The Edutainment in Instruction-Edutainment and Classroom Instruction: Challenges and Relevance. Current Trend Lecture Series. Lecture 1
Edutainment and Classroom Instruction: Challenges and Relevance. Lecture 1
By
Olaide Alabi (PhD)
The combination of education and entertainment is
known as edutainment, this new form of approach is emerging rapidly for
effective classroom instruction; the main purpose of this approach is to
support tutoring with entertainment (Aksakala 2014, David (2015).
The term edutainment was developed by Bob Heyman while
producing a document for the National Geographic Society in the United States of
America. Edutainment means educational entertainment, it consists of
instructional techniques which engage and motivate the learners as well as
enhance learning, it engages more fun and makes learning less boring (Yaylaci
and Yaylaci 2016).
Edutainment techniques could be in various forms, such
as games, movie scenes, shows, museums, zoos, comedic drama, and tele-teaching, In essence, the different types of media used would categorise edutainment into
their classes depend so much on what instructor or a teacher
wants learners to be exposed to therefore media, technology and instruction
cannot be separated, they are part of new classroom pedagogy (Green, 2017 and
Alabi, O. 2019,).
To overcome
students’ predicaments and make learning more effective, it has been suggested
that strategies using visual materials, teaching through practical work,
reducing the content of the curriculum, using various study techniques, and
connecting topics with daily life would go a long way (Ekici 2010, Atilla
(2012),).
Technological
gadgets came with different media that could make classroom activities less
stressful. Learning could be effective if teachers could bring contemporary
trends into teaching, especially to the present generation of students, life
itself is exciting, and edutainment is to provide fun and learning, it is a way of
improving teaching and learning in school.
Contrary to expectation
it has been revealed that there has not been a great improvement in the
achievement of some school subjects, and this is so surprising. Part of the
factors responsible for this is if schools are not able to exploit the
opportunities offered by technologies; other factors could be a lack of
facilities, and equipment which will make the use of edutainment inevitable (Alabi,
2017).
curriculum content being
overloaded and not generally related to working life, alienation of topics and
prevalence of some difficult subjects could serve as a diminishing return in
learning in the classroom. Lack of discussion of topics of interest, and the
absence of clear expression has also been emphasised in this direction, so
edutainment could lead to an opportunity to manifest creative ability, especially in academic matters.
In the school system,
there is hardly any subject that does not originate from natural activities and
the natural environment at times they involve the study of survival techniques
as a way of coping with the challenges in the global community. With the fast
rate of development that is ongoing globally, the edutainment approach should
be made effective in the classroom. Training of students is essential,
students’ capability for self-directed learning and self-growth is paramount which
is why the edutainment approach is relevant in instruction.
Without a fun relating
approach, learning might be very difficult and daunting, to improve the quality
of teaching and learning in schools, students’ perceptions ought to be taken
into consideration. To help them determine the factors that would make them
understand the global concepts and the ones that could jeopardise their chances
in life or negatively affect students’ attitudes towards any subjects, an edutainment
approach is inevitable.
In a nutshell, edutainment
is a modern technological approach to education that helps different concepts turn
into entertaining events or activities (Anikina and Yakimenko 2016).,
Challenges
Faced by Edutainment
·
Among the prevalent
challenges that the majority of teachers and instructors face these days is that
they cannot categorise edutainment as an instructional process.
·
Some teachers could not realise
that the actual entertainment could be modified to be a form of teaching,
·
A lot of instructors do
not realise the essence of edutainment as an approach, they fail to realise
that the approach could be used to the optimal level to make students learn
especially if they are not ready to sacrifice their time to work out the best usage
of the approach.
·
The need to make
instruction fun if care is not taken could make them ruin the process because if
not, they might derail from teaching the actual concept required within a given
instruction, thereby module-up the approach and creating more confusion for
learners.
·
Another challenge is that
it should be realised that the edutainment approach is not about being clownish
or creating a noisy environment but rather making students learn with fun and
pleasure.
·
There is still the problem
of teachers and schools not being able to afford modern scientific equipment
and supportive equipment to make it work.
. Relevance of
Edutainment
·
It is an indisputable
fact that the traditional method of teaching is obsolete. The impact of the edutainment
approach to instruction is enormous:
·
The mode of instruction is
highly adaptable to different application and in the end, make students happy.
·
The overloaded
curriculum, the abstract and interdisciplinary nature of some concepts and
difficulties with the textbooks are some of such factors preventing students
from learning but edutainment when used could put an end to such problems.
·
The use of edutainment in
school as a welcome development among teachers could solve teaching/learning problems
with ease
·
Students would learn and
retain information in their memory better and longer if edutainment is used for
instruction.
·
The use of edutainment
will enable students to be more productive and knowledgeable, thereby
contributing to global growth and development, which is a major goal of
education.
·
Through it, learners’ personalities
could be modified, and their behaviour could be transformed for the better.
·
Edutainment is a fun-related instructional technique. It offers teachers the opportunity to bring
entertainment into the classroom.
·
It is to improve
learners’ academic achievement and turn the process of instruction into real
interaction, especially between teachers and students.
·
Edutainment method of
teaching launches students into the better instructional method in all subjects,
this method offers students access to watch and participate in the process of
instruction
·
The challenge of assimilating
the content of the curriculum by students would become a forgotten issue with the
use of the edutainment approach.
References
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