3 best examples of edutainment videos in eLearning

The idea of combining education with entertainment has never gone out of style. Indeed, edutainment’s main role is to make learning more delightful and effective. Nowadays, in the digital world, learning through a visual and auditory form such as edutainment videos is proved to be one of the best ways. But how exactly does it work? Here are 3 remarkable edutainment examples in eLearning that definitely worth your attention.

Edutainment video – a creative form of learning

But first of all, let’s find out the definition of edutainment and how it helps improve learning experiences.

What is Edutainment?

To put it simply, edutainment is the combination of both education and entertainment. Specifically, it’s designed to not only provide knowledge to learners. But also, bring them pleasurable experiences while learning. By using media like videos, edutainment set to enhance learner’s performance in a captivating way.

Why edutainment video is essential to eLearning?

Edutainment video and eLearning go hand in hand together. Frequently, almost every well-known eLearning course has interesting videos integrated for teaching purposes. And all for good reasons: videos are accessible and unlimited in creativity. With images and sounds, you can create worlds of possibilities. Such as, learn new language through music video, or discover different cultures via a short film. So without a doubt, the key to edutainment videos’ success, lies in its multifunction nature.

3 noteworthy edutainment video examples

For a deeper understanding, let’s go through three eLearning programs that have the most inspiring videos. We’ll unveil what’s so special about these edutainment examples and how did it benefit the learners.

1. Vox – “The Mind Explained” series

Though not really an eLearning program, this Netflix docuseries definitely give us insightful knowledge about rather complex topics. Such as, memory, anxiety, dreams and how the brain works. Still, the series received amazing feedback from viewers. Mainly, due to its fascinating way of presenting information.

So how do they manage to introduce such complicated subjects while still maintaining learner’s attention?

Combining multiple forms of edutainment: cartoons, gif, pictures & audio

Like almost any documentary show, “The Mind Explained” use narrators and interviews from experts to convey the facts or messages. But here’s the difference, various edutainment forms like cartoons, animations, and pictures are being applied throughout the episode. This way, instead of feeling bored with theoretical facts, the audience is fascinated and engaged in the conversation. For example, sometimes while the experts are talking, animation comes in as visual aids.  to lift up the mood of the scene. Also, it’s a great idea to strengthen the expert’s point as well.

Similarly, gifs, photographs or audio appear occasionally in clever timings. But not too many, since learners will get distracted from learning. As a result, the audience never feels like they’re learning dry science, but rather are entertained by interesting facts and varied media.

Visualizing abstract subjects

Dreams, anxiety, memory…these conceptual matters are hard to explain. So how do you introduce it to new learners? To solve this puzzle, Vox turned to animation for help. In effect, the result is extraordinary! With a creative touch of animation, the series is able to embody dreams, reliving memories and visualize anxiety’s activities inside our brains. For instance, look at this video to see just how creative and imaginative it all is!

There you have it, the elements that made this series a hit and a source of fine edutainment examples to learn from.

2.CrashCourse

Another awesome edutainment example is Crash Course. In fact, this educational Youtube channel founded by John Green and his brother. Notably, it including tons of different, interesting courses. Such as film history, mythology, computer science,…you name it. With each course, CC provides an overview of the subject through fast-paced, vivid edutainment videos.

What is special about it?

Up til now, Crash Course has almost 10 million subscribers and no less than thousands of views on every video. Impressive, isn’t it? So what exactly helps bring so many people into their platform?

Witty narrators

Usually, on a typical Crash Course video, there’ll be a narrator guide us through the learning process. The Green brothers, Craig Benzine, Nicole Sweeney and many more. And, they all have one thing in common, that is wit. In fact, these people don’t just merely push the information to learners, they find a humorous way to tell them. In detail, it can be a history joke, a relatable comparison or the expressions they make. Either way, the audience seems to relax and interested in what the narrator has to say. Therefore, people feel more like listening to a charming person, rather than being lectured.

Prominent animated visual aids

History is one of the most loved topics in Crash Course channel. Not only because their contents are good, but it is also because of their bright-colored animated visual aids. Although, dealing with challenging subjects like history, there aren’t always available materials to work with. Not everyone has access to valuable historic footage. And sometimes there isn’t any footage at all. So, this is where animation comes in handy. With an eye-catching animated style, they can relive history on screen. Hence, complex historical events are now simplified and fun to watch. This will help learners have a better understanding and remember the factual information much longer than reading a book.

Moreover, the friendly appearance and the time-saving nature of animation help Crash Course achieve their goals. Which is provide concentrated knowledge to learners of all ages, in a relatively short amount of time.

3.Ted-Ed

The last edutainment example that you may have heard many times, it’s Ted-Ed. It is an extension of Ted, a platform which spread well-curated lessons via educational animated videos. With over 10 million followers and nearly 2 billion views in total, Ted-Ed is one of the top excellent edutainment examples nowadays.

What is their secret?
Focus on their edutainment side, what do you see?

Custom animated learning videos

Clearly, every video is made entirely from high-quality animation. As mentioned earlier, we already knew that animation has many advantages to learning. Such as, visualize abstract matters, easy to understand, friendly-looking, simplify information and more.

Read more: » What is behind high-quality animation

The consistency of style

By using animation in every lesson, Ted-Ed has successfully established their own style and method. Not only it feels more professional, but it also helps learners know what to expect when they come to the channel. Furthermore, the consistent use of animation builds up a distinctive, comfortable feeling for learners. As a result, they will more likely to be eager for the next lesson!

Conclusion

Vox, CrashCourse, and Ted-Ed are wonderful examples of edutainment videos. By applying good content, narrators and excellent animation into the eLearning course, they have managed to convey the lessons incredibly. Therefore, many learners from all around the world still come to these platforms, for entertaining and insightful knowledge.

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Read Further:

• Animation in eLearning: The great way to improve your online course
• How can animation improve completion rates for online courses