This chapter introduced me to the 'innerworkings' of a meme. It was interesting to learn the three characteristics of a successful meme: fidelity, fecundity, and longevity. I believe that as students see and recognize memes they will also be able to create a counter-meme in their online affinity spaces. Websites such as knowyourmeme.com and memegenerator.net will allow student to uniquely create their own meme as well as stay "in the know" with the latest memes.
As far as educational uses of memes, I wish this chapter had spent more time discussing ways to incorporate memes in a classroom. I'm sure memes could easily be incorporated into science and social studies content areas as well as creating memes for book characters. I feel this type of project would be best suited for middle and high school students.
Ha, I totally forgot about chemistry cat when looking for educational memes! I think that it would be fun to have students create memes for a project, because it would allow them to express their creativity while also demonstrating their understanding of the content. And I think it would be engaging for them, because they could use the popular meme formats and refer to pop culture. However, like you mentioned, I'm not sure if this kind of activity would be well suited for lower grades.
ReplyDeleteWhat is so funny about the science cat is I have seen it used a great deal. I read another reflection that felt it would have been more beneficial if we had some examples of ways to use memes in the class and I agree. The websites you used look like they might be helpful.
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