Chrome Can: Meme Creation and Educational Use

What are memes?

If you have been on social media, there is a good chance that you have come across a meme.  If you are not sure what a meme is a quick Google define search defines a meme as

If you wonder what science has said about memes and the ability to share them, please watch this great video Life Noggin.

I have no doubt that if you were to ask any student between the ages of 8-18 what a meme is they would know what they were and probably have either created their own or if not, at least shared a meme on the Internet. In fact, memes mean a lot more to students than meets the eye.  Watch this great TED Talk titled “More than just a Meme” | Emily Sands | TEDxSantaClaraUniversity”

Why Memes in the Classroom

I know some of you might be wondering but what does a meme have to do with school and what do these ridiculous images with a message on them have to do with learning in a classroom? Well, for one thing, they are what students are interested in these days and by adding memes to your own classroom you raise the relevance of that learning environment in the minds of your students.  It also allows you to try something new.  It also allows you to give students a chance to reach ISTE Standards for student number six, “Creative Communicator“. Using technology in the classroom is not about a specific tool, but for providing the best educational environment for our students.  Using technology in creative ways enables a more authentic learning experience for our students.

So, how can I use memes in my classroom?

Here are several great blog posts about how other teachers have used memes in their classes. The blog post titled “Using Classroom Memes to Connect with Your Students”  covers what memes are and how they work, links to some meme creation sites like the ones I will cover below and ideas for using them in class.  The article “5 ways to use memes with students”  Is one math teacher’s story about how they began using memes.  The post offers some warnings about using meme creation websites that is important to heed. “It’s important to preview any meme program before assigning it to the students to avoid fees or inappropriate content.”   Below is a video of the Math themed memes created by her students.

Tools to Create Memes on a Chromebook

There are so many meme creation websites available on the Internet that pretty much anyone could find one to use by just searching.  However, taking into consideration that these will be used with students, I have tried to include links to those that have the least amount of questionable content.  Once again, I urge teachers to supervise this creation and talk to your students about the appropriateness of their creations and the type of digital footprint they want to leave.

http://memedad.com/

https://makeameme.org/

https://imgflip.com/memegenerator

https://www.livememe.com/

All of the above websites help students create memes.  They all work a little differently but are not hard to figure out.

Memes are easy to make and can add some fun to your classroom. I created some memes with these websites and have included them below for your enjoyment.

Thanks for reading

Dr. Shannon H. Doak