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Law 4: Learn

"Knowledge makes everything simpler"

Maeda's fourth law of simplicity is to increase knowledge:

Operating a screw is deceptively simple. Just mate the grooves atop the screw's head to the appropriate tip—slotted or Phillips—of a screwdriver. What happens next is not as simple, as you may have noted while observing a child or a woefully sheltered adult turning the screwdriver in the wrong direction.
 

My children remember this rule through a mnemonic taught by my spouse, "righty tighty, lefty loosy." Personally I use the analogy of a clock, and map the clockwise motion of the hands to the positive penetration curve of the screw. Both methods are subject to a second layer of knowledge: knowing right versus left, or knowing what direction the hands of a clock turn. Thus operating a screw is not as simple as it appears. And it's such an apparently simple object! 
 

So while the screw is a simple design, you need to know which way to turn it. Knowledge makes everything simpler . This is true for any object, no matter how difficult. The problem with taking time to learn a task is that you often feel you are wasting time, a violation of the third Law. We are well aware of the dive-in-head-first approach—"I don't need the instructions, let me just do it." But in fact this method often takes longer than following the directions in the manual (2006, Law 4: Learn).

Teaching the end consumers (teachers, parents, or students) how to use or apply technologies from your initiative will empower them with knowledge. When consumers know how to use technology they will not see the tech as overly complicated and confusing. This knowledge will keep the implantation of your imitative simple and effective.  

 

What you need to decide is the best way to support your end consumers in becoming comfortable with the new technologies being introduced. What steps or information should be shared with the whole group in a large in-person meeting? What skills or knowledge can be built into a self-paced tutorial or instruction manual? Can specific opinion leaders (individuals in the group whose choices sway the opinions of others) be trained and employed as hands-on peer educators on new technologies?

 

In the comment box below share one way you would use each of these training opportunities to support the learning of the consumers of your technology initiative:

  • Whole group in-person training

  • Self-paced individual learning opportunities

  • Opinion leader peer educators

Then reply to two peers’ comments about why you think their strategies will be effective.

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