After 40 years and more than 4100 episodes broadcast in 120 countries, Sesame Street has established a standard for education of all youth. This Emmy-award winning program is the most effective educational children’s program in history. The creative forces behind Sesame used engagement techniques and technology before it was easy and fashionable. What can higher education learn from Sesame Street?
In this visual-learner, wired-for-sound Net Generation of students, 1st grade through graduate school, should we consider integrating live people (faculty and students), muppets, animation, cartoon characters, celebrities, music, and video clips with people and animals in our teaching? Sesame Street is fun and funny. Their use of parody and satire is brilliant. Isn't learning supposed to be FUN? Why do so many faculty dismiss "fun" as a criterion for learning? They have probably sucked the life out of their teaching and students. Sesame models basic principles of teaching we all should follow.
Multimedia-wise, the music and videos are used almost nonstop throughout the programs and even in the extremely popular “Elmo’s World” segment. A multimedia approach undergirds the teaching of basic academic and life skills. The lyrics are chock full of content to help kids remember numbers, arithmetic, geometric forms, letters, words, cognitive processes, and classification. Catchy melody, upbeat tempos excite children and keep their attention, while slipping the content into long-term memory. Researchers found that when the music and action was stopped, such as on Sesame Street during dialogue between adults, the children stopped watching (Fisch & Truglio, 2001).
This music-action-video formula to learning deserves serious consideration by all faculty. It is especially apropos for this generation of students. They have minimal patience with course requirements and the attention span of goat cheese (Berk, 2008a). They want everything NOOW.
Their behaviors, however, are by choice. They can spend hours playing video games or other activities in which they are interested and engaged (Prensky, 2006); they just find most courses boring. For more than a decade, 40+ % of college students nationwide report “they are frequently bored in class” (Pryor et al., 2009). Unless the content is on their radar screens, it’s likely to be rated “boring.”
Can faculty create adult student versions of Sesame Street in their live face-to face and online classrooms? Sure. Why not? The application of music and video technology will be a start to break the mold of traditional teaching practices. (Note: Instructors at not-for-profit teaching institutions are permitted to use music and video clips in their face-to-face as well as online classes under the “Fair Use” doctrine of the U.S. Copyright Law.)
For further details on using music and videos in teaching, you can download two articles on those topics from www.ronberk.com (under dropdown for Publications, click Articles and links to 2008b and 2009b PDFs).
Today’s blog was brought to you by the letter “M” and the number “40.” I wish Sesame another 40 years of amazing success with our little tikes and their parents, some of whom may even be faculty.
COPYRIGHT © 2009 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
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