Whitespace

Can there be a difference in learning outcomes from the same content?  Yes.  How the content is presented matters.

Whitespace creates a balanced and harmonious layout. Without it, content can be cramped and the core concepts are difficult to focus on.  We can make the content easier to process by using both passive and active whitespace.

Passive whitespace creates room between the content or balances it out on the page.  This is often done by adding margins, considering the font family and weight, and increasing the heading.  In most web environments, using the Heading style is better, because it both contributes to passive whitespace and increases accessibility by conforming to many accessibility applications. 

It is important to note that passive whitespace aids visual balance.  This harmony in presentation gives ‘breathing room” for the content and allows the reader to focus on assessing the content.  The visual balance is crucial because it increases the ability for the reader to process and comprehend the content. So, it is very important.

Active Whitespace ads space to a composition to better structure information, such as emphasize specific content that is important.

For example, suppose you want the learner to focus more attention to a specific passage or quote in the content.  Changing the font, making it bold, or adding more whitespace around the passage will assist learning by drawing more attention this content passage. Here the formatting that presents the content varies to distinguish or highlight it from the rest of the content.

Applying whitespacing techniques contributes to content retention and learning. The advantage provided by styling of content presentation makes content delivery more successful and assists many with disabilities, such as forms of dyslexia and those using screen readers.

Look at the three images below (the slide show show below also has a fullscreen feature for better visibility). Notice the changes from the:

1. original content
2. passive whitespacing applied and
3. active whitespacing applied.

The actual content has hardly been modified, but the presentation of the latter two help draw emphasis to key points that may get obfuscated an text.  

Now, with some passive whitespace changes that show a section title, better spacing, and using of a list, we the content can be reviewed and more quickly understood. Active white-spacing can draw attention to a key component of the content to drive home the point.

By focusing on white-spacing and how the content is presented, you can critically affect student learning.  Remember to keep the negative space in mind when editing a content page. On the web, your pages should contain at least 50% less content than a paper version. It is best to reduce scrolling by making pages no more than a screen and a half and breaking extra content up into multiple pages.  Then revisit and edit the content.  Does it strictly accomplish what it is intended to?  Now you can finish by considering how active and passive white-spacing can make your content more successful at teaching the concepts you want the students to learn.