Using GIFS for Teaching.
I’m no historian of modern education, but one thing I can say for certain is that the medium of instruction used to teach our children has rapidly changed, and will continue to do so for as long as children are being educated.
Gone are the days of encyclopedias, textbooks and pen and paper.
In are the days of tablet classrooms, educational apps, AI tutors and Wikipedia – and even that’s a little outdated to kids.
I believe there’s nothing new under the sun. Any innovation is, in some way, a combination of two pre-existing concepts.
Communication + Electricity = Telephone. (Over simplified but indulge me.)
Telephones + Radio = Cellphones. (Okay, I think I’m losing my way here, but you get the point.)
A brilliant YouTube video, “History of Japan”, opened my eyes to the opportunity that exists to repackage educational content.
It takes Japan’s entire history and explains it in a funny, relatable and engaging way, all with its 9-minute animated video.
The creator took what is one of the most complex and obscure topics and made it enjoyable to learn. And over 30 million people to date seem to agree.
Perhaps combining GIFs + educational content = a better way to learn.
GIFs are succinct, illustrative and do a great job of getting the point across.
What if we could repackage GIFs as a medium of instruction? GIFS for teaching.
It’s a perfect match.
EXAMPLE TIME!
Let’s say you’re a math teacher teaching your 5th graders the Pythagoras Theorem.
Pythagoras was a cool old guy
from
who probably looked more like this
Meme – he thought and thought and then once day…
