I’m sure many of you have Tiktok or watch Instagram reels. If so, you might be familiar with the trendy sound effect that goes: “add a little bit of *spice*”, where the content creators show boring, traditional things and then show them from a different light– a better one.
The *spice* in our case, can be classroom spice, or integrating the art of memes into lessons to spice them up and aim to increase participation inside and outside of the classroom.. What if I told you that learning doesn’t only happen through lectures, textbooks, or videos? Wouldn’t it be brilliant if a student can remember a certain lesson while scrolling on Instagram and TikTok in the middle of the night because of a certain meme previously used in class? This specific usage of memes highlights a way to catch the attention of the Gen Z students we’re teaching while incorporating new technologies in our classrooms.
While reading The Rhetoric of Participation, my eyes were opened to the ideas of technology as means of education. According to the authors who worked together to expand upon Critel’s thoughts, , “The increasing incorporation of technology into the classroom in the twenty-first century and the increasing use of technology outside the classroom have expanded our understandings of composition and literacy” (Critel 2019). As the fourth commonplace of participation, according to Critel, technology promotes student participation and comprehension (Critel 2019). Education is always shifting to accommodate the world around it. In the age of technology, we have reached the time of the “meme”– not only enhancing the in-class experience, but promoting education almost anywhere, anytime.
As new teaching fellows, we are constantly thinking of ways to keep our students interested. As a way to ignite this meme-game , it would be ideal to possibly integrate memes into each lesson. Starting off with something light and humorous, like a homework joke, and working your way into memes with deeper meaning, that accompany the overall goal of the particular lesson. When outside of the class, a student can see a meme that relates to anything discussed in class, and automatically make a link– which promotes the embodiment of education through memes.
Meme ideas that can be helpful for ENL 265 (Business Communication):
- Parallelism
- Tone in business documents
- Remembering Due Dates
- Citations & Credibility
We’ve reached the conclusion that the incorporation of memes in the educational space is key to igniting participation and triggering outside knowledge, helping students make connections and pull ideas from different mediums. The usage of memes can be light and easy. Lastly, Before borrowing memes for your next presentation, try to ask yourself, “what do I want my students to take away from this?”
Looking Forward
A method I’d like to try out is also encouraging students to potentially make their own memes. In making them, they incorporate their values and knowledge and create something that will live forever. Often underestimated, students may send powerful messages through their memes, messages they might not always be able to articulate. And lastly, memes lift moods and create positive energy– tell me how you might integrate memes into your lesson plans!
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-Ghenwa 🙂
Hi G!
I love this post- I’m something of a memer myself. One of my favorite methods of engagement is using memes to illustrate concepts, but I’ve never considered actually having them make the memes. I definitely want to do that with them at some point in the future, it should be fun for the class and I (mostly because I get to steal ALL of their memes)
Hi G,
The Emperor’s New Groove meme does effectively showcase the difference between active and passive voice. I’m wondering now, how I can use memes to make the grammatically heavy lessons, which are usually dry and boring, fun and exciting. I love how you applied the lesson specifically to the class we are teaching!
I am a huge advocate of using memes and other forms of pop culture in the classroom. From personal experience, I have seen how useful it can be, and how something as simple as a relevant meme helps a student to better recall a concept.
I really like the idea of having students make their own memes using key concepts from the class. That’s an idea I might steal from you, because it’s a great one.
I believe in teaching as an ever-evolving being, and we can’t always rely on the same methods that worked 50 years ago. So I was especially struck by your comment on how “education is always shifting to accommodate the world around it.”
The times they are a-changin’, and so too should we.
Hi G! I love how you note education changes to match with the current tech! It is true education is shifting all the time. The memes throughout your post really center the discussion and make an interesting read! I love the idea of getting students to create their own memes as a way to understand class concepts. It’s fun and hands on learning!