ABSTRACT
This chapter delves into the contributions that both tablets and users bring to the issue of attention using cognitive load theory. Cognitive load theory has been used to think about how learning generally occurs in multimedia rich environments. Multimedia can be defined narrowly as learning from both words and pictures simultaneously, or more broadly as learning from multiple sensory channels simultaneously. When learning using tablets, cognitive overload can arise from presenting intrinsic content across both words and pictures simultaneously or presenting incidental extraneous content in one format that diverts attention away from the intrinsic content presented in another format. In user-tablet interactions the app directs the user's attention and cognitive activity towards information visually presented on the screen. In investigating tablets and the relationship between using these devices and cognitive load, the contribution of visual information must be considered as it communicates the gestural responses required from the user.
