Recently I came across an online resource describing Brain Rules, a book by John Medina which describes how the brain functions to the layperson. It filled me with delight to review how the brain functions in such a succinct manner. Not only was his website a great example of instructional design but it provided some great food for thought regarding how our mind pays attention to the environment.
Here is a snippet of a video related to Brain Rules where Dr. Medina describes how the brain is incapable of multi-tasking.
A friend of mine mentioned that the principle of single tasking has been applied to iPhone and iPad devices. Because of the limited real estate you can only pay attention to one application at a time and do one thing at a time. It would be interesting to research if iPhone and Laptop use of similar programs require similar cognitive processing levels. My guess is there would be no significant difference, but because the design often is limited by the hardware and software that are being used, iPad applications will most likely be more single-task oriented than other instructional materials that are delivered on hardware that support multi-tasking designs.
By chance or by design, the iPad and iPhone has more closely matched the way our brains are wired than laptops. As a result we experience less cognitive load in the process.
I am interested to see if the simplicity of single-tasking design will also progress into the instructional designs of materials in the future. Currently iPads are being tested as replacements for textbooks in schools as well as being used for activities in the classroom. The have also been used with children with special needs. It will be interesting to see if student performance improves in these areas after the "cool" factor wears off.
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