Purpose: In the digital era, the dynamics of the communication process in classrooms have changed significantly. With the help of computer-mediated communication techniques, especially animation, teachers can deliver a distinct learning experience to students that can be fun, while presenting complex ideas in simpler forms. The purpose of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of animation in education, in the context of developing Asian countries, using Karnataka, an Indian state, as a study area. Design/methodology/approach: This paper uses the field experimental method to assess animation's effectiveness in education. Attempts are made to neutralize the influence of extraneous factors, such as psychological conditions, and the socio-economic background of students, while assessing academic performance. To achieve this, a fuzzy-set-theory-based two-sample statistical hypothesis test is used. Findings: Results indicate that animation can be used as an effective tool for communication in pedagogy and, if used properly, can improve students' academic performance in primary education, even in developing countries such as India. Research limitations/implications: The paper's limitations are explored, and point to how future research could use more advanced statistical tools to identify the motivational, behavioral, cognitive and psychological factors influencing students, when animation is used in education, and should perform a comparative analysis of the performance of students in developed and developing countries. Originality/value: As the current study proves that animation is effective in education, even in developing countries such as India, efforts should be made to convert existing curricula into animated multimedia content. Currently, most government-run schools in India use traditional chalk-and-talk methods for teaching. The use of animated instructional material will help improve the standard of educational communication in classroom, and maintain consistency in delivering the curriculum.