Objective: Students explore how aspects of everyday life, society and institutions can change over time — sparking reflection on their present, and imaginative thinking about the future.
Lesson Steps:
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Warm-up / Hook
- Ask students: “Think of something in your everyday life — a shop, a technology, a habit — that you think might not exist in 20 years. What might replace it? Why?”
- Have 3–5 students share their ideas. This primes them to consider the pace and impact of change.
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Video Viewing
- Show the video to the class.
- After watching, give students 2–3 minutes to write down their first thoughts or reactions: what surprised them, what felt strange or nostalgic, what made them think “that would never work now.”
Individual Tasks for Independent Learners
1. “Micro-History of a Technology”
Students choose one everyday technology featured or implied in the video (e.g., VHS rentals, landline phones, cash registers, paper directories).
Task:
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Create a one-page micro-history that traces the rise, peak, and decline of that technology.
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Include its cultural significance, who it served, who it excluded, and how its disappearance reshaped habits or values.
Goal: Connect technological shifts to lived experience and social organization.
2. “Continuity and Disruption Reflection”
A student identifies one everyday activity that has changed drastically in the last 20 years (e.g., listening to music, communicating with friends, buying groceries).
Task:
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Write a two-column chart: What Stayed the Same vs. What Changed.
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Follow with a written reflection about why some elements were resilient while others were vulnerable to disruption.
Goal: Build analytical thinking about social resilience and technological vulnerability.
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Group Discussion
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In small groups (3–4 students), let them discuss: What aspects of how society was organized in the video differ from how we are organized today? Consider technology, consumption patterns, social habits, communication, values, institutions.
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Encourage them to list at least 5 differences (or more).
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Collective Brainstorming + Mapping the Changes
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Each group presents 1–2 of their observations to the whole class.
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On the board/flip-chart, create two parallel columns: “Then (in video)” and “Now (today)”. Populate with students’ observations.
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Optionally, discuss why those changes happened — technological innovation, economic shifts, cultural change, globalization, etc.
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Creative Future Projection
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Ask students: Imagine this class (or their community) 20 years from now. In what ways might our society be organized differently? What institutions, habits or norms might exist, or no longer exist? Use their imagination — but base ideas on current trends if possible.
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On large paper sheets: In pairs or triads, students sketch or outline one scene from “Our world in 2045” — e.g., a grocery shop, a classroom, a public transport stop, social gathering — showing how it works, what people use, how people communicate, what is valued.
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Sharing + Reflection
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Groups present their “snapshot of 2045.”
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Class discussion: Which imagined changes seem plausible? Which seem unlikely? Why? What drives or prevents such change?
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Wrap-up Discussion
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What does this exercise teach us about society, progress, nostalgia, and adaptability?
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How should we, as individuals or a society, respond to rapid change — with resistance, acceptance, or active shaping?
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Essay Questions
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Imagine you are writing from the year 2045. Describe how everyday life — work, school, communication, leisure, commerce — is organized. Which changes from “today” seem to have stuck, which have vanished? Reflect on the benefits and challenges of these transformations.
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From today’s perspective: What values or social institutions do you believe are worth preserving over the next 20 years — even if technology and convenience change drastically? Defend your choices.