Anonymously rating teacher performance

The other aspect that occurs to me about sites that rate performance is the voice of consumers is becoming increasingly powerful. The Internet is partially responsible for increasing the power of the consumer voice. RateMyTeachers.com is simply another iteration of the blog. It is a new type of consumer blog. Those who post to blogs can do so responsibly or irresponsibly. This is where teachers can fulfill their educative role.

Instead of focusing on the negative aspects of these types of sites, perhaps teachers should embrace the idea and actively encourage students to critically and responsibly assess their teaching. We all need critical appraisal of our work and discouraging or even disallowing students to have a say about their teachers is overtly paternalistic. Encouraging students to review their teachers sounds empowering.

In the tertiary education sector, students anonymously yet formally rate teacher performance. Unlike RateMyTeachers.com the results of student evaluations are not published on the Internet for any and all to read. Maybe a similar system, that allows primary and secondary students to evaluate their teachers, needs consideration.

Technology has had and will continue to have a profound impact on social interactions. Teachers could educate their students about the use of publicly available forums instead of immediately panicking about students posting inappropriate comments about them.

What a great opportunity for teachers to educate Australian children about responsible use of the Internet.