%0 Journal Article %1 resnick-edutainment %A Resnick, Mitchel %D 2004 %J the Associazione Civita Report on Edutainment %K constructionism fun games haifa-games-course hard learning play %T Edutainment? No Thanks. I Prefer Playful Learning %U http://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/edutainment.pdf %X Let me start with a contrarian point-of-view: I don’t like edutainment. What do I mean by that? Am I a stodgy professor who wants to keep play and fun out of the learning process? Certainly not. In fact, my research at the MIT Media Lab focuses on ways to integrate play and learning. I have found that many of people’s best learning experiences come when they are engaged in activities that they enjoy and care about. Based on these ideas, I have helped develop new toys that provide children with opportunities to learn as they play (and play as they learn). So why don’t I like edutainment? The problem is with the way that creators of today’s edutainment products tend to think about learning and education. Too often, they view education as a bitter medicine that needs the sugar-coating of entertainment to become palatable. They provide entertainment as a reward if you are willing to suffer through a little education. Or they boast that you will have so much fun using their products that you won’t even realize that you are learning—as if learning were the most unpleasant experience in the world. I also have a problem with word “edutainment” itself. When people think about “education” and “entertainment,” they tend to think of them as services that someone else provides for you. Studios, directors, and actors provide you with entertainment; schools and teachers provide you with education. New edutainment companies try to provide you with both. In all of these cases, you are viewed as a passive recipient. That’s a distorted view. In fact, you are likely to learn the most, and enjoy the most, if you are engaged as an active participant, not a passive recipient. So I prefer to focus on “play” and “learning” (things that you do) rather than “entertainment” and “education” (things that others provide for you). My preference is for “playful learning” rather than “edutainment.” It might seem like a small change, but the words we use can make a big difference in how we think and what we do.

@article{resnick-edutainment, abstract = {Let me start with a contrarian point-of-view: I don’t like edutainment. What do I mean by that? Am I a stodgy professor who wants to keep play and fun out of the learning process? Certainly not. In fact, my research at the MIT Media Lab focuses on ways to integrate play and learning. I have found that many of people’s best learning experiences come when they are engaged in activities that they enjoy and care about. Based on these ideas, I have helped develop new toys that provide children with opportunities to learn as they play (and play as they learn). So why don’t I like edutainment? The problem is with the way that creators of today’s edutainment products tend to think about learning and education. Too often, they view education as a bitter medicine that needs the sugar-coating of entertainment to become palatable. They provide entertainment as a reward if you are willing to suffer through a little education. Or they boast that you will have so much fun using their products that you won’t even realize that you are learning—as if learning were the most unpleasant experience in the world. I also have a problem with word “edutainment” itself. When people think about “education” and “entertainment,” they tend to think of them as services that someone else provides for you. Studios, directors, and actors provide you with entertainment; schools and teachers provide you with education. New edutainment companies try to provide you with both. In all of these cases, you are viewed as a passive recipient. That’s a distorted view. In fact, you are likely to learn the most, and enjoy the most, if you are engaged as an active participant, not a passive recipient. So I prefer to focus on “play” and “learning” (things that you do) rather than “entertainment” and “education” (things that others provide for you). My preference is for “playful learning” rather than “edutainment.” It might seem like a small change, but the words we use can make a big difference in how we think and what we do.}, added-at = {2010-10-25T19:38:40.000+0200}, author = {Resnick, Mitchel}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/23c2f17d89ee28d884c9ff420cf25b68a/yish}, interhash = {8fefea414991b576b473dc9cf75cdbc3}, intrahash = {3c2f17d89ee28d884c9ff420cf25b68a}, journal = {the Associazione Civita Report on Edutainment}, keywords = {constructionism fun games haifa-games-course hard learning play}, timestamp = {2010-10-25T19:38:40.000+0200}, title = {Edutainment? No Thanks. I Prefer Playful Learning}, url = {http://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/edutainment.pdf}, year = 2004 }