The Individualized Education Program: IEP

Article first published as The Individualized Education Program: IEP on Technorati.

The IEP, or Individualized Education Program, is a tool used by educators to keep track of your child's progress through their disability. The process involves a lot of people, but is there for one purpose: to help your child get as close to mainstreaming as possible, and keep them educated with their peers. But the process can seem a little scary, or perhaps a bit intimidating, and a lot of parents seem to feel lost when they meet for their IEP with their team.

An IEP is generally generated after the school system has evaluated your child and determined there is a significant learning disability of some sort. Autism falls in that category, as does any kind of hearing, sight, speech, or developmental delay. Once the team has determined a disability or delay is obvious, they look for reasons behind it. It should be noted that language barriers or "bad teachers" are not reasons for an IEP, just actual disabilities that impair a child's ability to learn.

It should also be noted that the IEP process is different with each State, though just about every State Board of Education has the IEP process, and it should cover just about all the same services. If you have any questions regarding your specific State's IEP process, contact your school district's Special Education office. They can give you all the details you need.

Once you have a confirmed reason for an IEP, the process starts. At this point it doesn't matter what the school's determination is for the reason, because the IEP is not standard for each "diagnosis". Rather, it's designed to be customized to the needs of the child, as determined by the IEP team.

So who is this team I keep talking about? First and foremost, it is you as a parent, and your child. In addition, your child's Special Education teacher should be present, a representative from the school's Administration team (principal or delegated representative), any General Education teachers involved in your child's education (including any that advise but don't teach directly), and someone that interprets any evaluations given the child (generally a school psychologist).

The first three are pretty obvious: you, your child as the student, and the Special Education teacher. But why have a member of the administration there was well? Well, IEP's are conducted by State regulations, and has the ability to allocate funds if necessary. They are often called Local Education Agency (LEA) Representatives, though they are generally from the Principal's office.

Also, why have a general education teacher if your child is only in special education? Well, a general education teacher is there to represent the requirements expected of mainstreamed children. They know what the required educational goals are for typical students, and can help the Special Education teacher set goals that will bring the child closer to being mainstreamed. Because that is the goal of every IEP: to bring the child up to their grade-level expectations, and keep them there.

So now you have your team, but what do the do? Well, they start by having written statements about present academic achievements and functional performance. These are done through either direct or indirect assessment (tests or observation), and evaluate where the child is currently performing. It forms a foundation on which the team can plan how to build your child's education program. Another way to look at it is a road's starting point.

Next, your team will write down measurable goals for both academic and functional performance. Measurable means that your child will need to accomplish certain tasks X number of times, or attend to an activity for X number of minutes. Percentages doesn't mean anything in the measured world of your child's education, so don't let anyone get around you by adding that as a "measure". Focus on achieved results within specific time-frames and X number of times. If you have any questions on how something would be measured, it's not clearly measurable, at least to you. It may also help if you ask how it will be evaluated and assessed, that way you can do the same things at home to build on what your team has in store.

Next comes written statements on whether or not your child should attend to specific activities (for the sake and safety of the child), any needed accomodations for measuring academic achievement (someone to read questions to the student that can't see or read, for example), and when the services will start, stop, and how long they will last. All this should be in your child's IEP, and you should recieve a copy! Interestingly enough, our oldest son's teacher will send us a copy of the IEP ahead of the team meeting, so we have a chance to review and come in prepared for discussions. It's unusual, but definitely welcome!

So what should you as a parent ask when you meet with your team? Well:

1. Are the IEP goals measurable? I focused on this quite a bit, and for good reason. Make sure you can measure your child's progress, and then you know your teachers can as well.
2. Is my child in a regular education environment all or part of the day? Why or why not? If you feel your child should be allowed into a mainstreamed classroom, voice that concern! This is your opportunity to make sure you are heard.
3. Does the IEP list your child's accomodation needs? That includes any State-side and district-side testing needs, not just the teacher's testing needs. That way you know when they get their Standardized Testing done, they have the accomodations and modifications necessary.
4. Are the goals realistic for my child? Is the school listing goals YOU feel are attainable for your child? This is a tough question for everyone concerned, because you want to set goals that can be reached, but not so simple as to not challenge your child. The good news is that if the goals are reached "too soon", then they can easily and quickly be revised!
5. Is my child expected and able to meet graduation requirements? Graduation is something that every parent looks forward to, and every child should as well. But you need to make sure the goals are working your child toward that point, even if their disability makes it seem almost impossible now. Always push for that point in your child's future, and look for ways to help make it happen. That's the whole point of the IEP anyway!
6. When will the IEP be reviewed? This is a tough question. The State of Utah requires a review at least once a year to once every three years, but the review frequency is really up to the team, and that means you. If you are seeing significant improvement in your child's performance, or have any questions that need to get addressed, don't hesitate to contact your team members and request a review.

So now that you have gone through the IEP process, you are going to be asked to sign the IEP. Most States see this signature as an agreement to the document. But not Utah. In Utah, it means that you were present at the IEP process, and even if you don't agree with the IEP you can sign without binding yourself or your child to it's goals and guidelines. I've never had an IEP for my child with which I didn't agree, so I don't worry about it too much. If you do have any concerns and you are not in Utah, don't sign until they are addressed. Of course, that also means that the IEP can be implemented without parental approval in Utah, but there are safeguards for that, though that is another post.

So that is the process of going through an IEP! I would like to thank the folks over at the Utah Parent Center for their presentation they offered to the few of us there on Thursday night! It was a great deal of useful information that was definitely needed.

I'll post more on the IEP process later, so as to not overwhelm you all with posts.

Review: Treehouse Training and Badges

Having finished all the available badges on the Treamtreehouse.com website, I thought I would provide an evaluation of what I thought of the website, the learning method, and the delivery.

Website

The website is very well put together, even though there is a feeling of "start-up" on the site. The feeling comes from the three badges (as of this writing) that are incomplete (JavaScript Foundations, Photoshop Foundations, and Ruby Foundations). Also, there is generally a delay in getting to certain pages (like the Profile and Dashboard). When you take the quizzes to get your badge, occasionally some will blank out for no obvious reason, meaning you need to go through the questions again.

But the organization is very well done. It's easy to navigate through the course materials, from one badge to another, and the Dashboard makes it easy to follow up on what your next badges would be. Over all, I really like the website.

Learning Method

The badges are organized by topic, which build upon each other to show which skills you have accomplished. You know you have accomplished the skills, because most badges have challenges and final challenges that require you to show your knowledge by accomplishing a task. It's well built, and equates to a classroom Topic then Quiz learning method to establish skills. I've mentioned the incredible motivating factor that comes from earning a badge.

Straight video lectures with demos are not for everyone. They are great for those who learn in a visual and/or auditory, but those who are tactile in their learning (needing to get hands-on) will find the speed of the videos a little frustrating. Another frustration I experienced was the number of videos or length of videos that will precede a quiz. It requires the student to retain a lot of information. Without more practice for each video, quizzes can get frustrating. In particular I'm thinking about the Introduction to Programming badge and the iOS 4 badge.  Both badges had videos that lasted 11+ minutes, and had several in succession, making it harder to retain information for the quiz.  And I find that it's the test that helps you learn more than just the lecture.

Overall, I think this is a great way to learn. Video lectures can work well when quizzes are appropriately spaced, and most of these badges do really well.

Delivery

I found the most effective learning experiences with Treehouse were those that had videos lasting no more than 7 minutes, badges (modules) that had no more than 4 or 5 videos, and challenges that preceded a small selection of modules. From there the retention was optimal, while also giving me plenty of content on which to work.

Conclusion

Overall, I would definitely recommend using Treehouse, or any similar badge-based learning method. The motivation you get from earning badges that build into more badges is intense, the ability to show your knowledge in such a clear cut form is refreshing, and the knowledge that you know what you know is even better. Overall, badges are looking like a very viable new way to qualify learning at an incremental level.

Parental Training for Autism

Article first published as Parental Training for Autism on Technorati.

The state of Autism support is daunting. More children are being diagnosed with Autism then ever before, schools are running low on funds and are unable to provide necessary services. Parents are running low on funds to provide services for their children personally. Insurance companies are reluctant to pay for services at the risk of raising premiums for their customers. The government is already running in the red in most States and at the Federal level. The financial situation is daunting when it comes to paying for specialists and therapists to work with children on the Spectrum.

But there is one group of people who are wiling to do the job for free, if they could only find out how: parents and caregivers. They consult with websites, books, and their children's therapists and teachers. They do their research in trying to understand what they need to do. But we as parents are, quite frankly, not prepared. It's not because we don't care, it's because we just don't know. We need training, we need consultation, and we need help.

Luckily, at least in the Granite School District, the school system has had the insight to set up a parental training class on how to help their children with Autism. They have specialists come and talk to each parent about each part of Autism. Last night was the first night my wife and I attended, and we loved it. From what we learned, we are better able to understand the behaviors of both our children, and therefore better understand what they are trying to communicate.

It was also a good opportunity to get to know other parents who have children on the Spectrum. We can talk about shared experiences, goals, and get ideas from each other. It's a social relationship that we can't get any other way, as few others seem to understand our experiences. They don't understand that when your child is yelling "No!" at you and trying to get you to say what they want, even if they are wrong, it's progress.

This type of program is definitely something we need to continue for our schools. In the end, with the help of a few specialists, they are training a legion of special needs aides that will all work for free. That, in my mind, makes for a sustainable way forward in teaching children with Autism.

Badges: Motivating Education

For many years Education has had a big problem:  It's been seen as being boring, tiring, and a chore.  Since the days of "No more Teachers, no more books" to the "Hey Teacher, Leave them Kids Alone", people have been complaining about education.  Everyone from parents to teachers have been looking for some way to make education fun again.  And it seems something has grown from the video game world that can help: badges. 

Badges are, essentially, minor accomplishment trophies, showing a mastery of a skill.  Unlike the old "Gold Star on Forehead" methods used by teachers to reward correct answers, badges can be linked directly to a single skill (or series of skills). Video games use them as a way to modivate the player to continue to play the game by giving them something to work toward that takes perhaps less than 15 to 30 minutes.  Before long, you have a player that has spent hours playing a game just to get a virtual award and feel accomplished.  While many parents have seen these accomplishments as hollow, educators have seen them as a way to keep students interested in learning. 

I have to admit, I was skeptical at first when I saw a number of institutions that apply them.  How can you be sure they show a level of accomplishment?  What is the standard of measurement?  How is the badge a sign of a quality of education, and show a quantative, measured result?  Well, the only way to know for sure would be to test it out.  I found a website, TeamTreeHouse.com, that provided training videos that built the student up with a number of badges.  The rates were reasonable for registration, so I signed up to see what it was like.  

They (currently) have three main badges:  Web Design, Web Development, and iOS 4 Programming.  Looking at the number of videos, the length of each video, I figured if I booked through them I might be able to finish the whole training regime within a month, so I selected every badge path they had.  Then I started on the first badge, which was an Introduction to HTML.  As a learner, you watch a series of short videos (the longest was almost 20 minutes, the shortest was less then 2), and then at the end take a quiz to see how much you learned.  After answering five consecutive questions correctly, you are awarded the "minor" badge, and move on to the next.  After accomplishing all the minor badges in the HTML badge set, you are awarded the HTML badge, and so move on to the next set.  After completing all the Web Design badges, you are awarded the Web Design "super" badge.  

Once I saw how it worked, I was impressed.  Evaluation of student knowledge is critical to learning, both before they start to learn, and after.  By using this method of taking a quiz at any time during the badge sessions, the student can evaluate how much they already know about a given topic, and how much more they need to know.  For online learning, this is great, because students have a way to self-evaluate when they need more instruction, how much instruction, and get instruction on targeted skills they seek. Also, as an added bonus, badges show everyone involved in the person's education from the teacher, to the parent, to the student, and even to a potential employer, what skills they truly have beyond having "taken a class".  They may be minor accomplishments, but they represent real skills that have been acquired. 

There is a caveat to this though:  with the automated testing on TeamTreeHouse.com it is possible to continue to try answering questions until you get them right, as the questions repeat from a relatively small subset of questions.  Of course that can be easily remedied by having either a larger question set, a limited amount of time to take the quiz, or both.  Personally I don't think it's too terrible, as even by answering a question wrong it forces you to rethink the answer, and that in and of itself is learning.  

So what about our guilded halls of learning in education, both K-12 and Higher Ed?  How can this be implemented?  Well, it would be both very easy (at least in concept), and extremely complex (in execution).  Most educators have already built a well-ordered lesson plan that breaks down into topics, skills, knowledge, etc. that would directly relate to badges, both minor and regular badges.  Continue to collect them, and you get a certificate with all your accomplishment badges, detailing the skills you have learned while studying.  The real problem would be keeping track of these badges.  An easy way would be to offer quizzes and assign them as each quiz is passed.  But someone would need to manage the badge accomplishments, and provide a way to make them "puiblic", either by having physical badges or digital badges.  

The logistics of the badge question can be worked out, but it will take time to apply it to traditional education.  In the mean time, to illustrate just how addicting learning by badges can be, I started the task of completing all 66 available badges on the site (as of this writing) on Monday and I have just 10 more to go.  It is definitely taking less than the month I thought it would take, and that for me is reason enough to take education with badges seriously.  If you would like to see what these badges look like, you can view my profile.  This is just one very exciting thing I can see coming up for educating a connected generation.  What do you think?

The Final Stretch in Villa Park: Advanced Server Administration

This week I finish up with my T3's for Apple with Advanced Server Administration.  This class is focused primarily on running the ADDIE process (Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate) throughout the IT  infrastructure of a company, and build it up using both the GUI and Command Line tools.  Because it is assumed that you have been learning the GUI tools up to this point (this is the capstone course), it primarily focuses on the command line tools available to the Mac.  

I'm not sure when we will offer the class at the U, as much depends on other training offerings and any additional infrastructure we would need, but I already have a lot of people interested in this class.  Most of them are Linux administrators who are going to be supporting the Apple platform, and want to do so with SSH (just as they would with Linux).  I already have a list of people who would love to take that class.  

Anyway, it all hinges on whether or not I'm judged "good enough" to train.  Partly judged by my peers, partly judged by the Master Trainer, my fate rests in their hands.  At this point, however, I'm less concerned.  I'm rather more concerned with how my family is doing back home.  I'm literally counting the days until I fly out.  But I will miss the Chicago area.  

Anyway, more details on the classes I attended during this trip sometime next week.  I'll give a teaser for the classes, and give you my opinion of the materials and flow of the class.  

Mac OS X Deployment 10.5 T3: Review

As promised, here is my review for the Mac OS X Deployment 10.5 T3 that I attended this last week.  

First, the location.  Of course I'm biased, but I have always loved Chicago, and as such enjoyed the trip Villa Park and Oakbrook Terrace.  The hotel was nice, and the location of the training facility was fairly easy to get to.  The only problem:  no sidewalks.  It makes it difficult to walk when you don't have sidewalks, and there isn't enough room to walk on the street (without getting hit).  Other than that, the location was nothing to complain about. 

The materials:  There are quite a lot of material for this class, and I was a little concerned that it would be impossible to fit it all into a 2 day training.  Luckily, that was the thought of the course developers as well, and as such the training was extended to 3 days.  That fits in perfectly with my training schedule I have planned for the University, so I didn't complain. 

The Subject Matter:  There was still a lot that I wanted to cover but couldn't in the class, mostly those focusing around the command line.  But then, there is a separate class for that, which I will be attending in two weeks.  ^_^  But those important topics, such as deploying through the command line, and imaging through the command line, were covered in depth.  Also planning, scaling, and third party utilities for managing a deployment option was well covered.  

One really nice thing I liked about the class was a mandate for the student to immediately apply what they have learned to a real world situation.  They do this through a Deployment planning sheet, which the trainer should have printed out for each student.  We didn't have it, but it was made available to us in PDF form, and there is a link that comes with the learning materials to PeachPit's website for the same PDF.  Once the form is filled out, the last chapter talks about real world solutions in many large companies, school districts, and training centers, and gives the student time to go through their document to see what they find useful, and what they don't need, in their deployment of OS X.  

The Requirements:  It is essential the student have a command of both the Mac OS X GUI and have command line experience before starting this course.  Basically, students would need to have completed at least the Server Essentials course, and be able to manage a UNIX command line experience.  Why?  Because at the beginning of the course you are just expected to set up your computers with little assistance from the book.  At this point, it is expected that the student knows already how to set up a brand new install of Mac OS X. 

The command line experience would be more along the lines of familiar with syntax of commands.  Most, if not all, of the commands used are Mac OS X Utilities and not your typical UNIX commands, yet the syntax is the same and therefore the student needs to be familiar with that syntax.  There may be some situations when troubleshooting is necessary, and as such the student will need to know how to get to the man pages.  

Something else that would be important before taking this class is having troubleshooting knowledge, and an understanding of what you are being prepared to learn.  This way if something doesn't quite work they way it's written in the book, you can step outside of the given examples and find alternatives.  That's part of learning, something that many students I have had in the past didn't quite understand.  It requires reading/studying ahead of time, asking questions, and being attentive.  

The Pace:  Unlike both Support and Server Essentials where we pend a lot of time trying to catch the class up after some really long first setup exercises, this class is paced just right for the materials.  We as a training class (of 10 trainers) finished with plenty of time on the last day to cover some topics more in depth, and that was with us doing the majority of the optional exercises.  So with a typical class at this level, the pacing will be such that students will have some time to play with some configuration, or perhaps have a long lunch as a thank you for coming to the class.  

Overall, it is the best designed Apple training course I have attended so far.  The materials are well designed, the pace is just right (low to medium cognitive load), and the course talks well to adult students (through Constructivist methods).  This is a class that may not run often here in Utah, but will most likely be a well attended class when it does.  It is by far my most favorite class to date.  ^_^  

Also, I'd like to say thanks to everyone that attended, because they gave me some very welcomed constructive criticism, and the Master Trainer was a great host.  If only the Cubs could have won all three games I was there, rather than just one of the two.  Oh well, there is always next time.  

Virtual Machines in the Classroom: Teaching one OS inside of another

Education is an interesting beast.  There are so many different needs and environments that it often can become expensive to provide a comprehensive, controlled platform for students to work.  As such, often topics are ignored or just not offered.  

Case in point:  We have two closed computer labs here at the Annex that we use for teaching.  Both are Windows labs, because the primary platform our software classes run on is Windows.  To become a Mac lab required an investment in Apple hardware and software, which represented a huge cost on our part.  And now we are running Linux classes, thanks to our good friends at Guru Labs.  But we ran into a problem running the class in a semester-long format:  How do you keep the environment static for one platform while teaching in another platform?

The eventual obvious answer was using a Virtual machine.  With a virtual machine we have the ability to keep a separate image for each class (or series of classes) run, and continue to teach Windows software without having to re-image the lab every day.  

The second most obvious answer would be to use VM Ware.  Why?  Because it's free and easy to use.  Now, we could opt to use Xen (and will eventually), but the base install for these systems needs to be Windows.  Why?  Because it's the lowest common denominator when it comes to user experience.  This way people don't panic when they see something other than a Windows XP login screen.  

Another reason to use VM Ware is the availability of VM Ware on the Mac (via VM Ware Fusion).  It's easy to use, and allows us to use multiple OS distributions on the Mac machines without difficulty.  That means that the Linux class can now be mobile.  ^_^

So that is a current solution.  But what of the future?  There is a lot of potential for the Virtual machine setup in education.  Distance education becomes possible with a completely controlled environment, as long as one has a significant internet connection.  That, and some well organized VPN settings can make a remote Technical education setup quite possible.  

So, what makes virtual machines useful in an educational setting?  One distribution of an application, free of any potential conflicts, that can be distributed across a network through a mounted file system.  And all you have to do is double-click to execute.  

Have any of you used Virtual Machines in the classroom?  Which of you find it useful?  Which of you don't?  

Mac OS X 10.5 Support Essentials: With Regional Appeal

This week I have been teaching Mac OS X Support Essentials, and I'm really excited with this group. I have two students from New Mexico, one from Idaho, one from Wyoming, and the final student from Park City, Utah. It seems that our Apple classes are starting to draw a lot of students from across the West.

The class is moving along nicely, though the content is still really high. The poor students are hitting their cognitive load rather quickly, and so we can't move more than a couple of chapters at a time. Unfortunately, that leaves us with about half the curriculum left to cover today. Luckily there isn't a lot that the students need to learn at this point because all the heavy learning happened at the beginning of the course. Now we are just covering Networking, Peripherals, printing, and the startup sequence. But the students already feel overwhelmed.

Looking at the materials again, while I still contend they are better than the 10.4 materials (by a long shot), the course should have been made a 4 day course. Of course that brings up a whole different concern about the price tag on the course which most students and their employers already consider too high. It's an interesting balancing act, particularly when you think about what is required, or expected, for this level of expertise.

Perhaps, when I have time, I'll run through the materials with my magnifying lens, and see if I can't find a better design for the course. Perhaps there are exercises that are redundant, or perhaps there are topics that are not that important. This all comes after I have finally had the time to write the testing software that I intend to create.

Finally, something that I would love to see from Apple, is a Learning or testing platform that could be run within a Virtual Machine and distributed through a network. Something like LivePC (more on that platform later, which has really impressed me!). It would make testing easier, and even easily distributed (though controlled through an access platform), so that more Apple Professionals can be out there. Perhaps if the requirement for the software to work would be to have it run on Apple hardware...

Cognitive Load: When Your Brain Is Full

We have all had that one experience, I'm sure. Sitting in a meeting or classroom, listening to a presentation or watching a demo, and the brain starts to wander. It can happen to different people at different times and have different initial factors, but the reason is the same: cognitive load has been reached.

The Effects of HIgh Cognitive Load
So what is Cognitive Load? Basically, it's the amount of working memory the brain uses to perform tasks. The more tasks you perform, the more cognitive load you heap on your brain.

Of course, there are levels of brain activity that utilize your working memory, and it differs based on the need for understanding. The less you need to assimilate within a given time, the less cognitive load you need to use. It seems like a simple concept, doesn't it? Focus on what you are doing, and eventually you will get there.

Unfortunately, in the world of Professional Training, this is a luxury you can't often afford. People are required to assimilate a lot of information in a very short amount of time. Because their cognitive load is really high, they are less likely to understand the topics that are being discussed. Consequently the learning experience is diminished or negative, leaving the learner confused and even a little scared.

An excellent example I saw was a student that had taken my Excel 2003 Level 1 course. Normally, this would be a very simple class to take, and I like the design because it takes Cognitive Load into consideration for the majority of students. This student, however, was new to Windows platform entirely. So not only was the student trying to understand the Excel interface, but also the Windows interface. The student locked up, and took my entire lunch time to start to feel more comfortable.

Fighting High Cognitive Load
So, what is a course designer to do? You have a high cognitive load requirement to finish the course material in as little time as possible. How can you be sure that your students are maximizing their understanding?

The first thing I would recommend is checking for those peak times when Cognitive Load becomes an issue. The number one cuplrit: Lunch. After lunch, the learner's blood rushes to their stomach to digest their food. As a consequence, the learner's brain has less blood to process information. I call this the Lunchtime Lull, which is best fought by having a less-taxing assignment or fun game that reinforces your principles for the students at a high level, letting their minds rest a bit.

Another problem is all lecture and no practice. While some learners are excellent at auditory learning, most need to apply the lecture at least once to cement the concept in their brain. The process of going through exercises fires additional synapses in the brain, thereby increasing the entries and imprints of the concept within the brain. Of course, the other result is a break between lectures and concepts. Once one principle has been assimilated and applied, the brain feels comfortable enough to move on to the next subject.

The last problem for Cognitive Load that I will point out is overwhelming media. In the world today we have several media outlets that allow access to just about every form of media, and it's not uncommon to see people try to deal with more than one media outlet at a time. How many students do you know do their homework while the TV is on? How about the radio, with non-instrumental music playing?

The brain isn't able to multi-task very well, and will latch on only one function at a time at a high level (processing information). All other functions at that point are placed within the low level functionality, running basically the same level as riding a bike or balancing. As a result, only one media type can be utilized to "learn". Any other media is either a distraction, or is being processed at a low level and not assimilated within the memory.

"But." I hear you say, "I have read a book and watched TV/listened to my favorite lyrics at the same time, and I get by just fine!" Ask yourself how many times you were thinking of the story within the show on TV or listening to the lyrics when you should have been reading. Happen very often? Probably. Another basic concept of the brain is that, just like most forces in nature, it will take the road of least resistance unless forced otherwise. That means that your "distractions" are just your brain telling you it's easier to process the distraction than the material in front of you.

How do you fight this? Well, the first and perhaps most difficult for the learner is to remove the distraction. Have the learners turn off their cell phones while in class, avoid texting someone when they should be working on an assignment, and not sit there and work on their My Space/Facebook page when in a lecture (it's a pet peeve of mine!). If they focus on their work and what they are learning with no distractions (including audio), their cognitive load is decreased.

Something else you can do is just increase your concentration. This is physically more difficult, because it requires a lower Cognitive Load on the material. Why? Because the student needs to increase their cognitive load to increase their concentration. Concentration requires a conscious commitment by the learner to block out any and all distractions. The fewer actual distractions in the room, the more likely it is a learner will be able to learn.

How Does This Affect Me?
We all assimilate information every day, whether it's conscious learning or basic observation. That means we all need to watch our Cognitive Load. Ever wonder why people vegetate in front of a TV? TV shows and commercials are geared to take most if not all of your cognitive load to keep your attention. That way you are less likely to change the channel, and more likely to increase their ratings and ad revenues.

So look at your own life, and see where your Cognitive Load is peaking. Is there a way to reduce it, so that you can maximize your learning and observation? You may be surprised how much more productive you will become if you don't try to multi-task quite so much.