Catching Up with the Digital Generation

It wasn’t that long ago when my school back in Bangladesh first introduced us to “digital literacy,” and that too only in our ICT class. Back then, I had no idea how fast technology would spread like wildfire into every corner of our lives (and our students’ lives, too!).

I think the moment I realized I had officially slipped out of the “youth” category was when I couldn’t understand the shortcuts my students used, things like “AFAIK” or “ISTG.” I had to secretly Google them later! Funny enough, I’ve learned most of my digital slang, memes, and pop-culture trends from my students. In those moments, I was definitely the learner, not the teacher.

When I think about digital literacy now, I feel hopeful. Sure, the digital boom has left us millennials constantly trying to catch up with the latest trends flooding social media every day — but it’s also exciting. Technology evolves way faster than any school curriculum ever could, and as an educator in this tech-driven era, I often ask myself: how can I use these tools and trends to make learning more engaging instead of overwhelming? And just as importantly, how can I teach students to see both the bright and dark sides of technology?

Memes

Speaking of digital culture — memes! I still remember my first encounter with them back in 2010 during my undergrad years. Someone showed me this strange little “pictorial joke” called a meme, and I couldn’t even pronounce the word properly at first, let alone understand its humor. Fast-forward a few months, and there I was, laughing at grumpy cat memes and sharing them like everyone else. That’s when I realized memes aren’t just jokes; they’re part of our culture, our shared digital language.

The term ‘meme’ was coined first by Richard Dawkins in 1976 published in his book ‘ The Selfish Gene’, conceptualizing the cultural evolution through self-replication and cultural transmission. Which applies to the fact how meme is a form of participatory literacy. I was baffled discovering how memes existed long before the internet was accessible to the general public from the following YouTube video.

The first popular meme when the term itself did not exist was during second world war. This meme was in the form of graffiti “Kilroy was here.”

Meme has become one of the powerful means of communication through participatory culture. People modified and remixed their own types of means, producing unique content.

“So… How Do We Use Memes in Modern Digital Literacy?”

In an article published by Ntouvlis and Geenen (2023) titled “Ironic Memes and Digital Literacies: Exploring Identity Through Multimodal Texts,” explore the concept of ‘ironic memes’, those confusing, absurd, or seemingly meaningless images that somehow make us laugh. You know, the ones that make you pause and think, “Wait… what did I just see?” These memes might look random, but the article argues they actually tell us a lot about digital literacy and how people express identity online. What really stood out to me is how the authors describe memes as multimodal texts which means they combine images, words, and cultural symbols to create meaning. Even when a meme looks chaotic or “poorly created,” that design can be intentional. It’s a kind of inside joke for people who get it, a signal that you belong to that online group.

I found this fascinating because it shows how literacy isn’t just about reading books or writing essays anymore. It’s also about understanding the humor, tone, and visual language of the digital world. Knowing how to decode memes is actually a form of digital literacy.

In classrooms, memes can be used as visual multimodal texts that can prompt critical thinking and invite interpretations. Whenever I’m leading a class presentation or grading as an educator, I notice something interesting — students seem way more alert when a meme pops up on the screen compared to when they’re staring at long, text-heavy slides. I get it though — even I sometimes skim through paragraphs but never scroll past a good meme!  Memes, in that sense, are the new entry points for dialogue, humor, and reflection in a digital classroom.

Participatory Culture

A digital world we live in where not knowing or at least hearing about media platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, and Wikipedia is equivalent to not knowing what a book is, except for in North Korea. These platforms have enabled young children to co-create and not just consume content. Participatory Culture  is defined as a culture in which private individuals act as consumers, contributors or producers. It gives everyone the chance to express their creativity, share their ideas, and connect with others through what they make. Whether it’s art, videos, or memes, people showcase their work and build social connections by sharing and remixing each other’s creations. This culture thrives as users interact, collaborate, and shape new forms of content together on social media. As Henry Jenkins says in a TEDxNYED , from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, young people have been granted agency through these platforms. He advocates for participatory culture for youth as it puts relatively low barriers for engagement, strongly supports sharing creations with others, prompts informal mentorship, members believe that their contributions matter, and allows caring for others’ opinions of self and work.

“Not every member must contribute, but all must believe they are free to contribute when ready and that what they contribute will be appropriately valued”- Henry Jenkins

He explains how the youths engage by commenting on videos, reposting information, and re-editing content; these steps are pedagogical moments. Tutorials, gameplays, and how to do this and that all fall under distributive knowledge on a global scale. When we bring academic perspectives into the mix, it becomes clear that classrooms shouldn’t just respond to digital culture; they should be a part of it. Teachers can design activities where students remix old videos, analyze trending media, or work together to create their own digital projects. This helps bridge the gap between traditional “school knowledge” and the real-world knowledge students are already building outside the classroom.

Personally, I am a frequent social media user, not just to consume knowledge through content, but also to stay updated to current world affairs. Another reason that highly motivates me to use these media platforms is to learn everyday things such as cooking, how to not kill my indoor plants, small tips and tricks for cleaning, workout videos, motivational podcasts, you name it.

 Critical Thinking in the Age of Misinformation and AI

While this open access is powerful, it also calls for unprecedented challenges. With the rise and upgrade of AI in almost every digital platform, the barrier between real and fake is thinning. In my opinion, misinformation can be more detrimental than oblivion. As an educator, I believe it is important that educators foster critical digital literacy. An educator must teach students to evaluate the credibility of the sources and how to ask questions: Who made this? Why? Is it trustworthy? They must ensure it promotes critical thinking instead of cynicism, which would make them doubt everything they come across. Several sites and platforms can assist students in fact-checking, such as Snopes, FactCheck.org, or Google Reverse Image Search for mobile.

Rather than restricting AI tools or Social media, I believe in embracing them with critical awareness.

Now, let’s have a little fun!  Can you tell which image is real and which one was created by AI? Drop your guesses in the comments below.

#A (Left or Right)

#B (Left or Right)

In August 2024, Saskatchewan issued a cell phone ban in K-12 classrooms during the instructional period. Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill claims this policy will ensure students focus on learning and engage with teachers.

As an educator and tech-integrated learner, this change prompted me not only to reflect upon the pedagogy and policy, but also on implications of technology on digital citizenship and networked learning in education.

I understand how the purpose of this policy is to ban the illicit use of phones in class and focus in learning by reducing distractions and improve engagement. However, does it really fix the problem for everyone by following ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach? Are we missing out on the opportunity to teach digital literacy in spaces where we need the most, i.e. classroom?

When I looked into the reactions from teachers, students, administrators, and parents, it was enlightening to learn multiple perspectives on this subject. Some education experts expressed their disappointment on this new policy and believes that they are not focusing on an effective use of cell phones and when to use it in classroom. Kyle Robinson, an assistant professor of inclusive education at the University of Regina, argues this policy simply removes potential distractions and does little to equip students to navigate through real world.

While other educators wonder as to why the government is legislating this matter over far more pressing issues in schools for example, human resources, funding, class size, and complexity. Such issues were announced ‘loud and clear’ from teachers and parents but somehow such matters did not seem to have reached the ears of ministry of education. Marc Spooner, another professor from University of Regina, sees this cell phone ban as an act of political maneuver, showcasing support to teachers meanwhile ‘vilifying’ them during teachers negotiations earlier. He further adds that some schools and administrators already have such restricted usage of cell phones. Therefore, it is questionable as to whether such policy would bring out any meaningful changes.

On the other side of the coin, teachers are relieved with the new policy. Some students are distracted from cellphone texting and scrolling, and some use it to cheat during exams.

It’s no surprise that most of the students are displeased by this policy. In this era, its is rare to find anyone who does not own a cell phone. When you take away that from someone it gets difficult to function without facing some inconvenience. When we have to check time, do we look at the clock or phone? When we need to search for the meaning of a word, how many of us look at the dictionary? Hence, it is no surprise that students are not happy upon hearing the announcement of the cell-phone ban.

“I feel like there’s other things you could do to make people focus on school than take away phones in class, like make class sizes smaller,” said Holden Stefaniuk, a student at Campbell Collegiate in Regina.

In my experience, as an educator in Bangladesh, I have faced more negative sides of using cell phone in classroom. The cell-phone usage ban was school board implemented restriction rather than government intervention. Despite the ban students often brought cell phone dummies to hide their primary ones. An incident lead to stricter cell phone restrictions when students secretly recorded videos without their teacher’s knowledge and later used the footage to create memes among themselves. In another incident, a student was caught cheating during exam using cellphone. Such incidents are not as frequent as it may sound but nonetheless taking place which disrupted the flow of the learning environment. I believe that implementing appropriate interventions to guide effective use of cellphones in student learning would be more fruitful than imposing outright ban. Because in my perspective, when students perceive a law imposed unfairly leads to growing resentment and resistance leading to rebellious behaviour.

As an educator I understand how challenging it is to manage children distracted on their cellphones in the classroom, but there are effective strategies to control and manage such situations. I came across this video on professional tips on how to manage a classroom with cellphones. Perhaps it will work and perhaps it may not, but there is no harm in discovering the effectiveness.

I remember the first time I learned about Facebook in 9th grade, when our lunch break conversation shifted from boys to the new internet platform called Facebook. I was aware of Myspace, but never had the interest in creating an account. My interest piqued when my friends enthusiastically discussed their decorated walls on Facebook. Back in 2008, Facebook looked completely different than how it does now…it was simpler. A nostalgic post published by CNET comparing how Facebook looked back in the early days shows how this platform has evolved ever since. I wasn’t going to miss out on this fun!

Initially my thoughts about Facebook was that it allowed me to add friends and strangers miles across the ocean. It felt like I had access to an unknown world beyond the seas at the tip of my fingers. Curiosity raged inside me to explore further and further until one day I came across a traumatic image on my Facebook wall posted by a stranger I had randomly added. The post was filled with nudity, and I was 15, shellshocked, staring at the CRT monitor (I used to call it box monitor until I googled the proper name). I immediately called my friend, who explained that adding random strangers to Facebook was never a good idea. That was my first encounter with the dark side of social media.

As grim as the story may sound, social media has also opened new doors to opportunities for me. It allowed me to network with new people I would have otherwise never met and share common interests across the borders. ‘A Writer’s Fight Club’ was the first group I had formed on Facebook that initially encouraged students and peers to write poems, stories, or writings. Slowly the community grew and more people joined in. I was able to read and witness so much creativity with raw emotions expressing through their writings which left a profound mark on me. Reading them inspired me to write more often but also to be vulnerable with my own thoughts and voice. However, as the world got more busier with technology and saturated with newer platforms, the group had become dormant. Even then, the memories of that digital space we shared remain etched in my heart.

Until COVID-19 hit in 2020, I had never fully realized the significance of internet and social media platforms. I still wonder what would have happened if people, trapped within the safety net of their home, isolated behind four walls and fearful of breathing same air as another human; never had access to the internet. Only one word comes to my mind: insanity. Thanks to the internet, the world may have stopped but in the ethereal world of algorithms it never truly did. As an educator, I was able to continue educating my students via Zoom and Google classroom. For entertainment I used to stream live online games through discord. No theatre to watch movies? Netflix Teleparty allowed me to watch movies with my friends. Watching fashion tips and outfit ideas from TikTok. TikTok was another social platform that kept me hours and hours doom scrolling through content which somehow matched my interest (AI-alert). Till this date if I have to cook something fancier, I always search for the recipes on YouTube.

I am neither a professional trainer nor a certified nutritionist, but I was always curious about healthy lifestyle. Curiosity turned into action when one of my friends from Singapore helped me venture into my fitness journey by introducing me to HIIT workouts and Pilates. He shared workout videos and links through the Facebook Messenger platform. Among the many fitness influencers one of the biggest motivator was an online Pilates instructor Cassey Ho, who founded Blogilates. She posted her Pilates videos on YouTube for free. She oozed with positive energy and encouraged millions of followers including the young me. She made working out feel less like a chore and more like a celebration of self-love and strength. Till this day, I still continue doing Pilates at least once a week if not regularly.

Back in 2016, during the height of my fitness mania, I often shared photos of my healthy meals in group chats consisting of my close friends in hopes of motivating myself and others. I was given the idea of starting an Instagram page of my own ‘healthy meals’. It lasted as long as I could and still now I tell myself to resume the forgotten passion I had. Maybe one day I will…

No doubt, social media served as an opportunity to connect with friends and families. To share our lives from thousand miles apart seemed almost impossible before internet cables and WiFi routers took over households. Being a millennial I tasted life before and after internet. In my opinion, social media is for socializing yet we have become more unsocial in the real world. Our hand holds gadgets more often than holding pens to write, we are more comfortable typing responses than to talk face to face. Influencers shaping our lifestyles, sometimes positively, sometimes not, we are balancing life in between two boats of inspiration and imitation. Like a coin, internet shares both good and bad sides like Yin and Yang, except we are free to choose which side of the coin to face.