Teach Online

Course Stories, Season 5, Episode 5: What Do you Meme? The Story of TWC301

In this insightful episode, Michael Miller sits down with Bonnie Chapman to delve into the innovative teaching approaches of TWC 301: Foundations of Writing for Digital Media. Bonnie chats about their unique strategy of using memes to foster an authentic learning environment, engaging students in a way that resonates with their digital-native sensibilities. We also explore the use of Slack as a pivotal tool in preparing students for the dynamics of real-world communication, ensuring that lessons transcend the classroom. Michael also gets the scoop on how Bonnie approaches the process of continuous course improvement, informed by student feedback and the sensitive handling of the often emotional journey of writing through the Trusted Writer Review process.

Join us for a compelling exploration of educational innovation, where tradition meets technology, and learning is a shared journey.

Special shout out to our #MemeTherapy Slack Channel for sharing these gems!

In this Episode:

Bonnie Chapman | Instructor, CISA – School of Applied Professional Studies

Bonnie holds a MA in Rhetoric and Professional Communication from New Mexico State University. Her undergraduate degree is in English. Bonnie is entering her 20th year of teaching college courses. Studying how humor impacts the classroom and student engagement has been a personal pursuit for over a decade.

Bonnie has also spent almost a decade in the business world assisting with writing as well as managerial tasks. She moved to the Phoenix area in 2018 from New Mexico. She joined ASU as an instructor in the spring of 2019.

Michael Miller | Instructional Designer: Academic Success & Retention Specialist

Michael came to ASU Online in 2016 to complete his bachelor’s degree through the University’s partnership with Starbucks. After graduating from ASU in 2019 with his BA in English, Michael joined EdPlus as a Success Coach before promoting to the Training Manager for the Success Coaching Center. After completing his MEd in educational technology alongside a graduate certificate in rhetoric, writing, and digital media studies from NAU, Michael moved into his current role as instructional designer and Academic Success & Retention Specialist where he utilizes a learning engineering approach to support ASU’s highest impact online courses.