ed·u·tain·ment

/,ejəˈtānmənt/
Noun
 

Origin
English

Education Edutainment

English

Entertainment
Definitions:
1. Educational entertainment
(Edutainment) is a media
designed to educate through
entertainment. Most often it
includes content intended to
teach but has incidental
entertainment value. 

-Wikipedia
2.
3. Educate by entertaining and
entertain by educating.
In recent years, electronic games,
home computers, and the Internet
have assumed an important place in
the life of children and adolescents.
New media are causing major
changes in the nature of learning.
There is a vast gap between the way
people learn and the way in which
new generations approach
information and knowledge.

―Play is a very serious matter. It is

an expression of our creativity; and
creativity is at the very root of our
ability to learn, to cope, and to
become whatever we may be.
Rogers & Sharapan (1994) cited in Sharon De Vary
(2008).Referring to the statement given by Rogers &
Sharapan (1994) (cited in Sharon DeVary(2008)),
playing is the nature of the
children and they learn while
playing. Young children cannot
grasp the complexities of formal
education.
However, at an early age, they
begin to learn through play.
This play begins to build
the foundation of knowledge
that is eventually used for more
advanced learning.
The idea to combine the knowledge
transfer and shaping social attitudes
with an attractive and entertaining
formula is not new. The beginnings of
edutainment go back to the 1950s
when the British BBC Radio broadcast
the first episode of the audio play
“The Archers.”
Until 1972 the program had an
educational character. The saga about
the residents of a small English Village
featured elements of knowledge about
economy, ecology and agriculture.
The fun factor is a
way to make the
knowledge
transfer more
attractive, reach
the recipient more
easily or even hide
the educational
content.
 Drivers of
Edutainment
1. Social changes caused by the
technology development
2. Moving from passive to
active culture consumption
 Types of Edutainment
Edutainment is an evolving
alternative to traditional education
method. It can be organized
indifferent ways. White (2003) (cited in Kowit
et al. (2006)), categorized the
edutainment in four (4) different
groups, which are:
 
1. Location-based edutainment
which can be divided into two
categories: interactive &
participatory where children can
play and participate in game, and
non-interactive & spectator where
children can just be seated and
exploring (movie, science show,
museums and zoos).
2. Edutainment by purpose and
content consists of informal
education which is to improve
learners‘ life control, and skills
education which is to give
experiences, like simulations.
3. Edutainment by target group
includes motivation-oriented
(learners who have same interest),
and age-oriented (learners who
have same age).
 
4. by target group includes
motivation-oriented (learners who
have same interest), and age-
oriented (learners who have same
age).
 
 Here are 5 benefits of using
edutainment inside or
outside of the classroom:
https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/5-benefit
s-using-edutainment
1. Keep kids engaged while
learning. As many parents and
educators well know, keeping the
attention of kids can sometimes be
a challenge. By providing kids with
short form (10 minutes or less)
edutainment content they will be
able to pay attention and absorb
more information.
2. Connecting with
positive role models.
Edutainment content
is designed to
feature a cast of
characters that kids
can connect with
and hopefully view
as their role model.
3. Added
content for
curriculums.
Kids would be
to do their
homework
using
technologies.
4. Intellectual stimulation. Instead of
having kids get distracted with silly
videos online, have them learn and
increase their knowledge while
enjoying awesome storytelling.
5. Learning on the go. The nice things
about having online videos is that
they can be viewed anywhere. If kids
are going to be consuming content
while in the car or as they sit in the
shopping cart at the supermarket,
then it would be great for them to be
watching something that will increase
their knowledge.
ADVANTAGES
1. Creating positive
associations with
education,
consequently,
changes the student’s
attitude towards
learning and
knowledge which will
improve student’s
results at school.
2. Making
students
more
motivated by
making them
more
engaged.
The main purpose of edutainment
is to promote student learning
through exploration, interactivity,
trial and error, and repetition in such
a way that students get so lost in the
fun, that they do not realize
they are learning at
the same time
 CHALLENGES
Striking a balance between
education and entertainment
might be difficult – if there
are too many educational
elements, the product will
become boring and if it too
entertaining , it will
overshadow the educational
value of the project.
 Lists of websites with
Edutainment:
*BBC Schools
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools
*Learning English with BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/le
arningenglish/flatmates
*Sesame Street
http://www.sesamestreet.org
*Educational Children’s Books
http://www.reader-rabbit.com
Using the internet –games about
the safety rules
http
://mac.gov.pl/aktualnosci/dzieciaka-itco.przyg
ody-w-czyti-jak-bespiek-znie-korzystac-z-inter
netu
ELOISA N. TORRES
Reporter