Zachary (third from right) and Dr Ngeow with the participants

A talk titled “Creating a passionate Edutainer” was organised by the Centre for Learning and Teaching (CLT) on 29 May 2019 at UTAR Sungai Long Campus.

Invited to be the speaker was UTAR FCI Department of Media Zachary Roland Anthony.

The talk aimed to provide a platform for the educators to reflect whether they are doing enough to engage their students to enjoy and appreciate whatever the discipline content that the students are learning and what they could do to make the students understand and even act on what is being learned.

Zachary talks about the importance of becoming an edutainer

Zachary began by explaining the definition of edutainer, “Edutainer is someone who teaches while entertaining his or her students or audience. It is the blend of the word ‘educate’ and ‘entertainer’. An edutainer is also someone who shares highly relevant and appealing information and knowledge. I always look at the ‘dinosaur theory’ and try to make it more relevant by using movies, actors or life stories when I’m teaching. Sometimes I create drama as well. An edutainer also empowers and encourages people to reflect and find their own answers. I do not like to spoon-feed my students; I would only give them the first few answers and they will have to find the rest of it. I am teaching a subject related to “creativity”, so it is probably easier to connect with what is happening in the real world. My students usually have fun while learning. Everything about life is not just an experience but a learning material as well.”

He then shared with the participants on how he started to develop his interest in teaching, “I used to be a person who never wanted to teach. I am an introvert and I lacked confidence, so obviously, communication was not my strength. However, I changed my mind after attending my first teaching class. I promised myself that I wouldn’t be an average lecturer and that I would make a difference.”

He added, “The best part of teaching is when the students clap at the end of my performance. I do not want them to attend my class just for the sake of gaining knowledge but to enjoy it as well. When they enjoy our performance, they will appreciate us and the subject we teach. Hence, I always spend two weeks of every trimester to break the barrier with the students. Today, I can say that I am an excellent communicator with a creative mind and passion to teach and train. One thing that I have learnt throughout my teaching was— to become an edutainer, I have to be creative because every day starts with a new story and a new drama, so every day I will think of something new.”

“Besides, we are encouraged to become an edutainer because edutaining helps to engage our audience while learning. Edutaining could also increase students’ attention. It helps to stimulate their intellectual growth while building their image and reputation,” said Zachary.

Participants listening attentively

Sharing some of the methods he uses in the classroom, he said, “Sometimes I tell stories. I incorporate life stories and the stories from my friends so that my students can learn something from it. Sometimes I create drama; I make jokes; I try to stay tuned with the latest movies and music to keep myself updated; I create interactive games for students to play and I read the news as well. I would usually check up on the latest news and I will try to make it fun while I explain it to them, so that they will learn something from the news as well. As a result, I received positive feedback from my students which motivated me to continue what I am doing right now and it is also the reason why I am adopting this concept to help my students to turn their pressure into pleasure.”

“The formula to become an edutainer is to be simple and be relative. Getting to know what they like and dislike is the enjoyable part of my research because I get to know what the kids want. As an edutainer, we must be humble to learn, so that we can become better and do not forget to always be happy. Attitude shapes our behaviour. As an edutainer, our action will reflect the way we speak, the way we act and we cannot fake it. Hence, changing our attitude and reshaping our behaviour will help us to form our character,” said Zachary.

Before he ended his talk, he encouraged the participants to create their own mantra, “I have my own mantra which I practise all the time. Here’s how it goes— I can do it, I will change and I must change for better performance and better results! I found that people who teach tend to think that they are not an edutainer because they are not gifted. However, this is not true because we need time to find out how to become an edutainer. The more we develop our skills and abilities, the more we will be able to share with our kids. So, it is time to think of a new strategy to improve ourselves. When we share things which are real, our students will enjoy and appreciate.”

The talk then proceeded with an interactive Q&A session, followed by the presentation of token of appreciation from Faculty of Creative Industries Curriculum Development for Non-Science and Technology Programmes Programme Coordinator Dr Ngeow Yeok Meng to Zachary.

Dr Ngeow (right) presenting a token of appreciation to Zachary

Participant during Q&A session

Creating a passionate edutainer