Schools Using Social Media to Keep In Touch
Social media isn’t just for students anymore. Some schools are utilizing Facebook, Twitter and blogs to keep in touch with parents, community members and alumni. Since it is easier to reach these constituents where they are instead of getting them to visit the school websites, schools are realizing that the simplicity of social media status updates and opening up two-way communication are additional benefits that social media platforms provide.
In an interview for the Washington Post, Adrian Murphy, a teacher at Green Acres in Rockville, MD that is responsible for the school’s new blog stated: “If you can read a blog and can see pictures and watch video clips, all of a sudden you have some insight into what’s going on. You’ve been invited to the conversation, and you can participate on your time.”
Reading a blog about interesting goings-on with the students and school can take as little as a minute or two, but getting parents to visit the school for a parent-teacher conference is very time-consuming. The instant and always-on nature of social media enables better, more consistent communication while preserving the precious commodity of time.
“It’s what the kids and parents are at home with, and it’s really important to be able to meet them where they are,” says Marlene Nesary, a spokeswoman International Society for Technology in Education, an Eugene, OR based nonprofit group that supports the use of information technology in learning.