-secondary institutions is changing, and those changes will have dramatic effects and consequences on both the pedagogy within colleges and universities, and the ways in which university Boards will need to adapt and prepare for the future.
Richard Worzel is a Chartered Financial Analyst, best-selling author, strategic planner, and today’s leading futurist. In this presentation, he covers the key factors that will affect universities over the next 5-10 years, including:
- The purpose of a university education and degree.
- How the workplace is changing, and what graduates will need to be relevant.
- How students are changing – the culture of today’s students.
- The aging of the population and its implications for funding and society.
- Technology, and how it is revolutionizing society, the workplace, and, especially, pedagogy.
This presentation will provide a roadmap of the landscape that university boards will face in tomorrow’s world. As always, forewarned is forearmed.
Innovate, Automate, or Evaporate: What’s Ahead for Higher Education
Whenever anyone starts talking about the future, no matter where they start, if they talk long enough, they will wind up talking about education, particularly higher education. But higher education itself is changing in ways that those involved may not recognize, and for which they will not be prepared. Business visionary Richard Worzel is today’s leading futurist. In this presentation, he discusses the forces that are driving change in education, ending with what private universities should do to thrive and survive, including:
- Why the answer to “Should I got to college?” is no longer an emphatic “Yes!”
- What the alternatives are to higher education, and why they are threatening colleges and universities.
- What’s wrong with the past model of higher ed, and how it will change.
- How technology is re-writing all the rules on post-secondary education – and where it’s going next.
- What MOOCs can’t do, and how to fix them.
- The way ahead: A different model of educating.
“Formal education, the pivot of tomorrow’s world, must perforce change, or it will become irrelevant,” says Worzel. “To keep it relevant implies staying slightly ahead of the forces driving change. Those who do this will profit mightily. Those who do not will be forced out of business.”
Future Tense: The Future of Education
Our education system is experiencing the most radical changes in over a century, forcing educators to confront both grave threats to the integrity of the system, and offering us great opportunities for positive transformation.
Change is erupting because of the varied demographic, social, economic, and technological forces at work in our society and schools. These changes, left to themselves, threaten to destroy much of the value of education as we know it, and to undermine the entire system. Yet, educators, using technology, and with an understanding of what lies ahead, can play a pivotal role in turning these changes to our advantage.
Futurist Richard Worzel, today’s leading futurist and long-time writer on the future of education, will hand you a road map of what lies ahead, and illustrate how we can use the future to benefit our schools.
Along the way, you will hear how these megatrends will affect your school, your job, and your life. You won’t want to miss this intriguing and entertaining look at the future, which will help you identify the steps you can take to make these forces work for the benefit of the education system as a whole, your school in particular, and especially for your students.
Facing the Future: What Are Schools For?
Education is the fulcrum of the future: virtually everything that happens to tomorrow’s society and tomorrow’s citizens will be affected by today’s education system. Yet, the field of public education is experiencing more changes from more factors than at any time in over a century, including:
- Demographic shifts
- The new, intrusive effects of technology in the classroom;
- Altered social attitudes about the role of educators;
- The effects of massive increases in communications and media; and
- The influences of a global economy, society, and culture, among others, are combining to create a bewildering series of pulls and tugs that are forcing changes in the classroom.
In this lively and intriguing presentation, futurist and Teach magazine columnist Richard Worzel outlines the nature of the changes that are occurring, and explains how school boards, educators, and their partners and stakeholders can best respond.
You’ll walk away with a clearer understanding of what’s happening, why it’s happening now, and with new tools to prepare for the uncertainties ahead!