Facebook Meme as Online Class’ Personal Introduction Assignment?

Teaching an online class, I’m always looking for ways for students to introduce themselves in a method other than a discussion board post.  They typically don’t write anything spectacular, and after all is said and done, it is text.  I have seen folks use ToonDoo.com, Animoto.com and other online tools to have students create media that introduces themselves in some way to their classmates.  Tonight, I encountered a Facebook Meme that AJ (@sorry_afk) posted.  It was interesting enough that I decided to follow along; I don’t do that very often.  As I was finishing it, I thought this might be an interesting activity for students to do as a first activity in an online class.  For it to work though, some intentionality would have to be inserted.  My result, at least the image, for the meme is to the left, and the modified list of instructions for a first assignment are below.  The original that AJ posted to FB is at the bottom.  

Introduce yourself to your classmates by sharing, if you were the lead singer in a band, the album cover of your band’s first album.  Take some time with the instructions to find something you like; consider the source of the band’s name, the title of the album, and the album art.

1. Go to Wikipedia and hit Random Article until you find an article title you want to use as the name of your band.  Make a note of the article title, the URL, and the meaning of the article itself.
2. Go to Quotationspage.com and hit Random Quotes. Scroll to the very last quote on the page, and look at the last four or five words of the quote.  If it’s something you like, use those 4-5 words as the name of the album.  Make a note of the URL, the full quote and it’s source.
3. Go to the Flickr.com Advanced Search page; select Only Photos, enter the date for a week ago as the Date After date, check Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content, and check Find content to modify, adapt, or build upon. Click search.  (You may also use this link, but change the date accordingly).  Find a picture you like as the cover art for your album.  Make a note of the URL.
4. Use Photoshop, Windows Paint or Powerpoint to put it all together; save it as a JPG.
5. Post it to … with the notes you collected as described above.  Also share other basic information about yourself that may be relevant to your classmates.  How many hours are you taking?  What’s your major?  What’s your long term plans for college (transfer, certificate) and career?  etc.

The original meme:

Go to Wikipedia and hit “Random Article.” The first article you get will be the name of your band.

Go to quotationspage.com and hit “Random Quotes”. The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page will be the title of your album.

Go to Flickr and click on “explore the last seven days.” The picture that pops up will be your album art.

Use Photoshop or Windows Paint to put it all together.

Post it with this text in the “caption” and TAG the friends you want to join in.