Dive Brief:

• Instead of chalking learning up to absolutes — reading is for education, video is for entertainment — Jonas Jonsson argues that there is an educational benefit to videos and that they shouldn't be written off just because they're "entertaining."  
• Entertainment creates an intrinsic drive for knowledge, according to Jonsson, who explains how kids know the back stories of video games "better than they know the histories of the towns, states or countries where they actually live."
• Jonsson points to TED and Khan Academy as evidence of free, educational videos that make complex subjects digestible. He sees the next frontier of education as "purposeful multimedia stimulation and engaged fun" —​ essentially, lighter videos linked to deep investigations, letting users continue to learn as they go down various "rabbit holes." 

Dive Insight:

Jonsson points to VICE Media as an example of a site that pairs fascinating documentary-style investigations with lighter, "fun" pieces. As Jonsson explains his overarching goal of informative video experiences, he writes, "With the right algorithms, we can link together valuable video content across the web, guiding learners down the rabbit holes of deep knowledge. And combined with the right social web platform, we can connect a broad landscape of informed people and ideas. Imagine if people felt that news was no longer just a spectator sport, but a platform to create ripples in the world."

Interestingly, while Jonsson name-drops VICE, he doesn't mention his own site, Ripple News, which in many ways attempts some of the things he describes. Ripple "aggregates bite sized news" from multiple publishers, essentially allowing users to travel down the learning "rabbit holes" Jonsson envisions.