Topic: Getting

Online curricular materials and activities could reduce the logistical and economic costs of assembling expert panels. Criteria for judging quality could be shared and debated, and judgments of quality could be deliberated in multiple electronic arenas. Judgments could be directly linked to the artifact being judged, with confirming and dissenting commentary attached … The evaluation process could become more open to standard-setting groups, such as subject matter experts … Panelists could conduct online interviews with developers. Because expert critics need not be physically convened, the frequency of reviews could be increased and the composition of review teams could be improved – for example by involving more scientists and experts.

In the area of pedagogy, teachers are moving into roles as facilitators, models, and coaches, particularly for strategic inquiry. The appropriateness of pedagogical techniques employed by individuals from other professions and backgrounds who may serve as experts or mentors will need to be assessed.

Network-based projects require teachers to develop classroom organization patterns that allow students to collaborate with other students in their own classroom, in other schools, and in other communities of practice. Teachers need to be able to structure group memberships and roles to support productive collaboration, to monitor and provide feedback, and to assess the progress of students as individuals and as team members.

Teachers’ breadth and depth of knowledge about academic subject matter will remain important, but the increasing availability of resources and expertise online will heighten the need to assess how effectively teachers help students find and access such information. In addition, teachers’ facility with using technology and integrating it into their curricula will become another outcome to assess.