The digital age has shaped the world to an extent that almost all our everyday activities are dependent on digital; from banking, communication, agriculture, marketing, entertainment and education. In the education industry, digital has profoundly influence teaching and learning for both students and teachers. As educators, it is important to understand our role in this digital age as guiders to our students and as facilitators of knowledge.

Memes in Education: In this digital age, memes have become a rampant form of communication which allows users to express ideas, express feelings and engage in issues. Memes are appealing and its often used among the younger generation because of its graphical representation which gives a pictorial view of what a user implies. As meme has become part of digital communication, it raises an alarm to questions its place in the educational space. In the educational space, memes can serve as a potential teaching tool where educators can use it to make abstract topics or subject more relatable to students. For instance, a study highlights that memes can demonstrate a visual accounts on historical events or social theories in ways that students can easily understand and grasp. A well created meme about Karl Marx’s theory of class struggle, for instance, can give a clearer and more detailed explanations on the theory to enhance a deeper understanding for the students.  Again, assignments on meme creation by educators to student can enhance students’ ability to engage with course materials as they will critically have to synthesis course readings so they can capture the key points in a particular topic or subject to create the meme. Personally, I think meme can also be a tool to engage students in the classroom when students feel boredom and have low energy in the classroom, funny memes yet educative can be shown to the students to get their attention in the classroom. However, some of the memes are full of irony which can be misinterpreted by students if they are not guided. A study by (Kellner & Share, 2007).  urges educational institutions and educators to embrace teaching of digital literacy so that they can help students to critically analyze and understand memes and guide student on the use memes as far as digital learning is concerned.

Participatory Culture

In the space of participatory culture in education, platforms like YouTube, and Wikipedia coupled with the emergence of TikTok have immensely increased the production of knowledge and its sharing. Concerning participatory culture, users which includes students and teachers, do not only feed on those knowledge, rather they actively create new contents, remix and interpret those contents. The milestone in knowledge production and acquisition challenges the traditional notion on authority on knowledge where textbooks and school libraries were the sole gatekeepers regarding knowledge. This shift challenges traditional notions of knowledge authority, where textbooks and academic institutions were once the sole gatekeepers of knowledge information (Jenkins, 2006). These platforms enhance education by making learning more flexible, relatable, convenient, accessible and easily for students which will enhance their engagement in classrooms because they may be familiar with certain topics or subjects, they came across on these platforms. For example, students can learn and grasp difficult scientific concepts which looks so abstract through YouTube tutorials on the topic in question. TikTok also give students an insight into different cultures and perspectives through the videos students watch which I believe gives a deeper understanding on the realities in societies. Again, Wikipedia promote collective intelligence, where knowledge is always refined and reshaped through user contributions. However, the open nature of participatory culture creates the spread of misinformation as there are no restrictions on what has to be posted on these platforms. In spite of this, an article on Net Smart: How to Thrive Online  urges educators to assist students so they can develop the necessary skills to critically evaluate and analyze the contents they come across and know how the algorithms work on these platforms. This will shape their understanding to know the differences between reliable contents and unreliable contents.

Concerning the rapid growth in information sharing, misinformation  and AI generated contents, educators can play a key role by ensuring teaching media and digital literacy. An article titled Critical media literacy is not an option highlights the need for educators to teach students how to verify information, cross checking of sources and manipulative mechanism used online. Activities like fact-checking exercises, media biases analysis and discussions on ethical use of AI will equip students and keep them on their toes so they can successfully strive through the digital world. Furthermore,  Net Smart: How to Thrive Online  highlights how AI tools like chat GPT, Co Pilot and among others can be very useful and valuable resources in education by making leaning easy for students as they could explore on various concepts being thought in school. However, students should be educated on the implications of using AI (plagiarism).

In conclusion, the emergence of digital culture presents both opportunities and challenges in education however, teachers are encouraged to teach students the pros and cons on the usage of these digital cultures. Through intense sensitization on digital literacy in schools, students can critically use and share knowledge on these digital platforms with little to zero harm. Personally, I believe educators role goes beyond their subject delivery in the classroom, rather they are mentors to the students and as mentors, we need to equip our mentees with the necessary skills and knowledge in other to strive successfully in this digital age.