Edutainment: Using Technology to Increase Student Engagement

KEYWORDS: technology, learner engagement, edutainment

Edutainment, while seemingly a new and trending idea, is quite simply the combination of education and entertainment, or improving learning by making it more fun. What began as a way to teach children concepts such as multiplication with music (e.g. - School House Rock) has evolved into an integration of technology, design, and academics (e.g. - TED talks). Technology allows educators to become edutainers more easily by providing user-friendly formats and digital distribution that facilitates the creation of specialized content. This session will provide an overview of three edutainment technologies and how they can be used to increase student engagement.

Author(s):

Erin Makarius
The University of Akron
makarius@uakron.edu
United States