Myth: Engagement Means Entertainment

Welcome & Series Setup

Hello, and welcome to the Designing with Love Podcast. I am your host, Jackie Pellegrin, where my goal is to bring you information, tips, and tricks as an instructional designer. Hello, instructional designers and educators. Welcome to episode 145 of the Designing with Love Podcast. Today we're continuing our series called Myths and Instructional Design in Education, where we unpack common beliefs that shape how we design, teach, train, and support learning. In the last episode, we challenged the myth that assessments must be test to be valid. We talked about why assessments should focus on the evidence learners need to show, not just the format we use. In this episode, we're looking at another common myth. Engagement means entertainment. This myth can show up when we feel pressure to make learning fun, flashy, exciting, or filled with constant interaction. But engagement is not the same as entertainment. Learners can be entertained without learning, and they can be deeply engaged without every moment feeling fun. So grab your notebook, a cup of coffee, and settle in as we explore this topic together.

How the Myth Series Works

Before we jump in, here's how this series will work. Each episode will focus on one common myth, why it has lasted, what we know instead, and how we can make stronger design decisions moving forward.

Engagement Does Not Mean Entertainment

Today's myth is engagement means entertainment. At first, this idea can sound reasonable. We want learners to pay attention, participate, and enjoy the experience. And there's nothing wrong with making learning enjoyable. The problem begins when we assume that engagement means adding games, humor, flashy visuals, music, competition, animations, or constant activity. Those elements can support learning when they are used with purpose, but they do not automatically create meaningful engagement. A learner can click through an activity and still not understand the concept. A learner can laugh at a video and still not remember the key idea. A learner can enjoy a game and still not be able to apply the skill later. Entertainment can capture attention, but engagement should help learners do something meaningful with that attention.

Why the Myth Keeps Spreading

So why has this myth lasted for so long? One reason is that entertainment is easy to see. If learners are laughing, responding, clicking, competing, or reacting, it can look like engagement is happening. But visible activity is not always evidence of learning. Another reason this myth persists is that many learning experiences have been boring, passive, or content heavy. So when we try to improve them, it is tempting to swing in the opposite direction and make them more exciting. That impulse comes from a good place. We want learners to care. We want them to stay with us. We want the experience to feel human and alive. But if the entertainment is not connected to the learning goal, it can become a distraction. This myth also persists because engagement is sometimes not measured deep enough. We may look at completion rates, clicks, smiles, comments, or attendance and assume learners are engaged. But true engagement goes deeper than participation alone. It includes attention, relevance, effort, reflection, practice, connection, and application.

What Real Engagement Looks Like

Here's where we need to shift the conversation. The issue is not that enjoyment does not matter. Enjoyment can absolutely support learning. The issue is that entertainment should not be the main measure of engagement. A more accurate way to think about it is this. Engagement is not about keeping learners entertained. Engagement is about helping learners connect with the content, think deeply, practice meaningfully, and apply what they are learning. A funny story can be engaging if it helps learners remember an important idea. A game can be engaging if it helps learners make decisions, practice skills, or receive feedback. A discussion can be engaging if it helps learners process ideas and hear different perspectives. A quiet reflection can be engaging if it helps learners connect the content to their own experience. Even a challenging task can be engaging when learners understand its purpose and see how it connects to something meaningful. Engagement does not always look loud. Sometimes engagement looks like concentration. Sometimes it looks like problem solving. Sometimes it looks like thoughtful silence. Sometimes it looks like learners wrestling with an idea long enough for it to become useful. The goal is not to entertain learners through every moment. The goal is to design experiences that invite learners into meaningful participation.

Shifting to Purpose-Based Design

So what does this mean for us as instructional designers, educators, trainers, or learning leaders? It means we need to move from entertainment-based engagement to purpose-based engagement. Instead of asking, how can I make this more fun? We might ask, how can I make this more meaningful? Instead of asking, what can I add to make learners pay attention? We might ask, why should learners care about this? Instead of asking, how can I make this activity more exciting? We might ask, what should learners be thinking, practicing, or applying? This shift helps us design engagement that supports learning instead of distracting from it. For example, if learners need to make decisions, we can design a scenario. If learners need to reflect, we can provide a thoughtful prompt. If learners need to practice a skill, we can create a low stakes activity with feedback. If learners need to connect ideas, we can use examples, stories, comparisons, or discussion. If learners need to apply a concept, we can give them a realistic challenge. The key is to make engagement serve the goal. Engagement should not just ask learners to do more, it should help learners think better, practice better, or apply

Myth Reset & Weekly Challenge

better. Here's today's myth reset. Instead of believing engagement means entertainment, remember that engagement means meaningful involvement in the learning process. Entertainment can support engagement, but it is not the same thing. Strong engagement helps learners connect, practice, reflect, receive feedback, and apply what they are learning. This week, look at one lesson, module, activity, discussion, or training experience and ask yourself, is this engaging because it supports learning, or is it entertaining without moving learners toward the goal? That question can help us design with intention instead of decoration. Today we challenged the myth that engagement means entertainment. We looked at why this belief has lasted, what it gets wrong, and how we can replace it with a more meaningful design approach. Your myth reset challenge this week is to review one activity, interaction, discussion, or learning experience. Ask yourself, what is the learning goal? What should learners think about, practice, decide, or apply? Does the activities support that purpose? Is anything added just to make the experience seem fun or interactive? How could the engagement become more meaningful for learners? Then choose one improvement you can make. Maybe you revise a discussion prompt, replace a flashy interaction with a scenario, add a reflection question, include feedback, connect the content to a real task, or simplify an activity that distracts from the goal. The goal is to not remove joy from learning, the goal is to make sure engagement serves learning.

Dewey Quote & Closing Support

In the next episode, we'll continue the series by looking at another common myth AI will replace instructional designers. Before I conclude this episode, here's an aspiring quote from John Dewey. Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn, and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking, learning naturally results. That quote is a helpful reminder for this myth because engagement is not just about keeping learners busy or entertained. It is about giving learners something meaningful to think through, practice, and apply. When we design engagement with purpose, we create learning experiences that are active, relevant, reflective, and useful. If this episode gave you something to think about, I'd love for you to share it with another educator, instructional designer, trainer, or learning leader who is ready to rethink what really works in learning. And don't forget to check out the companion myth reset case file for this episode. It will help you investigate the myth, review the design shift, and apply this week's challenge to your own course, lesson, module, or training experience. Thank you for joining me today as we opened another case in our myths and instructional design and education series. As you move through the week, I hope this episode encourages you to pause before accepting a familiar belief as fact. Sometimes the best design decisions begin when we question what we have always assumed to be true. Until next time, keep learning, keep questioning, and keep designing with love. Thank you for taking some time to listen to this podcast episode today. Your support means the world to me. If you'd like to help keep the podcast going, you can share it with a friend or colleague, leave a heartfelt review, or offer a monetary contribution. Every act of support, big or small, makes a difference, and I'm truly thankful for you.