For a quick summary of what "cognitive load" is as well as why it is important to reduce it in a gaming learning environment, please watch the video we made below:
Whenever a person is learning something new, their mind goes through a process called "cognitive load." This is where the person observes the information they are being taught and begins to process the material through their brain. If there are times where you are learning a particular topic and you found yourself overwhelmed by the information, most likely you are experiencing too much cognitive load. This process is explained in the video above. There are three types of cognitive load: extraneous, intrinsic, and germane. If you are feeling overwhelmed by information, most likely you are experiencing too much extraneous cognitive load. The way the information is presented to you (through visual, audio, etc.) can effect whether or not you retain the information. Too many extraneous, flashy details can lead to the information "going in one ear and out the other," so to speak.
As educators, when we think about video games and all the graphics and flashy elements embedded in them, there is a moment of pause where we wonder:
- Is this going to be too much for the learner?
- Will they even retain the information presented through these games/simulations?
- How can we go about making sure that we reduce/manage cognitive load if we use these emerging gaming technologies?
Visual only learning content (including graphics/text only)
If the game currently only has visual learning content, the designers could instead incorporate a mixture of graphics and
audio narration. A good example of this can be seen in the video above. If this video had been made with pictures plus text
captions explaining the information, the learner could have easily been overwhelmed by the need to process "visual only"
information. Instead, there is a mix of visual and audio, enabling both senses to be used and hopefully resulting in reduced cognitive load and higher retention.
Pictures and words being arranged in odd places so that split attention occurs
If a game has a graphical object and the text associated with it arranged in odd places, this will result in split attention which
only further overloads the learner. In order to rectify this potential situation, the designers could make a point of
reorganizing the information so that the learner's attention is focused in one area only.
Too much extraneous information being presented (such as interesting facts you don't really need to know)
When too much extraneous information is being presented to the learner, just keeping an eye on the amount of extraneous
detail could be all that is truly needed. For example, that little bubble that just popped up on the screen telling the learner
about a "fun fact" may seem like fun in the moment to the game's designer, but if it's ensuring that the learner is overloaded
with extraneous details (along with the "important stuff"), then it's quite frankly not needed.
The fact of the matter is that educators have an amazing opportunity to broaden their learners' horizons by introducing these emerging gaming technologies into their teaching materials. Nonetheless, it is still the instructor's responsibility to look over any game or simulation they bring into the classroom for any cognitive overload issues. With that being said, there is also a great deal of responsibility and accountability on the parts of the games' designers to guarantee that the learner will not be overwhelmed by the elements presenting the information. If this balance can be achieved by the games' designers, then our learners will only benefit from the introduction of this technology.