One of my articles published on the NSRCEL Blog
The recent times have seen the most number of new words being coined - and edutainment happens to one of the new guys on the block. This term has been thrown around since a few years in order to promote the entertainment industry in a saner way (or to show that they are still sane!). For parents who are more concerned about this aspect of the game, there has been a huge number of innovations - whether the kid likes it or not, the amount of information bombarded on the kid, as well as that which the kids grasps, is enormous! And it is not at all surprising if the kid knows more about rocket science than you ever knew.
The recent times have seen the most number of new words being coined - and edutainment happens to one of the new guys on the block. This term has been thrown around since a few years in order to promote the entertainment industry in a saner way (or to show that they are still sane!). For parents who are more concerned about this aspect of the game, there has been a huge number of innovations - whether the kid likes it or not, the amount of information bombarded on the kid, as well as that which the kids grasps, is enormous! And it is not at all surprising if the kid knows more about rocket science than you ever knew.
The combination of amusement with education helps kids to remember more, understand faster, and not get tired of the process. Since memorizing is not education, it is important that the kids are able to apply what they learn and edutainment is one such area where the same is done. When you look at games on the computer, the imagination of the kids grows very abstract as well as pan optic. At the same time, the kid starts to live in a wonderland, where the real risks of life are not there. When you see the kid who is being chased in the beginning of the movie, Die Hard 4.0, the kid is completely shocked with the real bullets being fired, no matter how many games he has won with bigger machine guns!
When a kid is playing a financial game, he is getting the understanding of the way money works, but unless guided in the right way, he considers all money matters as just games. Some kids get very obsessed with winning and most of the kids get ideas about hacking into banks and playing in casinos, just because they are always used to winning the game. When edutainment systems are designed, hardly will you see games that develop characteristics of facing a failure and patience.
On the contrary, if you look at the better side, kids who have been exposed to this during their development always look at challenges in life in a creative way. They are fascinated to know more about things and they are the ones who become great developers of technology. They are the ones who can imagine the next step in the technology front, and they are the ones who can undo the biggest blunders that technology can create. The biggest hackers are the greatest anti-hackers!
Looking at other aspects of edutainment, how many of us would like to learn Chemistry in a more fun-and-game manner than just memorize methods of balancing equations! Relevance, incremental learning, and distributed learning can help us be smarter at our subjects.
The only way to avoid mission-drift in the field of edutainment, is just to be careful. There are a number of tools available, and for a kid, being an understanding parent is what is needed most. Emphasis on fun and enjoyment should not be at the expense of educational content. Its a double-wedged knife, and we got to handle it carefully. A line has to be drawn that can show the kids, the difference between a real bullet and an on-screen game bullet, between really losing money and losing it on a game, and between handling emotions in reality than in just few sessions of a game.
Any thoughts!?
When a kid is playing a financial game, he is getting the understanding of the way money works, but unless guided in the right way, he considers all money matters as just games. Some kids get very obsessed with winning and most of the kids get ideas about hacking into banks and playing in casinos, just because they are always used to winning the game. When edutainment systems are designed, hardly will you see games that develop characteristics of facing a failure and patience.
On the contrary, if you look at the better side, kids who have been exposed to this during their development always look at challenges in life in a creative way. They are fascinated to know more about things and they are the ones who become great developers of technology. They are the ones who can imagine the next step in the technology front, and they are the ones who can undo the biggest blunders that technology can create. The biggest hackers are the greatest anti-hackers!
“Memorizing” is not education. Unfortunately, it has been the cornerstone of Indian education system, producing droid-like majority.
Looking at other aspects of edutainment, how many of us would like to learn Chemistry in a more fun-and-game manner than just memorize methods of balancing equations! Relevance, incremental learning, and distributed learning can help us be smarter at our subjects.
The only way to avoid mission-drift in the field of edutainment, is just to be careful. There are a number of tools available, and for a kid, being an understanding parent is what is needed most. Emphasis on fun and enjoyment should not be at the expense of educational content. Its a double-wedged knife, and we got to handle it carefully. A line has to be drawn that can show the kids, the difference between a real bullet and an on-screen game bullet, between really losing money and losing it on a game, and between handling emotions in reality than in just few sessions of a game.
Any thoughts!?
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