CHAPTER THREE: DESIGN METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction The design of the Anytown learning environment was a complex process with five months of paper and pencil prototyping followed by an additional nine months of digital development punctuated by additional redesign as need arose. The first half of the original design was mainly sketched out on paper from November 2004 through February of 2005 by this researcher a colleague. A prototype was developed within the Quest Atlantis world code-named Language Arts from January through March of 2005 with the help of another doctoral candidate also working for Quest Atlantis. This three dimensional layout of the learning environment included the creation and embedding of buildings, characters, and other necessary objects such as trees, walls, streets, signs, animals, and cars. With much of the layout complete, the instructional design was implemented by creating hundreds of dialogue pages that specify how objects and characters communicate with students within the learning environment. Within these dialogue pages, html links allowed users to ask questions of characters, pick up objects, read through stories, or enter locked doors, contingent upon earning collecting other key objects. In order for these pages to appear appropriately depending on who and what students have already interacted with, which objects they have received, and at what stage in their experience they have reached, access conditions were also designed to ensure appropriate responses to student interactions. The learning environment was also seeded with learning tasks called “Quests� in the language of Quest
67