Edutainment

Museums and public access areas

Edutainment is also a growing paradigm within the science center and children's museum community in the United States, as well as in many other locations such as the zoo or a botanical garden. Educational locations such as these are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to reach the surrounding public and get them interested in areas such as the fine arts, science, literature, and history. Additionally, field trip visits to these educational places provide participants with interactional stimulus to learn about the content offered there. Since people are used to flashy, polished entertainment venues like movie theaters and theme parks, they demand similar experiences at science centers or museums. Consequently, interactive experiences, such as games and mobile apps, are implemented in museums in order to more effectively help people learn about what they are seeing. Museums are also embracing the ability to use storytelling to engage people, especially those who are young, in hopes to increase attendance; all the while, though, it is possible for the focus and purpose of museums to be diluted. Thus, a museum or a zoo can be seen as just another business competing for entertainment dollars from the public, rather than as an institution that serves the public welfare through education or historical preservation.