GIFs have been listed as one of the big trends to watch in education. I know, you’ve seen them on Facebook and really don’t see how they can offer any value in your course design. Well Forbes, The New York Times, NASA, Dell, Disney, Coca Cola, Nike, Netflix, McDonald’s and FOX (and many more!) all beg to differ. It might be time to see what all of the fuss is about.

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Wondering what on earth IS a GIF? Here is a short and sweet explanation of GIFs, how you can use them, WHY you should use them, where you can find them to use in your courses, and if you’re really brave, how you can actually make them yourself.

What is a GIF?

The term GIF is an acronym that stands for: Graphic Interface Format. Essentially, they are image files, but unlike a JPEG or PNG, they allow for animation (like the one above with Tom Hanks). While they typically last for five seconds, Giphy’s CEO, Alex Chung reminds us that a picture may be worth a thousand words, but since “the average GIF contains sixty frames, then they’re capable of conveying 60,000 words – the same as the average novel”.

How are they used?

I have found three main reasons that GIFs add value:

Give more detail – A GIF can show how something works or provide visuals of steps involved in a process. Check out NASA’s tweet showing the path of Tropical Storm Erika or Dell’s product launch of the convertible Ultrabook

Impact – GIFs add expression to bring punch to what you’re trying to say. This university website is a great example of using GIFs to add impact: Ryerson’s GIFs

Fun – when we are laughing, we’re learning. GIFs add the visual element and bring fun to an otherwise straightforward piece of content. Netflix has an entire ad campaign based on this:

 

The Digital JLearning Network offers six reasons to use GIFs with your students:

• Bring static content to life. Textbooks are filled with boring, static blocks of text, but moving images are fun and engaging!
• Break down a process into steps. Instead of telling your students the directions over and over again, just make a GIF for each step. Then have your students break down a process they’re studying into steps for their classmates, like the steps to a science experiment or for creating a complex art project.
• Call attention to something important. GIFs are short and sweet, so when students see one, they’ll know it’s important. After all, you took the time to create it for them!
• Show a sequence or timeline. GIFs really are a teacher’s best friend. If you want students to remember all those parts of a sequence, just make a GIF for each one. Better yet, have the students make their own! Imagine a GIF for each stage of an historical event, or a GIF for each piece of a timeline.
• Make content memorable. There’s nothing like a funny GIF-meme to keep your students learning and laughing. Why not have a contest for who can make the funniest GIF based on the day’s lesson?
• Show instead of tell. Not every student can demonstrate learning through writing. Give your students the option of showing what they learned through GIFs instead!

Why should you care about GIFs?

In 2016, Forbes  announced that Giphy had surpassed 100 million daily users who sent one billion GIFs each day. Many popular sites such as Facebook Messenger, Slack, Twitter, and Tinder, all connect to Giphy. You can find and share GIFs almost everywhere, including Instagram, Pinterest, Google Plus, LinkedIn and many more popular Social Media sites.

According to Giphy, in 2015 there were around 150 million original GIFs, and New York Times tried to collect the number of GIFs on the most popular social networks, numbering:

• 23 million GIFs are posted to Tumblr every day
• 5 million GIFs are exchanged on Facebook Messenger daily
• More than 2 million GIF interactions take place on Slack monthly

Today, more than 2 million hours of GIFs are watched each day via Giphy, by more than 100 million daily active users.

Convinced yet? What if I remind you about the benefits of multi-modal learning design… According to Dr. John Medina (Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington School of Medicine), “we are incredible at remembering pictures. Hear a piece of information, and three days later you’ll remember 10% of it. Add a picture and you’ll remember 65%”.

You gotta get GIFs.

Where can you find GIFs?

GIFs are now so prevalent online, that you can essentially do a Google search “GIF” and find reams (and REAMS!) of possibilities. Here are a few better known options for searching for the right GIF for your course or presentation:

• Giphy, the go-to search engine for GIFs, search by category or simply enter related text to find exactly what you need.
• Tenor works much the same as Giphy, but provides a sample of trending GIFs for you to peruse, or you can use their search engine.
• Imgur provides a warehouse of the images that have gone viral online. A lot of these images are GIFs.
• Twitter and Facebook are also great places to find GIFs.

How can you make them yourself?

If you already have the image you want to use, the easiest way is to use Giphy’s GIF maker. GIFMaker.me is another option for turning images or videos into GIFs (with music).

You can also make your own GIF using Photoshop

If you’d like to use your webcam to create an expression GIF, check out And Then I Was Like

Finally, iPhone users may have also found that they can make GIFs using the GIPHY CAM

They say, ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’; it may just be time to jump in and give the gift of GIFs to your students.