This text first appeared in The Educating Professor on December 9, 2019 © Magna Publications. All rights reserved. Strive a FREE three-week trial of The Educating Professor!
Snapchat might be the preferred social media app amongst these underneath 30. What distinguishes it from different such apps is that it permits customers so as to add cartoon-like pictures and textual content to their pictures and movies. Whereas this playful interplay between customers might seem to be the antithesis of significant studying, Tara Martin (2017) discovered a strategy to channel scholar curiosity in sharing annotated pictures towards an academic function by creating what she calls a BookSnap. As an alternative of snapping selfies, a scholar makes a BookSnap by taking a photograph of a passage from a e book, article, or different supply and including pictures and textual content to interpret and mirror on what they learn (Determine 1). These may be feelings, ideas, or emotions provoked by their studying.
Determine 1. Examples of BookSnaps
What benefits does a BookSnap have over a standard paper report? For one, studying retention. In line with Schwartz (2015), “When concepts and associated ideas may be encapsulated in a picture, the mind remembers the knowledge related to that picture.” Suppose, for example, of how well-known pictures encapsulate the which means of historic occasions. The picture of a sailor kissing his girlfriend on a dock captures the enjoyment america felt on the finish of World Struggle II. Equally, those that have seen the documentary March of the Penguins (dir. Luc Jacquet, 2005) possible bear in mind the picture of the frozen egg, which captures the hardships confronted by penguins making an attempt to outlive and reproduce of their inhospitable atmosphere—the film’s underlying theme. Expressing a passage as a picture will thus assist college students retain its which means.
Furthermore, BookSnaps assist college students suppose critically about their studying by growing private connections to the textual content and deciphering it in inventive methods. In spite of everything, Snapchat pictures and movies are interpretations of scholar’s experiences. As an alternative of merely taking a photograph of a live performance, the overlays add the consumer’s emotions and ideas concerning the occasion. The selection of overlay engages the consumer in a inventive expression of their expertise. We wish college students to internalize what they learn in our programs, and offering them with a way of expressing their interpretations will encourage that course of. Whereas college students have a tendency to think about papers as merely a way of regurgitating what they learn and “giving the trainer what they need,” asking college students to create BookSnaps recasts the complete train as a chance for private expression.
Utilizing BookSnaps academically
For unbiased studying assignments, college students are prone to have interaction of their studying by creating BookSnap summaries for every web page or part they learn. College students can embed the person BookSnaps in a Google Slide presentation submitted to their instructor or submit the picture inside a dialogue board put up on a studying administration system. BookSnaps are mostly used for textbook or article comprehension, however they’re equally helpful for different functions. In English programs, college students might use a BookSnap to determine plot parts, figurative language, or important concepts. In math programs, college students can take an image of their calculations, annotate their explanations, or ask questions. In historical past programs, college students can take an image of a timeline and determine turning factors or key occasions. Science educators might use BookSnaps to have their college students summarize vocabulary or present proof supporting their hypotheses, whereas artwork college students might take an image of a portray or sculpture and supply their interpretation or determine the style. The chances are divers.
Making a BookSnap
Snapchat is mostly used to create a BookSnap. However educators and college students are additionally utilizing Google Slides, Google Drawings, Seesaw, Pic Collage, E book Creator, or Buncee to create their BookSnaps. Step one of making a BookSnap is to take an image of the e book, web page, article, portray, or different artifact the scholar needs to annotate. College students then use textual content, font, or colour options to sort the annotation. Most annotations embrace the content material’s title, its creator’s title, and hashtags (#s). The third step is to embellish the unique picture by including significant pictures, stickers, or Bitmojis to boost the annotation. The ultimate step is to obtain and save the ultimate product. The steps differ barely relying on the platform used.
For extra data on tips on how to use BookSnaps in training, check out Tara Martin’s web site. Please additionally be happy to search out and share concepts about makes use of of BookSnap by way of the hashtag #BookSnaps on Twitter. Experiment with BookSnaps in your instructing.
Jennie Carr, PhD, is an affiliate professor of training and elementary training program coordinator at Bridgewater School.
References
Martin, T. (2017, August 14). #Booksnaps Snapchat in training.
Schwartz, Okay. (2015, July 15). Making studying seen: Doodling helps reminiscences stick. Retrieved from https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/39941/making-learning-visible-doodling-helps-memories-stick
