This was a very interesting project. The “breakout of the visual” just got a lot more real for me. I have always enjoyed writing and had put design/imagery on a pretty low priority. I wanted to try something that was contemporary and far from my experiences. This assignment has adjusted my priorities. While creating these memes, I had to stop myself because I was having too much fun! I really like the idea that these images are more likely to communicate my messages; both subtle and overt.
I tried to use memes to refer to this course’s content as a way of testing out its suitability as an educational medium, mainly to promote reflection of course content. Let me know if it works. In making these memes, I also realized that meme creation lends a kind of cultural authority to the creator and is a strong return to the rhetorical. A danger of this is a teacher seeming to lose credibility for using a medium that is mainly for comedic purpose. To mitigate that, I think a teacher should consider using this as a concluding activity. I think this would be a great way to communicate with students. I recommend trying it out at the Meme Generator. Quite liberating!
Here is a link to my Flickr Album with 17 course-inspired memes.
Enjoy!
Steve
PS. Please tell me which one is your favorite.
NathanLott
July 30, 2018 — 10:30 am
Great work! I liked the “can’t figure out how to write a complex idea” meme as it rings so true for my students in grade 7. Actually it does make me wonder though how communication is changing with the evolution of text. Why not use symbols to convey complex ideas, it is possible. Writing systems like Japanese and Chinese have been doing it for thousands of years yet we still rely on our alphabet to convey our thoughts, perhaps the emoji is a gradual morphing of our writing system to a more symbol based use. Anyway thanks for the great meme’s I really enjoyed reading them!
steve campbell
August 2, 2018 — 4:38 pm
I think that the onset of texting communication has made emojis popular. The emojis fulfill the requirement of setting explicit context in a conversation medium. I wonder if that “imagery-for-context” will become more and more of a standard among authoritative text?
Marcia
July 31, 2018 — 4:36 pm
https://www.flickr.com/photos/159811701@N05/29854495808/in/album-72157671726465668/
The above one was my favorite but they were all great!
Marcia
sally bourque
August 1, 2018 — 6:28 am
AMAZING job! This is my favourite:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/159811701@N05/29854494328/in/album-72157671726465668/
Cathy Miyagi
August 5, 2018 — 9:40 am
Thanks for the meme generator tool suggestion! This is hilarious, great job! This one was my favorite: https://www.flickr.com/photos/159811701@N05/29854494328/in/album-72157671726465668/
steve campbell
August 6, 2018 — 4:38 pm
Thank you for all the great feedback! Good choices for the favorite memes; interestingly, all the favorites have to do with how this course was delivered 😉