Creation of Features
The objective of this stage is to create a visual first draft of your learning environment, concentrating on the details of each step.  Later you will be expected to "sew together" all the steps in the learning environment.

But wait .... 

Before you begin translating the ideas and activities you created in the previous step and before you begin thinking about all of the details (possibly in a PowerPoint presentation to be created in this stage), first you must do the following:

1.     Formulate a rationale and objectives for each activity.

2.  Use the Design Principles Database (DPD), as you did in previous stages, but this time concentrate on the practical design principles and the features which are connected to each of them!

Rationale
You now have before you the activity sequence which you created in the previous step, the Sequencing step.

Add the rationale for each activity (Add rationale notes in a different color from whatever you used previously).  Explain the logical reason behind the incorporation of each activity in your learning environment.

Please Note!  It is possible that in thinking about the logic behind and the rationale for your activities, you may feel a need to change the activities and/or the sequencing of activities.  Be open to changes and new ideas!

Visual Representation of Ideas
Do your best to describe how each step in the sequence will take place.  Pay attention to details.  Create an outline or sketch on paper or on a computer (whichever works best for you). Include a sketch of the screen layout at each step of each activity.

Please remember that the focus of this course is on the implementation of pedagogical ideas and not on the aesthetics of the graphic interface.

In sketching your ideas, you will have multiple dilemmas about how to best implement your ideas.  Remember to bring all of your sketches and other materials with you to the next class meeting (in order to enable the peer review process). 

Attach files in this field.

Connecting to Design Principles in the DPD
Examine your design features and describe the links between what you propose and the meta-principles in the DPD.

Choose 2-3 design features which you find to be meaningful in your learning environment (or ones which you have considered but do not yet know how to implement).

Search in the DPD for principles on which you can base your design features.

Click on Relate Principles to Project

You will see a list of existing Pragmatic Principles.

How can you find appropriate principles?

Search: The search function enables you to locate principles which are appropriate for your design features by conducting keyword or key phrase searches.

Filters:  Filters enable you to refine your search according to "meta-principle" or "feature category". (It is also possible to filter by "groups to which you belong"; however this filter is not relevant for you at present).

Read the description of each principle to be sure that a principle you have identified is indeed appropriate.

Pay attention to the features which are already connected to each pragmatic principle.  You may identify features which can help to broaden your repertoire.

Mark the pragmatic principles which appear to be useful for your project and click "Add" to import them to your e-notebook.

If there are principles that either align with or contrast with your approach in your design so far, identify these as well.

If your design so far uses features similar to those in the database, identify them here. If you have ideas for new features, principles, or links between items in the DPD, you can also mention them.

Use the text field next to each pragmatic principle to write your ideas about theprinciple's connection to your project.