1 post tagged “education”

Recommendations for future research

By Chris A. Heidelberg, III

    The official report of findings for my dissertation has been released today. The study was a eleven month national qualitative study of eight entertainment professionals from New York City, Hollywood, and the San Antonio/Austin, Texas, area. The study was conducted entirely through the Internet and with new media on location throughout the country. It was open-sourced research, and all eight media professionals agreed to reveal their identities and they fully collaborated with me on this study and the electronic web sites that were created as a result of this research with the guidance and support of the participants.The research obtained was utilized in the design of this site and this the official research site.

    I would recommend a national quantitative study with entertainment professionals that focused on the themes and the findings of this study to verify the findings of this study.  Future research may also examine and chronicle the impact and effects of current and future technologies in the educational process, as well as the each of the fifteen implications discussed previously. A mixed methods study may be employed to study the development of edutainment and convergence with entertainment professionals. Furthermore, a mixed methods study with academic professionals and entertainment professionals that focused on the themes and findings of this study could serve to compare and contrast the thoughts, words and recommendations of these two different groups. Finally, I would conduct a longitudinal mixed methods study that would utilize focus groups and individual interviews, so that the academic and the entertainment professionals could jointly discuss edutainment and convergence and the issues that will arise in the future as technology develops and new research on learning methods and student –centered approaches emerges.

Future research can also focus on efforts to keep knowledge public and reform copyright laws so that terms such as academic freedom and fair use are more than an academic concept, but a political reality that businesses would be compelled to respect under the law (Bagdikian, 2000, 2005; Battelle, 2005; Lessig, 1999, 2001, 2004; Napolitano, 2004, 2007; The Center for Public Integrity, 2000; Vise & Malseed, 2005).  Academia has to be very careful that it does not become too identified as an instrument of corporate and government institutions (Bagdikian, 2005; Giroux & Giroux, 2004; Lessig, 2002, 2004; Moore, 2003; Napolitano, 2004, 2007; O’ Harrow, 2004; Risen, 2005; Rosen, 2001).  

Finally, a rhetorical question was advanced: Can a professor freely present provocative ideas in a class setting in a university when the class is being televised live and recorded for instant worldwide distribution without fear of retribution because of convergence technology? (Brin, 1998: Kaplin & Lee, 1995; Moore, 2003; Napolitano, 2004, 2007; O’Harrow, 2005; Risen, 2006; Rosen, 2001).  Only time and future litigation will provide the answer to this question, but it also gives rise to another rhetorical question: If academic freedom was originally instituted at The Academy to protect professors and students for views expressed on campus, does this same level of academic freedom extend to the digital classroom in an open society where the public can view or listen to course in today’s politically charged environment? (Apple Computer, 2006; Brin, 1998; Moore, 2003; Napolitano, 2004, 2007; O’Harrow, 2005; Risen, 2006; Rosen, 2001).
As I thought about the implications of academic freedom, I decided to use convergence technology one last time to find out if the participants would still use the technology. 
Each of the participants were sent a text message with the following message, “The bottom line question is this: after all of what we have talked about in this study at the end of the day would you use or recommend the use of edutainment techniques and convergence technology that we have talked about in the classroom?” The participants that answered responded within five minutes. Cesario answered,
“Yes, I would straight up use them (edutainment and convergence)!”
Erin sent a text: “Yes! Because it works for all types of students! Especially the visual learners like me.” Jeff replied, “Yes!”  Rebeca replied,
“ Absolutamente! (Absolutely in Spanish with strong enthusiastic emphasis).” 
Sadia was adamant: “Yes, absolutely! It should be in the classroom. It needs to be done in the right way with the educational content! “
The future of edutainment and convergence
This research examined the merging and utilization of edutainment and convergence in higher education from the perspective of entertainment professionals. At the end of the day, this research found that one process and one word lay at the heart of all education, edutainment, entertainment and technology: Communication. Jeff epitomized this discovery and summed up this study by saying, “Communication is such an important part of every area of study. You could be the greatest chemist or historian, but without effectively communicating with students and peers, one could be a poor educator.”
To be sure, education is literally impossible without communication, and this is why edutainment and convergence offer unlimited possibilities for the future of learning and learners. Perhaps essential is that all stakeholders in the educational process have a greater understanding of how entertainment techniques and new technology can work in concert to create a learner-centered environment that results in students and educators who are critical thinkers, leaders, and team-oriented with digital skills, professional skills, and communications skills that are necessary to compete in the global economy of the twenty-first century.

McLuhan (1967, 1968) maintained that the media is the message, and that electronic media would create a global village that would enable citizens to create electronic extensions of their minds and bodies. Perhaps, higher education will embrace edutainment and convergence so that scholarly knowledge can explore every available outlet.