For decades now TV has been the top source of information for households due to the abundance of not only news channels but also education channels. Channels like “National Geographic” or the “Discovery Channel” and “CBBC” for the younger generation provide children with a source of education outside school which can be , at times, more exciting and interesting compared to the dull work at school. On the positive side, you even don’t get any homework whilst watching these channels which is another plus for teenagers.
However the chances of getting a lower class teenager or a “chav” watching channels like “National Geographic” is slim as they prefer to watch something more thrilling or amusing like “Little Britain” or the football.
But recently there has been an influx of edutainment which have set out to educate as well as amuse. Edutainment typically seeks to instruct or socialize its audience by embedding lessons in some familiar form of entertainment: television programs, computer and video games, films, music, website, multimedia software, etc
Edutainment is becoming an important feature to “reach” out to teenagers as it is not only education them about maths, science, history, etc… but also various groups in the UK are now using edutainment to address such health and social issues, such as substance abuse, immunization , teenage pregnancy, HIV / AIDS , and cancer.
TV and radio edutainment uses a blend of communication theories and entertainment pedagogy to guide the preparation of programming. Communication theories such as the “diffusion theory” or the “social learning theory” aim to help improve the behaviour and also abolish anti-social behaviour. Edutainment pedagogy techniques include “incremental learning” and “distributed learning” which allows people to learn in their own ways and own pace.
These techniques are arguably more effective for the less “brainy” as it allows them to learn in their own ways, whereas at school they might fall behind the rest of the class or lose concentration easily.
Edutainment has been very successful; one radio program that has been successful is “Soul City”, which is a South African radio serial drama that carried AIDS prevention messages. Successful TV programs include “Grey’s Anatomy” and “AS World Turns” which carry messages about organ transplants and breast cancer.
However Edutainment is widely criticised in America by the science museum community. The idea is that Americans are so used to flashy, polished entertainment
venues like movie theatres and theme parks that they demand similar experience at science centres and museum. Thus, a museum is seen as just another business competing for entertainment dollars from the public. It is also criticised by the approach of emphasizing on fun and enjoyment rather than educational content .
Despite that, both TV and radio education is becoming outdates by the internet, which is preferred due to the ability to hold a large amount of education content and also information sites such as “wikipedia”
TV and radio are both important sources of education and information, and edutainment is without a doubt beneficial to the teenage population. But unless they show the willingness to end the large unconstructive social gatherings or gaming addictions, and start learning from school, TV, radio, internet, etc they will not gain knowledge and will forever be confined to the chav state of mind. And in doing so the human race will be going back instead of moving forwards .
