"There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know."
-Donald Rumsfeld

"In designing a course, we are gathering information and making decisions about how the course will be taught (Mike's Note: Important point that during this process, we are intentionally trying to not yet worry about the tech tools we will use -- this will come later after we have identified EXACTLY what capabilities will be needed and why - this will ensure the tools are not driving the bus and making instructional choices for us! ). We want to engage in both of these activities so that there is a high likelihood that the students will have a significant learning experience. In order to do this, we need to work through the course design process in a systematic way. This means completing each step before going on to the next one. This is important because the later steps build on the earlier ones."

Integrated Course Design Step 1:
Situational Factors

"The first thing to do when designing a course is to size up the situation carefully...This information will be used to make important decisions about the course...The general categories I have found useful to consider are the following:

Specific Context of the Teaching/Learning Situation
General Context of the Learning Situation
Nature of the Subject
Characteristics of the Learners
Characteristics of the Teacher

The specific context factors are always important. The other factors are sometimes important, sometimes not. But it’s always useful to review all of them.

...Review each of these factors with regards to your specific course. If you have information about any factor, write it down. If you don’t have information, but think it could be important, write down ideas about how you might obtain it."

Fink, L. Dee, A Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning, page 6