Blog Post Week 4 - Asynchronous Classes & Memes

Today in lovely Manitoba, we have been hit with a polar vortex and are currently experiencing the coldest temperatures we've seen in over a decade!! -55 with the wind-chill has made it extremely dangerous for travelling and being out on highways. Thankfully, our professor called off class, so everyone could get home safe (and in daylight) and made this into an asynchronous class!

I love the idea of asynchronous classes.  Although, they could not be used all the time, there is definitely a time and place where they do become very useful. There are many situations where students cannot make it to classes, such as:

• bad weather/driving conditions
• illness
• sports/other commitments outside school
• being away in another country

Asynchronous means to learn online on your own schedule. The instructor provides materials, such as videos, articles, slides for students to access at their own convenience.  Students are then given a time frame, such as 1 week, where they usually need to post or share a response. 

We also learned about a pretty neat meme app last week.
Try it out here!

How could you use Memes in your classrooms?

• To list class rules or expectations
• For an ice-breaker/"get-to-know-you" activity
• To introduce a concept
• For a creative/critical thinking activity related to the unit of study
• To promote or reinforce your curriculum - post them around your room and use to start discussions

~ Miss C.