It's Time We Found A New Word
For Educational Entertainment
Karl Sjodahl - 12/98

"Edutainment" and "Infotainment" became popular with the press and some segments of both the Entertainment and Education industries over a decade ago. Thankfully, both words seem to be losing favor in the popular press, While it could be said that objecting to the use of the word is like San Franciscans objecting to the use of the word "Frisco" to refer to their city, a case can be made that we need to find a new way of referring to entertainment experiences which educate, empower and inspire.

A recent article in the Charlotte Observer demonstrates perfectly why the  term "Edutainment" fails to capture the possibilities of effectively combining entertainment and education. In the article, the term is used to describe the use of colorful, visually appealing graphics, using automobiles from different decades and a series of geographic "layers" of the earth, to identify the floors of a downtown garage. I doubt that any similar design effort, no matter how well executed, would be thought of as a serious contribution to either the entertainment OR educational arts. As entertainment, it does not begin to compete with movies, television, theme parks, theater or other kinetic forms. Whatever cognative learning occurs by experiencing the graphics is minimal. And yet, the term "edutainment" seems curiously appropriate to the effort.

Immersive environments and kinetic show elements (live performance, film, video, music, animation, lighting and special effects) have the power to inspire and motivate people beyond that of simple graphics. If we use the tools of entertainment wisely, we can generate interest in subjects, drawing the audience to books, magazines, classrooms, libraries or the Internet to get more information and insight into the subject. Creating interest is, in many ways, a bigger and more important assignment than supplying information, and Educational Entertainment can make a major contribution in this area.

But what term can we use to describe engaging experiences which contribute to participants' understanding of themselves, each other and the world we live in? How can we accurately refer to something which we don't fully understand, and can't explain on a bumper sticker?

We need to expand the conversation of possibilities for using entertainment effectively in education and for creating entertainment that contributes to empowerment and understanding.

I would like for people on both sides of the Entertainment/Education discussion to be able to easily identify projects which successfully use entertainment technologies (like storytelling, immersive environments, live-action and animation media, music, recorded sound, theatrical effects, architecture and graphics) to contribute to educational objectives.

Projects that succeed on both levels are out there, and most of us know one when we see one. We simply have not yet figured out how to talk about them accurately. I wish there was an agreed-upon language to identify projects which demonstrate a serious commitment to both engagement and learning.

Entertainment can be used to do so much more than just "Edutain" people. Committing ourselves to learning how to use entertainment technologies effectively in education is, I believe, a path worth traveling.

I suggest that we avaid using a word which diminishes the possibility of Educational Entertainment, and concentrate on the development of this new domain before we try to name it.
 

Karl Sjödahl is in the middle of a varied and successful entertainment career. Karl was a producer-director at television stations in San Francisco, Baltimore and Cincinnati. He founded and ran a marketing, design and production company in San Francisco for fourteen years. He was s Senior Show Producer at Walt Disney Imagineering, a Vice President at WonderCamp Entertainment Co. and a Senior Show Producer for Sony Development in New York. He continues to consult on a variety of entertainment and educational projects.