Chapter 3: Planning Technology-Rich Environments.

Selfe focuses on using the people -> pedagogy -> technology approach to planning technology-rich environments.  To start, he encourages designers of these environments to begin by acknowledging and valuing the complexities of technology-rich "cyborg" environments consisting of both people and machines.  As he states, "when we can learn to appreciate these cyborg systems, to see their complex beauty, we gain valuable motivation for paying attention to the goals that shape them and the daily, technical decision making that sustains them.... Without these rare moments of reflection, the difficulty of ongoing analysis, research, refinement, retooling, and fiscal decision making will take its toll" (Selfe, pg. 56-58).

His second starting point of encouragement is to push for the recognition of what makes these environments useful.  As Selfe puts it, a technology-rich environment's usefulness lies in "the many digital and physical spaces we have left for teachers and students to fill in and around these environments.  These spaces are "not there" until they become occupied by people, working groups, classes and teachers and students.  In part, the health of a technology-rich teaching and learning environment can be gauged by the number, depth, and breadth of these unfilled spaces; by the amount and kinds of activities and personalities and initiatives they will hold - initiatives that are students centered, teacher centered, technician centered, institutionally-centered" (Selfe, pg. 58).

These considerations must be used to create a user-centered design process through four key steps that reflect the people, first -> pedagogy, second -> technology, third mindset.

People, First
"Step 1:  Identify the instructional needs of students (Selfe, pg. 59)."

Pedagogy, Second
"Step 2:  Articulate the pedagogical goals of English/language arts teachers" (Selfe, pg. 59).

Technology, Third
"Step 3: Operationalize the instructional goals through technologies, environments, systems, and people" (Selfe, pg. 59).

Continuing the Process
"Step 4: Build and change computer-rich environments from a position of strength as we learn and as technologies and instruction needs change" (Selfe, pg. 59).