Saturday, January 24, 2009

Should educators blog?

Your school district website should include the following:
  • Communication
  • Transparency
  • Participation
We have the technology, we can learn the skills, we just need to change how we communicate.

It takes leadership by our school administrators to show the way.

Just Do It!

Set up a blog for all administrators to post to. Post news items and events of the schools on the blog. Be informal and avoid jargon. The blog is a place to bring people into your school. Make them feel welcome.

Use more than text, include audio, videos and images whenever possible. Creat podcasts to attach to your blog or featured on iTunes.

Keep the posts short so that it is not a big task to keep up. Tell one story or point at a time.

Involve students in producing the blogs. Post pictures of students who earn awards, do community service or participate in great classroom projects.

Use your traditional communication vehicles to advertise the blog and see what you can give up next year.