Finding the Story in Adult Education

Sesame Street has become a cultural icon--and a proven innovator in combining education and entertainment. Today, the GED Academy combines education and entertainment for the adult learner, addressing the needs of a growing number of adults without high school diplomas.



When Sesame Street first aired in 1969, it revolutionized preschool education with its controversial integration of entertainment and education. Hundreds of studies have been done on its effectiveness, and the research shows its positive impacts ( http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/14/1a/bf.pdf ). Today, the United States is facing a new challenge, over 39 million adult Americans who don't have a high school degree, and an innovative new study program is applying entertainment to the adult education field.



Interest drives education. Learning takes place inside the student's mind. To engage that process, the student must become interested. In order to engage adult learners, the GED Academy's GED prep program introduces a virtual classroom, where learners follow the stories of four GED students.



The virtual classroom covers GED skills, but the virtual students also spend time talking about their lives, getting into arguments, interacting with each other, and planning their futures. The stories of these characters are ones GED students can relate to. Maria is a single mother who is trying to support and raise her son. Curtis is an ex-convict who is trying to turn his life around by getting his GED. Becca is a former truck driver who injured her back and can't drive anymore. And Dwayne is the class clown, a grown-up boy with a Peter Pan complex who delivers pizza for a living.



Most GED preparation programs simply present the material in a straightforward way. But the students The GED Academy is trying to reach don't learn well from reading textbooks, or from a software program that's just a textbook on the computer screen. Far from being a textbook on a screen, GED Academy lessons are animated films, like watching a movie. The main goal is to get students involved.



The storytelling works on several levels. First, students become involved with the stories of the characters and amused by Dwayne's antics. Second, the virtual characters apply their learning to their own lives. Third, learners get to watch the virtual students think through and argue about the lessons--exposing the learning process.



Learning begins by playing. Learning begins with engagement, and entertainment. Somewhere between kindergarten and adulthood, that gets lost. Through narrative storytelling, The GED Academy is bringing the element of play back to adult education.