The Seductive Detail

I never knew how much I loved terminology until I started this course. While researching my longer critique for Assignment 4, I came upon the term The Seductive Detail. It is interesting that I discovered this idea while investigating cognitive load theory in the context of online learning, because it was actually John Dewey in the early 20th century who came up with the term. Dewey was referring to text passages or illustrations, that while increasing reader interest, were not central to the main content. Could Mr. Dewey have even imagined the YouTube, MOOCs and Khan Academy world we live in today? And yet the seductive detail is quite relevant today for educational researchers to examine. Is a video, an interactive game, or even the narration in an online learning module supporting the learning process, or possibly distracting from it? My investigation into cognitive load theory and the seductive detail has so much relevance to my elearning development practise. Now that I am beginning to understand the ramifications of how content is organized on human cognition, I will be using multimedia that more judiciously. In a world of online distractions, I don't want my learning content to be just that much more visual (or audio) noise.