1 T.Dumais EdTech 597 - Edutainment T.

D
Choose one example from various kinds of edutainment, and explain how they teach

I choose to do political cartoons as my form of edutainment as I believe it is a powerful tool to
express ideas and concepts in a highly visual manner. Political cartoons are used in social
studies as powerful images that convey current event, issues and events around the world.
Political cartoons have been used for hundreds of years to criticize, make fun or, educate and to
visually convey information or ideas. Political cartoons are educational as well as entertaining,
they can be visually appealing as the artist may employ a variety of visual and written techniques
including; humor, irony, puns, exaggeration as well as sarcasm, just to name a few. The power
of cartoons also lies in their ability to grab a students attention and allow them to make real
world connections.
Many teachers dont realize that cartoons are a form of edutainment and are powerful teaching
tools that allow a variety of learners; weak readers, ESL, or those working below grade, an
opportunity to understand complex ideas with the use of this form of visual media. In fact some
of the earliest political pamphlets were illustrated with images and minimal text as it wasnt until
the late 19
th
century that widespread literacy takes place in North America. Political cartoons
and other visually stimulating images are an important aspect of visual literacy and can provide a
basis for problem based learning. Images, like political cartoons, increase motivation, focus
attention, increases depth of processing and add clarity to text content (Carney & Levin, 2002).
Teaching visual literacy is an important aspect of understanding concepts and ideas. The
underlying foundation of visual literacy and the understanding of what ones see along with the
ability to effectively communicate their interpretation are critical to contextual learning.
Political cartoons are an aspect of the constructivist learning theory. The major theorists in
developing the constructivism school of thought were; John Dewey who saw learning as a social
experience and the growth an individual attained through that experience, his theory is called
Social Activism Theory. Lev Vygotsky, emphasized the influences of cultural and social
contexts in learning and supported a discovery model of learning called Scaffolding Theory.
Jean Piaget, he had a two part theory of learning, learners develop cognitive abilities at different
ages. The second part is learners must construct their own knowledge. Learners build
knowledge through experience called Child Development Theory. Jerome Bruner, his theory is
that learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon existing knowledge, learning is an
active process called Discovery Learning. Howard Gardiners theory is that there is a wide range
of cognitive abilities and people may learn through multiple intelligences such as: kinesthetically
or linguistically, his theory is called Multiple Intelligence Theory. By teaching visual literacy to
students we are teaching students how to develop their own ability to learn, understand images
and visuals long after they complete school. With a constructivist approach to teaching political
cartoons we are creating lifelong learners that are active and cognizant citizens.


2 T.Dumais EdTech 597 - Edutainment T.D
Type (movie,
game,
program)

Characteristic Description Learning
Theory
Political Cartoon

Analyze, reflect,
apply knowledge


Students develop
an understanding
of political
cartoons by
applying learned
analysis skills;
reflection,
previous problem
solving
techniques,
application of
images in
context.
cognitivism
Political Cartoon

Visual, auditory
and kinesthetic
learners.

Three learning
styles used to
help interpret
cartoons include;
auditory,
visual and
kinesthetic.
Auditory can
occur if the
student reads the
text or describes
the scene.
Visually the
student must
understand the
political cartoon
techniques
employed for
each cartoon.
Kinesthetic can
occur if a student
is creating their
own political
cartoon.
Learning Styles
Political Cartoon

Using previous
knowledge as the
basis for
understanding
new cartoons in
Construct
meaning
Through
application of
cartoon analysis
constructivism
3 T.Dumais EdTech 597 - Edutainment T.D
context.


techniques
Political Cartoon

Students use
analysis
techniques to
discover the
meaning of the
cartoon


Discovering
knowledge and
constructing
meaning from
the images and
text is central to
learning.
humanist
Political
Cartoons
Reward for
proper analysis
of the cartoon
Users are
rewarded
for correctly
analyzing the
meaning and
point of view of
the cartoon.
They use
memorized
techniques to
gain factual
knowledge. Or if
they are creating
a cartoon, they
are rewarded for
understanding
the main point of
the political
cartoon.
behaviorism

Reference:

Barrows, H. S, & Kelson, A.M. (1993).Problem-based learning: A total approach to
education. Monograph. Springfield, IL: Southern Illinois University School of
Medicine. Retrieved from http://wed.siu.edu/Faculty/bputnam/584/PBL%20Document.pdf

Carney, R. N., & Levin, J. R. (January 01, 2002). Pictorial illustrations still improve students'
learning from text. Educational psychology review, 14, 1, 5-26

Dewey, John (1897). My pedagogic creed. School Journal, 54(1) 77-80. Retrieved June 23, 2013,
Retrieved from http://dewey.pragmatism.org/creed.htm
4 T.Dumais EdTech 597 - Edutainment T.D

Dutrow, B. L. (January 01, 2007). Visual communication: Do you see what I see?.Elements, 3, 2,
119-125
Jonassen, D., & Land, S. (Eds.). (2012). Theoretical foundations of learning environments (2nd
ed.). Routledge.

Mayer, R. E., & Sims, V. K. (September 01, 1994). For whom is a picture worth a thousand
words? Extensions of a dual-coding theory of multimedia learning. Journal of educational
psychology, 86, 3, 389-401.
Perkins, D. (January 01, 2007). What should our students learn? Elements, 3, 2, 101-106.