Why is interactivity important to knowledge acquisition?
Interconnections are built by using information to solve problems in unfamiliar situations and by comparing new information to existing information. In the context of instruction, interactivity encourages the deeper cognitive processing that builds interconnections. Our goal as educators and trainers should be the development of knowledge in our students rather than the dissemination of information. This means our instruction should contain ample amounts of interactivity. While these advantages of interactivity in instruction are fairly obvious, it is often used inadequately. It is mainly the practical constraints of delivering formal education to large groups that makes it difficult to use sufficient interactivity. Also, it takes time to develop rich, appropriate interactions. While lectures, demonstrations, and textbooks are efficient at disseminating information to large groups, without accompanying interactivity they are not particularly effective methods of developing knowledge th
