Importance of Cartoons in Teaching
Vijay Garg
A cartoon is a simple drawing of the things we see around us in an entertaining way with lots of lively colours in it or a cartoon is a film, movie or a small video with animation in it. Cartoons are mainly meant for kids. They are usually printed in newspapers, comic books and magazines or they are broadcasted on the television. Cartoons were previously meant for the purpose of entertainment only. But these days’ cartoons are being extensively used for other purposes as well. Cartoons are now being used for education and spreading awareness amongst the people in addition to fun and entertainment.
Teaching is a very strenuous profession. It takes a lot of effort to transfer the whole lot of information from your own mind into someone else’s mind. For this reason, teaching necessitates a lot of new strategies, technologies, and ideas which can make this task easier. Cartoons have been abundantly used as a teaching aid for a very long time. They have made learning an easier and a better experience for the students. Cartoons have made humdrum subjects fascinating for the students. Cartoons bring in life into the dull pages of the books and the hidden secrets of the subject. Cartoons are very eye-catching. If you open a page with a cartoon drawn on it, the first thing you will notice on the page will be the cartoon drawn on it and without even going through the text you will try to fathom the cartoon image. One single cartoon drawn on one-fourth or one-sixth of a page can replace a page full of text. The books meant for toddlers or pre-nursery and nursery students are flooded with cartoon images because they are very pleasing to children’s eyes. The cartoon images seen by the children leave an impression in their mind. They tend to remember what the saw in the form of cartoons, or what actions were performed by the cartoons or anything else. If used in a correct way, cartoons can be very benign.
In the conventional teaching methodology, knowledge was imparted to the students by means of a systematic conversation or a discussion. But the upcoming generation is a bit different. The new generation of children wants to scrutinize almost everything. With so many queries popping in children’s mind, the conventional scheme of teaching flops. This presents the need for new techniques for teaching. Sometimes, this is achieved through the use of cartoons or comic strips. Cartoons have proven themselves to be very advantageous for educating children. From the very beginning, they have been conveying moral values.
Importance of Cartoons in Education?
Cartoons catch Attention: Kids always want to enjoy each and every moment. They want to sense fun and humour all the time around them. And it is human nature to correlate cartoons with fun and humour. Therefore, it can be said that in search for entertainment the first entity around them which will seek student’s attention will be cartoons or comic strips. Not only children, but even adults also do the same. Whenever we open a book we first look at the images printed on it and then the text. Similarly, the students will first read the comic strip and then the text. So in order to gain a student’s attention toward a subject, the use of cartoons will be a great idea.
Cartoons Lead to a Better Understanding: There are many topics which cannot be theoretically understood. They need practical experiences or real-life examples. Comic strips can help a lot in this situation. The comic strip can be easily used to narrate a story. With the use of cartoon characters and callouts, a story can be easily cooked up and the students will be able to understand the burdensome subjects very comfortably. Many writers are already using this concept of cartoons. Many history and economics book writer use cartoons or comic strips to present an important incidence which occurred in the past or a theory or concept which is beyond theoretical understanding. Instead of just writing an example it will be great if it is expressed in the form of a comic strip which will gain the concentration of the student and will lead to a better comprehension.
Cartoons can Develop Public Speaking: A cartoon comic strip has a lot of characters in it with different individual dialogues. A teacher can assign each of the characters to the students and tell them to perform a play on the comic strip. This will boost the student’s confidence. The students will get a chance to speak or perform in front of the whole class. It will enhance their speaking skills. It is beneficial for the rest of the students as well because they will understand the story in a better way. It will be like a fun session for everyone.
Cartoons are an Effective way to Teach Moral Education: Sometimes it becomes difficult for the teachers to teach the moral values and good manners. Students may take them lightly. They may not understand the consequences if they do not behave well. This can be taught to them dramatically. By showing them a cartoon video or movie the students can learn how to handle different situations, or if they do not follow a proper conduct then what circumstances they have to face. Other than these many small things like how to keep up the friendship, differentiating between right and wrong, how to behave in front of others, how to follow your own dreams and many more things can be learned from watching cartoons or reading comic strips.
Cartoons are a great Tool for Pre-Schooling: Cartoons can seek the attention of the tiny tots. They can be taught nursery rhymes, alphabetical order or counting series using cartoons. It will be also an effective way to teach them stories. Physical exercises can also be taught in this manner. A cartoon video on physical exercise can be shown to the kids and they can be asked to perform the same exercises the characters are performing in the video.
Cartoons can make Children Artists: Cartoons can develop an artistic mind in the students. If you tell a student to draw a cartoon character from their own imagination they will show such an amazing creation that will astonish you. Writing a comic strip on their own will enhance the thinking skills and writing skills of the students. This will also help in their brain developments as they will have to think about how to form dialogues from their story and what kind of cartoon will suit their character. This coordination between their brains and hands will develop their brain.
Cartoons will enhance Thinking Skills: Printed cartoons are not just in the form of comic strips. There are simple cartoon images also which have no text printed on them. They require critical thinking level to interpret what the cartoon is saying. There may be many possible outcomes but choosing the right one requires higher order thinking skills.
Cartoons can Improve Vocabulary: While watching cartoon movies, children can learn a lot of new words. They can learn their meaning and how to use them in sentences. They may also be able to learn how the voice tones can or gesture can change the meaning of the whole sentences. They may also learn what words to use on what occasions.
Cartoons can improve the Student-Teacher Relationship: Cartoons are liked by all children. If the teacher will use a cartoon to teach the students, the students will start to like the teacher. When the teacher will offer the students to see a cartoon or read comics to understand some theory or a subject the students will develop a liking for the teacher. Once this relation is developed, the students will be more attentive towards the teacher and will listen to every word said by the teacher. The student-teacher bond will be enhanced.
Cartoons are an Inexpensive Tool for Teaching: As compared to other tools like projectors, computers, and other varieties of smart technology cartoons are very cheap. They need to be just printed on a sheet of paper in the case of a comic strip or just need to be displayed on a television screen if it is an animation video or movie. Cartoons are very easily available. The can be downloaded from the internet, comic strips can be cut out from newspaper or magazines. There many television channels which show cartoon movies all the time. In this ways, they become a very inexpensive tool compared to others.
Conclusion
Every parent thinks that watching too many cartoons can affect their child’s health. It may affect his eyes or his brain development. This vision is only fifty per cent right. Watching cartoons in excess will definitely affect a child’s health but a right amount of time spent on cartoons will help in the child’s development and education. It is also thought that if a child will watch cartoons he will start to behave like a cartoon. This is not always correct. Watching the same cartoon all day can make him like that but watching it for half or one hour will not have much effect on him. This also depends on the type of cartoon the child is watching. If the cartoon character behaves positively in his role it will have a good effect on the child. Cartoons can also become a good teaching tool. This inexpensive tool has so many advantages. It can not only seek the student’s attention but it can also teach him many things. From pre-schooling to middle schooling, cartoons play a very important role. Instead of creating a stressed and monotonous atmosphere, cartoons create a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere.