Presentations

As part of this course, you will have to Present on a Digital Future of your choice.

Digital Futurology Presentation

In your presentations, you will make a prediction about a development that will apply to or take place in a digital phenomenon of your choice.

  • Slide1: “I predict that [development X] will happen to [digital phenomenon Y] in [about Z time].”
  • Slide2: Explain digital phenomenon Y:
    • in 280 characters or less, plus an image
  • Slide3: Current status of Development X (in digital phenomenon Y)
    • in 280 characters or less, plus an image
  • Slide4: Reason why you believe Development X will happen (in Z years):
  • Slide 5: Whether you think it is a good or bad thing that Development X will happen to phenomenon Y (and why).
    • in 280 characters or less, plus an image
  • Slide6: “If you would like to know more about this, I suggest following/reading/watching [online resource/person]

A sample format for this presentation can be downloaded here.
Replace the italic text with your own(!) or use your own slides if you prefer different aesthetics

Further Details

Have you noticed the bolded words above? They all say characters, not words. Your texts on your slides should be short and to the point, not textwalls. Think of it as if they would be for consumption on a short message social media platform like BlueSky, Twitter X, Threads or Mastodon.

Use one image per slide!

Presentations will be short! 5-7 minutes, incl. 2 minutes for short comments/questions and handover.

Hand in the presentation as a Powerpoint or PDF via Brightspace at the latest on Monday, November 24 (2025). You’ll present on either 3 or 10 December during the regular class discussion hour or the lecture timeslot. We have a full class, so we may have to skip on some breaks. Apologies beforehand!

Grading

Your presentation will be graded on the following aspects:

  • The Prediction: A good prediction is well-scoped, well-outlined and well-defined (it makes clear to what phenomenon, development and timeframe it belongs). Is your prediction plausible, to what extents and under what circumstances? Is your prediction interesting? An interesting, plausible prediction can still be ‘far out’, ‘coming from the left field’ or otherwise be unorthodox and original. An interesting, plausible prediction can also be something that is likely to happen in the near future, but make sure that it is an actual prediction instead of something that is already taking place right now. See also the “I Can’t Predict the Future!” text below for extra tips.
  • Academic Content: All the other knowledge-focused content in your presentation. Did you work with and reference sources? Do you present your prediction in a way that is objective and informed? Or, in case you have a more subjective argument, do you construct the perspective of your argument clearly and transparently?
  • Style: Did you argue your point clearly? Did the presentation style aid in communicating your prediction and other contents? Did you engage and interact with your audience during the presentation and Q&A? Was the use of presentation aids (like speaker notes, cue cards, etc) an addition and not an obstacle? If you presented freestyle (without aids) did your presentation stay on point?
  • Format: Did you keep to the format (time, slide format and presentation structure)? Did you work with the format in ways that made it interesting ways, while keeping to it or straight up improved on the basics?

I Can’t Predict the Future!

Yes, you can! You’ve probably done it a couple of times already, just today.

Of course, predicting the future accurately, especially further away in time, is pretty hard.

You may think you don’t have the knowledge to accurately predict digital developments because, after one course, you can hardly be called a digital culture specialist. However, it seems, from research by Philip Tetlock and colleagues, that being a specialist is not an accurate predictor of making accurate predictions.

If you’re interested in this research, including concrete tips on what does work to make accurate and insightful predictions, you can start with this Harvard Business Review article or this (transcript of) NY Times podcast interview with Tetlock.

If you like predicting the future, you can even specialize in Futurology or Future Studies. In fact, it is an established interdisciplinary field.

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