View on education:I see; therefore, I learn

We learn by perceiving information and processingit further in our memory. A lot of this information we perceive via our eyes. Hence, examining someone’s viewing behavior while they are learning can provide crucial insights about learning itself. Eye-tracking (i.e., recording of eye movements) is a method that can measure these perceptual processes.With eye-tracking it is possible to study what infor- mation we perceive visually, in what order we do so and with how much effort, as well as what information we miss. This allows us to develop a better theoretical understanding of how we perceive and process new information, how we retrieve existing information from our memory, and how drastically that changes as we become more experienced in a particular area. Kno- wing this, we can design instructional materials that are optimally adapted to our visual information processing system. This knowledge helps us to learn more effi- ciently, to support professionalization, and to construct more valid tests.As eye-tracking becomes more and more accessible, it could play an important, but also responsible role in educational practice in the future.