Edutainment

Edutainment (or Edu-tainment) is a term that broadly refers to any process or intervention that seeks to teach someone something while simultaneously entertaining them. This includes performances, music and visual media.

The more commercial version of this is sometimes referred to as info-tainment as well, particularly as used in an advertising context.

It is a somewhat wider interpretation of Educational theatre, one that has become a substantial element of professional theatre and performance practice. According to the Cambridge Business English Dictionary[1], the market for edutainment software is growing at about 30% a year, for example.

According to the IGI Global website[2], the term was coined by Walt Disney in 1954 - presumably with reference to their products - while the Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary[3], states that the first known use of edutainment in the broad meaning defined above, dates from circa 1973. The verb "to edutain" has since also come into use.