One of the issues with element interactivity is that the more you build on new concepts, the harder it is for students to understand what has not been committed to long-term memory. So if slide nine, for example, is required to understand slide 10 and so on, it’s gonna be difficult for a learner because they haven’t committed that earlier stuff to long-term memory. Once it’s there, it can be easily accessed and used. But it’s got to get there first.

Extraneous load is when cognitive load is imposed on the learner, because the teacher is trying to teach several unrelated concepts in a way that increases their cognitive load. This is bad cognitive load because it’s avoidable. Consider having a slide with three unrelated concepts all next to Esch other. Or worse, they’re somewhat related but it’s unclear (to the learner) how they’re related. The learner is spending mental energy (specifically using up working memory) trying to sort it out instead of learning one of the concepts well enough to commit it to long term memory.

The more stuff that is on a page or some piece of instructional material, the higher, the cognitive load. So try to only put on there what is necessary for the learner. Because remember, the learner cannot distinguish what is important like an expert can. Related, try not to have something, both in written form and in spoken form. That increases cognitive load, which makes it harder for the learner to understand because they are trying to contrast and meld the two together.