The word "edutainment" has been used in the educational software
business for quite some time.  I my opinion it is a euphemism (a
"substitute of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may
offend or suggest something unpleasant").  However, the idea of
combining education and entertainment has been used by many good
teachers for a long time.

According to Webster, entertainment is: "something diverting or
engaging" (is this an oximoronic definition, or is it just me?).  If you
put the emphasis on engaging then edutainment means making education
engaging. I think just about everyone would agree that education should
be engaging.  However, there are people that feel that education is
"boring" and want to be "diverted".

So the answer, in my humble opinion, is Yes all education should be
edutainment (engaging).  This applies to classroom teaching as well as
exhibit in museums.

Being one of those that provides the pushbuttons and lights used in
interactive exhibits, I would like to say that edutainment and
interactive are two different things.  I would suggest, "edutainment" is
an approach and "interactive" is a tool.  You don't have to use every
tool out there to make an effective, educational, and engaging exhibit
nor every approach.  Labels are also an approach to conveying
information in museums and we have all seen these over used.  However,
I have also seen long labels which were written in an "entertaining" way
which made them a delight to read.

So don't be afraid of "entertainment" because its used by the enemy
(maybe its a weapon rather than a tool?), use it to your advantage.
Start with a good approach, use the right tools properly and you should
have good results.  If you don't, don't blame me, I just make the lights
blink!

-Mark-

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* Mark Fowle, General Manager        *
* INNOVA Applied Technology          *
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