In olden times education took a different form. People lived in small groups and the older members of the group would instruct the younger members. Later on parents taught their children but the idea of education being organized by society is a comparatively modern idea. In Europe in the Middle Ages most people were totally uneducated and literacy was a prerogative of the rich and powerful or the church. Those at the top were all too happy to leave the masses in a state of ignorance since it made them easier to govern. However, in the 15th century the printing press was invented and the world changed. This new invention had a profound effect. No longer did scholars have to sit and write everything laboriously by hand, and once the written word was accessible to all, reading became more prevalent. In the mid-twentieth century the idea of universal literacy was implemented by most modern western countries. But sadly, in the twenty-first century, with the advancement of technology in the form of the Internet and the world becoming a global village, education, particularly the power of the written word, has weakened.
Two modern phenomena - edutainment and technotainment - have had a significant impact on education. The former, which is a mixture of two words, education and entertainment, shows that these two separate entities are now being combined to provide a new form of learning which can be looked at from two points of view. We can regard it as form of entertainment that also happens to educate, such as can be seen in children's programmes like Sesame Street. It can also work the other way round in that it is education that happens to be entertaining, such as can be found in documentary films or on particular channels such as The National Geographic or History channels. Technotainment, is, as the name implies, technological activities that are made entertaining. But the question that many educators are asking nowadays is: do these systems work or are they merely another way of keeping the masses happy, but half-educated?
In an article in eSchool News (2000) entitled "Beyond Edutainment and Technotainment" the problems with this type of education was discussed. Veteran school headmistress, Ms. Jackson addressed her apprehensions with this form of learning. Originally Ms. Jackson had believed that the use of technology could raise the level of her school. Unfortunately she soon discovered that using the Internet and giving computer presentations were not really educational. The students were creating electronic presentations which made a strong first impression through special effects which were sophisticated and impressive. Unfortunately that was as far as they went. Once the appearance of the work was removed it turned out that the content was quite poor. Everything was dependent on the outer shell since the inner "real" material was hollow, and there was no serious analysis or synthesis.
Part of the problem with both edutainment and technotainment is that they are extremely physical mediums. The former in particular is a very visual medium and as a result, depth of thought, analysis and synthesis are all sacrificed. The written word is being discarded and education is going back to the days where icons were supreme. And as effective as icons can be, they do not encourage or stimulate profound reasoning or creative thinking. But reading skills are not just being lost to superficial special effects, they are also being changed by the whole surfing mentality that means you read a couple of lines here and a paragraph there, but don't bother to read the whole article, let alone stop and think about what you have read. Moreover, edutainment is reinforcing an idea that has been creeping into education slowly over the last two decades. Nowadays, many people in the educational field, along with the students, believe learning must be fun. Making an effort is not fun. Being bored is not fun. Hence if anything is difficult or dull it must be changed. As a result a great deal of material in the classrooms has been slowly but surely "dumbed down" over the last few years. The end result is that the material makes no demands of the student's intellect.
The question being asked now is what are the long term effects of this new form of education? Unhappily, the prognosis is not good. We will have a generation who are unable to persevere when anything becomes difficult. The ability to deal with anything in depth is being lost by a generation who zap from one TV channel to another and surf the net with great rapidity, never stopping too long at one place. Even the films have to have ever increasing action. It seems we are returning to the Middle Ages, where the masses are controlled by those in power, but this time entertainment is used to restrain them rather than fear or religion. Thus as the world goes forward, man falls behind.
Two modern phenomena - edutainment and technotainment - have had a significant impact on education. The former, which is a mixture of two words, education and entertainment, shows that these two separate entities are now being combined to provide a new form of learning which can be looked at from two points of view. We can regard it as form of entertainment that also happens to educate, such as can be seen in children's programmes like Sesame Street. It can also work the other way round in that it is education that happens to be entertaining, such as can be found in documentary films or on particular channels such as The National Geographic or History channels. Technotainment, is, as the name implies, technological activities that are made entertaining. But the question that many educators are asking nowadays is: do these systems work or are they merely another way of keeping the masses happy, but half-educated?
In an article in eSchool News (2000) entitled "Beyond Edutainment and Technotainment" the problems with this type of education was discussed. Veteran school headmistress, Ms. Jackson addressed her apprehensions with this form of learning. Originally Ms. Jackson had believed that the use of technology could raise the level of her school. Unfortunately she soon discovered that using the Internet and giving computer presentations were not really educational. The students were creating electronic presentations which made a strong first impression through special effects which were sophisticated and impressive. Unfortunately that was as far as they went. Once the appearance of the work was removed it turned out that the content was quite poor. Everything was dependent on the outer shell since the inner "real" material was hollow, and there was no serious analysis or synthesis.
Part of the problem with both edutainment and technotainment is that they are extremely physical mediums. The former in particular is a very visual medium and as a result, depth of thought, analysis and synthesis are all sacrificed. The written word is being discarded and education is going back to the days where icons were supreme. And as effective as icons can be, they do not encourage or stimulate profound reasoning or creative thinking. But reading skills are not just being lost to superficial special effects, they are also being changed by the whole surfing mentality that means you read a couple of lines here and a paragraph there, but don't bother to read the whole article, let alone stop and think about what you have read. Moreover, edutainment is reinforcing an idea that has been creeping into education slowly over the last two decades. Nowadays, many people in the educational field, along with the students, believe learning must be fun. Making an effort is not fun. Being bored is not fun. Hence if anything is difficult or dull it must be changed. As a result a great deal of material in the classrooms has been slowly but surely "dumbed down" over the last few years. The end result is that the material makes no demands of the student's intellect.
The question being asked now is what are the long term effects of this new form of education? Unhappily, the prognosis is not good. We will have a generation who are unable to persevere when anything becomes difficult. The ability to deal with anything in depth is being lost by a generation who zap from one TV channel to another and surf the net with great rapidity, never stopping too long at one place. Even the films have to have ever increasing action. It seems we are returning to the Middle Ages, where the masses are controlled by those in power, but this time entertainment is used to restrain them rather than fear or religion. Thus as the world goes forward, man falls behind.
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