ThePoliticization of Memes:InternetMemes as Divisive Weapons
There are cyber crimes laws in some countries that ban memes about the royals. This shows the power of a meme! Memes have been an outlet for people where freedom of speech is limited. People use memes to express opinions in satirical way with few or no words to avoid prosecution.
Insomeways,conceptsandpracticesofinternetmemeshavetrivializedandcheapenedDawkins’ originalproject.
This actually applies to many other things in the virtual world such as the misuse of social media platforms as tools for misinformation and bigotry.
Amidstallthis, “meme” nowmeansalmostanythingoreverythingdependingonwhomweask
This is a two-sided sword: the meme is powerful yet dangerous.
Gaming a system, means finding hidden shortcuts and cheats, and bendingand modifying rules in order to move through the system more efficiently—perhaps to misbehave, but perhaps to change that system for the better.
This is an excellent description of the extent to which gaming can get students to be creative, even without them knowing that we are teaching creativity!
Existing models ofliteracy simply do not fully address reality in the world today.
while this sounds like a shortcoming, it is actually an opportunity for growth and flexibility.
Twenty-First Century
The set of skills that students are expected to have to survive college and work has shifted towards what we call "21st century skills", which include: problem solving, critical thinking, communication, and creative thinking to mention some. Game design is a great way to teach students these skills and to provide them with an environment to practice these skills often.
A joke, for example, is funny because of how it plays with thestructures of language, creating subtle ironies, or double-meanings, orvulgar inappropriateness
That's the context I was talking about when I shared my experience as a foreigner in the US :-)
Meaning is made in ways that are increasingly multimodal— in which written- linguistic modes of meaning interface with oral, visual, audio, gestural, tactile, and spatial patterns of meaning.
The great thing about this definition is its flexibility to be inclusive of future additions to semantics, syntax and tools.
The Knowledge Processes
I was thinking about evaluation and feedback, then i checked the discussion of each component and found evaluation taking place at different processes.
innovation
Taking innovation into account is very valuable. It asserts the fact that we can teach innovation and anyone can be innovative.
Remix National Writing Project / Minecraft Lessons
I am super excited to learn about this topic! I found that students get engaged better when they learn using a game they are familiar with; it takes away a lot of their anxiety.