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Response to a Bad Review

by Susan Ohanian

I received this notice:



Your scholarly work in instructional technology has been peer reviewed and published in MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resources for Learning and Online Teaching). The MERLOT project is an international initiative enabling faculty to integrate technology into higher education. MERLOT is supported by 27 systems and institutions of higher education as well as the National Science Foundation. MERLOT is also endorsed by Educational Learning Initiative (ELI) of EDUCAUSE. Over 150 faculty members from these institutions have been performing the peer review of instructional technology, modeled after the peer review process for research and scholarship. . . .

The Peer Review report contains:



a description of the learning goals, student population(s), prerequisite knowledge/skills, type of learning material, summary of procedures for using the software and technical requirements,





an evaluation and observations on the quality of the content, potential effectiveness as a teaching-learning tool and ease of use of your materials, and





comments we have included for your eyes only. This last section has specific comments and suggestions that the reviewers thought might improve the site. Some of them depend on how the site is to be used and not all reviewers (or you) may agree with the suggestions, but we thought you might find some of them useful. You may also add your own comments to the review.





This Merlot is not a wine but bills itself as a Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online teaching.

This Merlot is a program of the California State University, in partnership with higher education institutions, professional societies, and industry.

It turns out that unbeknownst to me, this nonalcoholic Merlot reviewed this site and gave it a very low rating.

Fine work indeed: one star out of five. I find the "criticisms" interesting, given that they are coming from professors of education.




Content Quality: * (out of 5)

Strengths: Content on this website is drawn from a wide variety of national and local sources, from the Washington Post and New York Times to hometown newspapers. The content presented could be used to stimulate critical thinking and academic discussions.

Concerns: The site does not provide a balanced perspective of the issues presented.




The issues I cover do not call for "balance"; they call for analysis and refutation.

Here's another "Concern" expressed by Merlot:



The purpose of the site is to provide links to current information, not to support the development or use of critical thinking skills. Educators must focus on any desired critical thinking outcomes and plan for those in advance. The information presented would be difficult to integrate into most curriculum and pedagogy for teacher education. As instructors, we would present the site with the proviso that we did not agree or disagree with the information contained on the website




I find it mind-boggling that professors of education find the information on my site


• won't support the use of critical thinking skills;


• "difficult to integrate into most curriculum and pedagogy for teacher education."


!!!!!

This just confirms my view that in schools of education, critical thinking skills are nothing more than reheated mashed potatoes. And as far as "difficult to integrate" the material on my site into "most curriculum and pedagogy for teacher education," are these people out of their minds? My site only concerns the daily life's blood of practicing teachers. If this weren't true, why would the Bank Street College of Education be invited me to launch their new season?

One final criticism is that the site contains an "overwhelming amount of text." No cute graphics. My site is for readers. As the bag at my local bookstore says:




Eat
Sleep
Read




People who visit this site regularly, sign on to this credo.

The letter I received from the non-alcoholic Merlot actually closes with "Congratulations on your fine work."

What?!!!!
Indeed.


— Susan Ohanian
Merlot review
2010-06-26


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