That's Edutainment Baby!
Manage episode 302201458 series 2978633
That’s Edutainment Baby!
It’s not a neologism, a new word, though it is a portmanteau and though it’s not used much outside of the education industry – not enough that you won’t find argument around a scrabble game – trust me – I’ve had the argument - If you type it into Word you won’t get a red underlining so yeah, it’s legit even if not common on the street. It is edutainment
Edutainment = Education + Entertainment.
This is a concept that has existed for hundreds of years. Current technology has heightened the ability for edutainment to be used by teachers. This is great in my opinion however does the exponential forward movement of tech perhaps give us pause for thought? Are there any cons that we need to be wary of? Are there risks to mitigate? I think that’s a worthy discussion to be had which will make for a great deeper dive podcast in the near future.
The Renaissance and Enlightenment movements presented this combo of education and entertainment to students with great success. Learning is fun! Or it can be.
Good old Benjamin Franklin, with his Poor Richard's Almanack promoted edutainment, by combining entertaining and educational content such as puzzles.
Uncle Walt of Disney fame developed the idea of edutainment event further with the short educational film Tommy Tucker’s Tooth, which was commissioned and shot in 1922 for the Deneer Dental Institute.
Side note: My wife and I were commissioned a few years back to write children’s songs for a Dental campaign. The kids got to enjoy singing about not fearing the dentist, avoiding lollies for breakfast, that sort of thing. That’s edutainment baby!
As the USA stepped their red white and blue feet into World War II a relationship between Disney and the U.S. government was created.
That was when Disney really started to experiment with educational and nonfiction films which continued after the war, with series such as True Life Adventures which was a series of 14 documentaries.
The 70s ushered in an explosion of informative short films for students and if there was a health or social issue, you know it had a film, often animated, to educate the masses. It’s become the stuff of parody.
So edutainment isn’t new however, what we have is a whole new world of edutainment that tech advancements have facilitated. I remember back in the 80s when my primary school bought a couple of Macintosh computers for the library. It was mind blowing. Now many classrooms or individual students have Ipads.
When it comes to edutainment – business is booming. For example, when it comes to game-based learning products or the gamification of learning. The gamification market size in 2020 had a global value of $9.1 billion. According to analysts MarketsandMarkets it is predicted to register an massive growth rate of 27.4%, reaching $30.7 billion by 2025
Now there’s another whole episode for the near future – gamification.
Speaking of games, edutainment can also include everything from puzzles to Lego.
There are also wildlife reserves, museums, art galleries. Near my town we have the Gallery of Modern Art and they are constantly refreshing the exhibitions and bringing in wonderful interactive learning activities for all ages.
Today I thought I’d focus on one, relatively new but excellent source of information and opportunity for knowledge building. Here are 5 of the best Edutainment Youtube Channels. Best is always arguable I guess if it can’t be quantified but they are definitely 5 of my favourite.
This is One of the most-watched educational channels on YouTube with, at the time of this recording, almost 13 million subscribers and over 13 hundred videos Crash Course delivers short, snappy, witty and highly engaging lessons on pretty much every main topic you might traditionally study — physics, philosophy, economics, politics, media studies, anatomy, history, biology, literature, psychology, and more. I love crash course. Presented by John Green, a easily likable, witty, dry-humour type of guy, he can tend to talk fast and zap through things really quickly but as it’s not a hard watch or a long watch repeated viewings aren’t a chore if you miss something.
The is a sharp, easy viewing general knowledge show which is quite fun and engaging. It’s animated, it’s colourful, it’s animated infographics with voiceover. Good stuff.
It's Ok to Be Smart
This has similar caffeinated energy to Crash Course so can be a bit hyper for some but it provides fascinating info about science and the universe we are a part of. It was created and is guided by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Titles include “How Much of You is Alive?” and “These Butt Tickling Ants are Endangered Butterfly Bodyguards.”
TED Ed
If you go to their website you can find easily navigable ways to design lessons that include their instructional or educational videos. If you jump straight into their pool of Youtube videos you can find yourself wonderfully lost in the many subjects on offer. I find a lot of the videos cruise more than Crash Course and is less reliant on graphics like the Infographics show so this one is great while your driving and can’t watch the screen. Experts and like-minded educators from around the world get to throw their ideas in and speaking for myself it helps me to feel a real affinity.
Jason Silva's Shots of Awe
You may know Jason Silva as the host of Origins and Brain Games, which is (or was the last time I checked,) the most popular show on the National Geographical channel. In this weekly series which has been appropriately described by DIYgenius.com as philosophical “shots of espresso” focuses on helping us to pause and consider, think, meditate, ponder, ruminate – I’m just synonym babbling now – but basically he helps us to reflect on the possibilities of human ingenuity.
I’ll finish with a quote by Albert Einstein
“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery each day.
—"Old Man's Advice to Youth: 'Never Lose a Holy Curiosity.'" LIFE Magazine (2 May 1955) p.
Thank you for being with me today. Educate This is sponsored by Qualify Now – a damned awesome training provider specialising in TAE. They are not one of those short cut, cheap and nasty providers. They offer a streamlined, easily navigable course but one that is also comprehensive and then some. They will give you tools that will exceed expectations of potential employees.
My name is Nate Hamon – let’s talk again soon.
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