Humans, especially our students, are extremely visual creatures. Media and advertising has caught on to this; education- not so much. Every day our students are bombarded with visuals - everything is created to be eye catching! And this is a good thing! When we have images paired with content we are more likely to remember it. I would like to take it a step further and suggest that content pared with familiar visuals is even more likely to stick. When making a power point, the default setting is for all the slides to look the same. By doing this, we do provide the brain with something a little more interesting than just a white background, but we also give the brain consistency. If you were watching a presentation and each slide was a different pattern and color, your brain would have to take a second to register that before considering the information. Power point can get real old real quick, especially compared to the magical contraption in everyone's pockets that are waaaaaaaaay more stimulating and interesting than binomials or modes. How do we make it visually interesting and familiar in a consistent way? My suggestion is social media. It's rarer than an under-cooked steak to find a student without some kind of social media account today. That is a visual stimulant, layout, and transfer of knowledge that students are used to, so the content may synthesize in to their brains with more ease. Teaching your students about composers? Look Beethoven up on Facebook! Bach might have an Instagram. If not, make them an account yourself! Interacting with students on their home court is important. If you're not sure what social media students are in these days or how they can be brought into the academic world, search #commentsforkids This hashtag is used in countless instances of students using some kind of social media platform for their education or to spread their knowledge. Prior to posting this, I searched this hashtag myself. After a little digging, I found an awesome high school student who blogs and shares recipes that she tries or creates. Check it out here https://littlebakersblog.com/2016/07/10/orange-cake/comment-page-1/#comment-519\
Use this hashtag to see other ways teachers are having students use social media to deepen their learning!
Social media is a perfect way to capture the attention of students, using it as a platform for learning seems logical because students are already experts at it. I really liked the idea of making a social media account for an important content figure. In my chemistry classroom, I could see my students making accounts for scientists such as Einstein! Thanks for the idea!
ReplyDeleteTaylor I think you're totally right! Using social media, a tool students often use, is the right idea. We can still complete our goals as educators using tools the students are familiar with and actually enjoy. I think the danger with social media is the extreme distraction that may arise due to it. Of course if we are creating a good learning experience then that may not be something we need to worry about.
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