What do Flipgrid and Frankenstein have in common? They both capitalize on contemporary culture and technology to tell a great story.
Stick with us on this.
Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein centres on a young scientist who is selfishly determined to bring back the dead. In my fourth-year science communication course, we explore how the novel reflects the cultural anxieties around science and technology of its time. For instance, scientists were exploring the therapeutic potential of electricity and grave robbers would dig up bodies for use in medical education. Needless to say, medical ethics were not a priority.
Many of today’s books and movies reflect the anxieties around science and technology of our time. For instance, the summer blockbuster “Rampage” explores the possible consequences of gene-editing. “Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom” series addresses the potential to bring back extinct creatures and clone human beings.
After discussing Frankenstein in class, I asked my students to think about a recent movie and consider how it reflects current anxieties around science and technology. This type of analysis involves high-level thinking: Students must identify themes in the film, relate them to real-world discussions and then evaluate the accuracy of the comparison. I invited them to post their thoughts to Flipgrid. I love Flipgrid because it harnesses technology that students already use and the current culture of sharing information on-the-go.
Flipgrid was a perfect platform for this assignment. I could actually see the students thinking as they spoke — some were even walking as they were talking. They were able to make a thoughtful argument and articulate it in a way anyone could follow without sitting down and writing it out first. The ability to think deeply about a scientific concept and articulate ideas clearly in the moment is so important, and Flipgrid appears to be a good place to practice this skill.
I also asked students to comment or build on two of their classmates’ posts. I think they had fun chatting about sci-fi movies. There wasn’t much debate — most students agreed with how their peers had represented the movie and cultural anxieties around science and technology. If I could do it again, I’d be more specific in my instructions: I’d ask students to identify another cultural anxiety that their peer didn’t mention. That way the feedback component of the assignment would involve critical thinking, too.
I think Flipgrid has a lot of potential for critical thinking assignments. Later in the semester, I plan to ask students in a different science communication course to describe a science news article and explain what they think the author could have done better. We’ll then use the videos to identify common pitfalls in science journalism.
I’ve really enjoyed experimenting with Flipgrid this semester, and I look forward to trying new things with the tool. Maybe I’ll ask the students to suggest a Flipgrid assignment for future iterations of this course... using Flipgrid, of course.
Starting next week, Christa and I are going to share how we use WebEx teams to promote communication, collaboration and critical thinking. Same goals; different tool. Stay tuned!