Unlike so many packaged technology programs brought into schools, homemade programs can still fears and quiet anxieties. The invention process is no slam-dunk. There are risks to setting the process in motion. Chief among the dangers is the tendency of some districts to provide little in the way of expectations that might serve to inspire quality. The clearer the structure provided for the inventors, the greater the likelihood that products will be worth the investment of district funds and professional development time.
Structures guide toward quality without restricting or limiting creativity and originality.
It helps enormously if teachers can see examples of what other teachers have created and step through an online learning experience, which highlights the key features, and elements of what it is they are expected to build together. This set of Web pages was used to introduce teachers in the Grand Prairie ISD to the concept of research modules. It clarified expectations and provided the scaffolding they needed to know how to proceed. Another example can be found at WebQuests. Standards Quality also emerges when the criteria for success are explicitly stated and then emphasized at the beginning of the invention process.