Educational entertainment (also referred to by the portmanteau "edutainment", which is education + entertainment^[1]) is any entertainment content that is designed to educate as well as to entertain. Content with a high degree of both educational and entertainment value is known as edutainment. There also exists content that is primarily educational but has incidental entertainment value. Finally, there is content that is mostly entertaining but can be seen to have some educational value.

History [edit]

It can be argued that educational entertainment has existed for millennia in the form of parables and fables that promoted social change. Modern forms include television productions, film, museum exhibits, and computer software which use entertainment to attract and maintain an audience, while incorporating deliberate educational content or messages. Since the 1970s, various groups in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Latin America have used edutainment to address such health and social issues as substance abuse, immunization, teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, and cancer. Initiatives in major universities, such as Johns Hopkins University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, NGOs such as PCI-Media Impact, and government agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have produced edutainment content.

Terminology [edit]

The term edutainment was used as early as 1948 by The Walt Disney Company to describe the True Life Adventures series.^{[citation needed]}. The noun edutainment is a neologistic portmanteau used by Robert Heyman in 1973 while producing documentaries for the National Geographic Society.^[2] It was also used by Dr. Chris Daniels in 1975 to encapsulate the theme of his Millennium Project. This project later became known as The Elysian World Project.^[3] The offshoot word "Edutainer" has been used by Craig Sim Webb since before the turn of the millennium to describe an individual who offers edutainment presentations and performances.^[4]

By media [edit]

Film and television [edit]

Motion pictures with educational contents appeared as early as 1943, such as Private Snafu, and can still be seen in modern films such as An Inconvenient Truth. After World War II, educational entertainment shifted towards television. Television programs can be divided into three main categories: those with primarily educational intentions, those with a high degree of both education and entertainment, and entertainment shows with incidental or occasional educational value.

Games [edit]

Games fulfill a number of educational purposes. Some games may be explicitly designed with educational purposes, while others may have incidental or secondary educational value. All types of games may be used in an educational environment. Educational games are games that are designed to teach people about certain subjects, expand concepts, reinforce development, understand an historical event or culture, or assist them in learning a skill as they play. The types of games include board, card, and video games.

According to Paraskeva [1], at least 68% of American households play video games. Many recent research articles postulate education and gaming can be joined providing academic benefits for those who use these devices^[5].

According to Van Eck [2](2006), there are three reasons why games are considered learning tools: 1. On- going research that has included the last 20 years of educational findings have proven that digital games can be educational; 2. The new generation of today wants, “multiple streams of information” (p. 1), which includes quick and frequent interaction that allows inductive reasoning; and 3. The mere popularity of games has created a billion dollar industry. The idea of playing a game assumes the person is engaging in that activity by choice. The activity should have some value of “fun.” This does not mean that the person is engaging in the activity only for leisure pursuits, it can also include the desire to learn a skill, connect with other gamers (social community), and spend time in a chosen activity. The activity needs to remain one of choice for the gamer^[6]. Kim (2008) supports the use of off- the- shelf games with meta-cognitive strategies to provide an increase in students’ cognitive performance. Kim, B., Park, H., & Baek, Y. (2009). Not just for fun, but serious strategies: Using meta-cognitive strategies in game-based learning. Computers and Education, 52, 800-810.

Radio [edit]

Radio can serve as an effective vehicle for content that is both educational and entertaining. The British radio soap opera The Archers has for decades been systematically educating its audience on agricultural matters; likewise, the Tanzanian radio soap opera Twende na Wakati ("Let's Go With the Times") was written primarily to promote family planning.

Other successful radio programs that have incorporated fused entertainment and education include:

• DJ Nihal's BBC Radio 1 radio show which centered around 'edutainment'. He mentions this term each time the show is broadcast.^{[citation needed]}
• "The Lawsons/Blue Hills" - a radio program that was designed to help Australian farmers adjust to new farming methods.
• "Tinka Tinka Sukh" - a Hindi-language radio program that results in environmental and health improvements in India.
• Soul City - A successful South African radio serial drama that carried AIDS prevention messages.
• The Donut Shop - A successful internet radio show talk about educational games that they think could be used in today's schools.
• Radio Ado and its radiodrama "Pildoritas de la Vida Real" a Mexican radio soap opera designed to disseminate sexual education among teenagers. This radiodrama was produced by the University of Guadalajara and teenagers from Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico.
• Khirki Mehendiwali - In an endeavour to improve maternal and child health practices in Bihar, a 37 episode long Radio Show Khirki Mehendiwali was created for the rural audience by BBC Media Action, India. Each approximately 15-minute episode beautifully blends information with entertainment to disseminate one specific message on maternal and child health.The show provides a window to the world to its rural listeners by not only giving them a glimpse of the world outside but also unlocking voices, feelings, dreams and information, which they had hitherto not heard or experienced.

Toys [edit]

By setting [edit]

Educational institutions [edit]

Corporations [edit]

The concept of educational entertainment is being used for building learning programs for organizations. High technology is used to make the programs entertaining and educational. As an example, PowerPoint presentations may become more entertaining with the addition of flashy animations or graphics. An article in a satirical newspaper, The Onion, poked fun at the concept of embellishing boring presentations with attention-catching effects.^[7] A fictional marketing executive in the article noted the previous lack of excitement in the presentation, saying "When we first finished the PowerPoint, the content was all there, but it still lacked that certain something."^[7]

Museums [edit]

Edutainment is also a growing paradigm within the Science Center and Children's Museum community in the United States. This approach emphasizes fun and enjoyment, potentially at the expense of educational content. The idea is that people are used to flashy, polished entertainment venues like movie theaters and theme parks that they demand similar experiences at science centers and museums. Thus, a museum is seen as just another business competing for entertainment dollars from the public, rather than as an institution that serves the public welfare through education or historical preservation.^[8]

See also [edit]

• After school special
• Drama as a tool for education
• Educational game
• Educational toy
• Infotainment
• Kami (Takalani Sesame)
• Learnalot
• Public service announcement
• Serious game

References [edit]