“Some students made memes, which takes a deep understanding of the material, and I love the remixing of old and new media forms.” (Barth)
Prior to reading this article, I had always thought of class assignments to create memes as a way to get students engaged with material and excited about class, and less about actually teaching students historical thinking skills. I had never thought about the deep levels of understanding that are required to create a meme (perhaps because I have never made one). Allowing students the freedom to make memes on a classroom-based social media promotes creativity and fun learning! Mixing new media with old media makes it relevant for students, who will remember the memes that they are creating and the reasoning and history behind them.
“If I feel like I have low bandwidth for watching videos and other recordings, students might too. Instagram stories became a perfect way for me to deliver background content and share visual media with students without the need for video streaming or even sharing or downloading attachments.” (Barth)
This quote is the epitome of the article, because it shows that there are some teachers that fully understand how students have a lack of motivation for online lectures and forums. By bringing the classroom to a platform that students understand and are comfortable with, learning happens easily without having to worry about logistical problems. Stories are an ingenious way to deliver information to students. Most Instagram users are familiar with the typical story or post serving as an infographic, and many take the time to read them in depth. Taking advantage of this to highlight important content is precisely the way to use Instagram for a class setting effectively.
“I found these (Instagram) posts were of much higher quality than any Moodle posts had been in past classes, perhaps because of the reflection and thought required in pairing text and image, or the accessibility of the technology and their ease with the platform.” (Barth)
Nothing about this quote is shocking to me, but I did think it was important to highlight the circumstances under which students do their best quality work. It is logical to assume that this would happen on a platform which students have established their voice already, and are comfortable freely giving their opinions. Pairing ideas with images is a fantastic way for students to do history outside of their typical classroom.
