Came across this interesting picture and accompanying story this week.

“A team of scientists engaged in military research recently came to the conclusion that when it comes to reading web pages,most readers read in “F” shaped pattern taking into consideration the eye movements of 232 readers,it was found that a reader generally reads in a horizontal movement first.This is followed by their eyes moving downwards a bit and then,ensues reading across in a second horizontal movement covering a shorter area than what it was previously.

…………………If a page contains some images or box at the top right,it is noticed that a viewer usually concentrates over there leading to some distortion in the “F” shape .All these movements when tracked through a heat map-with red color defining most of the viewed areas,yellow indicating the lesser and blue”F”. signifying the least viewed area-gave the shape of the letter

……………………The study reiterates the guidelines for web designing and writing web content-since the user does not read the text throughly,the first two paragraphs must contain the most important information comprising subheads,bullet points followed by information in the realms of the text.

The last few lines of this story are probably the most important as they speak to universal elements of good design. This information is nothing new or revolutionary however it still has me thinking and wondering about how many people know about it. We tend not to think about design when we find it easy to read, navigate or follow information across a page or sign. However are keenly very aware of it when we cannot?

I can’t think of a grade, subject area or teacher that does not have their students at some point in time create or display work for others to read, watch or consume. Visual presentations (movies, powerpoints, posters etc.) are often used as summative assessment tools for educators across the world. I do however wonder how often components of visual literacy are woven into the student preparation and planning of the assignments. Even more interesting would be to find out how often they are assessed!

Would an understanding of basic design elements be beneficial to students as they are asked to prepare presentations across different mediums? Should an understanding of visual literacy and how to take advantage of known and basic design techniques not be an important part of all curriculum no matter what the subject area? Should students be accountable for it? It seems to me that in todays info rich world design and ease of information delivery is sometimes just as important as the content itself.

Who’s responsibility is it to teach these skills?

Sound like we are calling for a Curriculum 2.0 !