Invisible Learning in Online Systems

Abstract

This paper shows how to maximise the online learning experience for different user groups. Its premise of invisible learning centres on the argument that, while users are absorbing information from the screen by reading or scanning, the message can be reinforced by subliminal uptake resulting from the online system s structure, layout and navigation. This paper discusses design and information architecture techniques that optimise invisible learning and avoid its potential pitfalls; it also explains how to test for its occurrence amongst users. Examples are provided from the Enabling Mothers to Understand Maternity (E-Mum) project at Oxford University whose target audience of teenage mothers are often hampered by lack of both computer and general literacy. Special consideration has been given during the development period of this project to exploiting invisible learning opportunities culled from fields as diverse as gaming and teenage magazines.