The Power of Edutainment: The Serious Way to Make Learning Fun
You're preparing to give a lecture on the Mars Rover, teach a group of people how to edit smartphone photos or present a talk on the history of Hollywood movie musicals.
What's the most effective way to keep your audience engaged throughout? How do you keep them buzzing after your talk is over?
In today's fast-paced world, most people live their lives connected to their smartphones, computers, TV screens and car radios. On those devices information is presented in small chunks. Divide those chunks into smaller pieces and you have a sound bite. What that means is that attention spans are short. Very short.
TED Curator Chris Anderson limits their talks to 18 minutes because "It's long enough to be serious and short enough to hold people's attention." But, even when people purposefully disconnect like they do when they're at a TED event, on vacation, or on a cruise, their brains are now programmed to process information in small chunks.
Even the length of a sound bite has shrunk over the years. In the NPR story The Incredible Shrinking Sound Bite (January 5, 2011) Craig Fehrman says, "the length of political soundbites shrank from 43 seconds in 1968 all the way down to nine seconds in 1988." WHDH-TV photographer Tony Leocha adds " Now, a person will be on camera for about 10 seconds."
Despite our short attention spans, there are ways to make your message matter and keep your audience engaged. One approach that has gained considerable momentum is "edutainment," the concept of fusing education and entertainment.
Edutainment is more than just a trend; it's a powerful tool that plays a crucial role in promoting effective learning. According to the magazine The New Scientist, "superior learning takes place when classroom experiences are enjoyable."
A 2018 global research study conducted by MGM Resorts called "Truth About Entertainment" found that more than 90% of respondents in the U.S. and China and more than 80% in Japan see entertainment as fundamental to their health and happiness. And, to demonstrate the significance of this concept, the Global Bank Group, with offices in over 130 countries around the world will "scale up investments in edutainment in both developed and developing countries.
So, here's three reasons why edutainment is important and how it benefits both learners and educators:
1. Engagement and Motivation: Edutainment captivates learners' attention by making the learning process enjoyable. When people are engaged and motivated, they are more likely to retain information.
2. Multisensory Learning: Humans learn best when multiple senses are involved. Edutainment accommodates various learning styles because it incorporates visual, auditory, and kinesthetic elements.
3. Edutainment utilizes storytelling, memorable characters, and engaging narratives, which are proven to enhance information retention. When people connect emotionally with the content, they are more likely to remember it in the long run.
Now that you know the value of edutainment, there are three techniques you can use to incorporate it into your lectures, talks and presentations. Doing any one of them will keep your audience engaged. Do all three of them and you have a great chance of making your message stay in the minds of your audience long after ...The next three bog posts will describe those for you:
The Power of Edutaining Lectures: Why They Make Your Audience Lean In When They Listen
The Power of Edutaining Delivery: What to Do When You Want Them to Know
The Power of Visual Edutainment: Why It Makes Your Audience Love to Learn
