Post created by Gretchen and Lauren
In the day and age of technology, there are more and more reasons to allow entertainment to run the show. Everyone is being hypnotized by the easy ways of life and quickly beginning to rely on technology for nearly everything. From ordering groceries online to having social interactions through text, the world has seemingly become a slave to these relatively new technologies. As of recently, however, schools have been forced to hold classes and give homework online. Some students are benefitting massively from this system of pre-recorded lectures and moving at one's own pace. This got us thinking, what other components of today's tech-reliance can help in education?
Of course, social media came to mind. Studies show that about 72% of teens use Instagram and about 63% of Americans use it daily! Being a platform that is used by millions of people daily, it is perfect for educating people on how the body truly works. It’s easy to tell that many people, dare I say most, have a complete misconception as to how the body works in one way or another. Some believe that the heart is found where the left lung actually is, that humans only use 10% of their brain, or that the blood in their veins is blue. Our theory as to the best way to reach people and educate them about their own bodies is memes. That's right, memes to educate the masses on human anatomy and physiology. By no means would this be comprehensive, nor would it replace an actual anatomy and physiology class, but if it was even a bit effective at educating the common person about the human body, it could be considered a success.
The idea may seem crazy, since there are so many different styles, variations, and origins of memes. On top of that, how would the public be able to properly distinguish the factually correct memes from those that are just funny? This may seem impossible to ensure, but with today’s technology, where there is a will there's a way. Consulting with scientists, anatomy professors, doctors and nurses to compile their knowledge of the subject and using that to create memes on different social media platforms. Another way it could be done is by compiling memes from assignments in anatomy classes, like our own. The possibilities are truly endless and leave a lot of room for customization using the different areas of anatomy.
As a whole, memes have the potential to be incredibly useful in the realm of education. They allow for small amounts of material to be learned at a time and could even help in memorizing difficult to remember facts. Whether being used in the classroom or on social media, memes can be used to aid in education about anatomy and physiology as well as the human body as a whole.