To learn or to have fun? How paratexts of entertainment education programs affect fans’ informal learning

Abstract

This study investigatess the role of producer-end and fan-made paratexts in digital platforms in realizing the educational effects of television entertainment among fans. Focusing specifically on the case of Super Vocal, a highbrow music-themed television show with explicit educational purposes, the study examines the informal learning outcomes experienced by fans who engage with officially produced and fan-created texts associated with the show. Through an online survey administered to a sample of 754 Super Vocal fans, the study reveals that the direct association between fans’ acquisition of music-related knowledge and consumption is primarily observed for the source text itself. However, the educational effects of producer-end and fan-made paratexts manifest more prominently in their capacity to motivate fans to attend music performances. Furthermore, fans’ consumption of paratexts indirectly facilitates knowledge acquisition by stimulating active information-seeking behaviors. This study contributes to the understanding of entertainment education (EE) television programs by emphasizing the perspective of creative fan participation. Paratexts related to EE television shows collaborate with officially produced content to achieve educational objectives, with fans’ informal learning behaviors playing a significant role in this process.

Keywords:

• entertainment education
• media convergence
• paratexts
• fandom
• informal learning

Acknowledgement

We thank all the Super Vocal fans for the inspiration.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Major Grant of Key Research Centers of Humanities and Social Sciences by the Ministry of Education of China (22JJD86002)

.

Notes on contributors

Fang Wu

Fang Wu (Ph.D., The Chinese University of Hong Kong) is an associate professor at the School of Media and Communication at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Her research interests include media technology and online youth culture, the public effects of media entertainment, and the impact of new media on public communication.

Di Cui

Di Cui (Ph.D., The Chinese University of Hong Kong) is an associate professor at the School of Journalism, Fudan University. His research interests include new media technologies and digital culture in China.

Fu Hsuan Yang

Fu Hsuan Yang received her bachelor’s degree at the School of Media and Communication at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2019.