Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision

Toshiba and the National Science Teaching Association created ExploraVision around the connection between scientific understanding and technological imagination. Teams investigate an existing technology and describe how it could develop ten or more years into the future. What makes that premise interesting is the distance between wishing for a useful invention and explaining what would have to become possible for it to work. The organiser’s examples of past winning ideas include a handheld food-allergen detector and a device intended to help people who have lost limbs regain movement. These examples suggest a useful direction for prospective teams: begin with a recognisable human problem, then investigate the science that could change it. They are not a formula for success, and there is no reason to imitate the subjects. Their value is in showing that the imagined technology should have a purpose beyond looking futuristic. The project asks students to explain the breakthroughs their proposal would need and the consequences it could have. We find that combination more valuable than an exercise in invention alone. It gives curious students room to be imaginative while asking them to show where present knowledge ends. The trade-off is a considerable reading and writing burden: a persuasive illustration cannot replace a coherent explanation, and an adult should help students understand sources without writing the project for them.