Lexicon Post 10/29/16

Distributed Cognition & Collaborative Intelligence

This describes how human cognition that is distributed across multiple forms, like social media and the internet. It entails human thoughts traveling and being shared, and collaborative intelligence refers to the collective intelligence of people, which can be shared through distributed cognition. These terms are a bit more abstract than other we’re looking at in this course, but still relevant to both the material being covered and our lives outside the course, especially in this day and age.

 

Informal Learning

We learned in class that only about 15% of learning takes place in a formal setting, such as school where learning is the primary objective. 85% of learning takes place in an informal setting, wherein learning is not the primary objective, such as a home or social setting. When you think about it, you often learn much more from friends and parents about life than you might learn in school.

 

White Space

This term references the negative space found in graphic design. White space is important because the eye needs resting space, rather than a cluttered page that is difficult to follow and whose meaning is hard to discern. The negative space can also be used to create shapes as well. The white space is often used to discuss an element of collateral because of the importance of balance between the white space and any images or elements of your design.

 

Focal Point

In design, the eye looks for a place to fall upon first, a focal point. This point in the image is usually the darkest or largest element in the piece, creating a contrast with the white paper that draws the eye. This is often the most important bit of the page, thus the focal point.