Using Social Media Tools &

Technology to Promote Your

School District

Evelyn McCormack        LISPRA, October 2010

 Three Places to Find this Presentation

1. Go directly to my Google docs presentation:

https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=ddcjvr4k_248fdqjkjc6

2. Email me at [email protected] and I'll send you the

link.

3. On Slideshare: www.slideshare.net/evelynmccormack (live

links won't work)
 Social Media Tools

Communication/PR Tools:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• YouTube
• Flickr
• Blogs/eNewsletters
• Google Alerts
• RSS Feeds
 
 A Few Social Media Stats
Facebook (created 2004)
• 512 million active users, 250m log on daily
• 100,000 age 64+, 310,000 between 45-63
• 300,000 businesses now have FB fan pages, including
hundreds of school districts
• 25 million new members every month 
 
LinkedIn (created 2003) 
• 60 million members

Twitter (launched 2006)

• 105 million registered users
• How many tweets?
 
YouTube (launched 2005)
• Every minute, 20 hrs of video uploaded
 
 What Can Social Media Do 
for Your School/District?
• Publicize your achievements
 
• Drive traffic to your District website
 
• Control your own message. An
alternative to print media in getting
the word out.
 
• Develop a Personal Learning
Network -- share ideas, collaborate,
professional contacts
 Common Myths About Social Media
1. Social Media is for Teens and Tweens

2. Social Media will compromise your internet 

security & give you viruses

3. Social Media will jeopardize your eRate funding

4. Social Media will waste time

5. Social Media is expensive

 What I Tell School PR People
• Just go with it: Establish Facebook and Twitter pages
and don't tell anyone. You can keep FB private until you
click on the "publish" button.
• When you're comfortable with how the site works,
publish and start building support.
• "Social media" says it all. Don't try to use a "traditional
PR" mindset. It's a conversation.
• Make it friendly, casual and invite interaction.
• Make your district website the center of a coordinated
communications plan. 
• Drive readers back to your website for in-depth
information. Conversely, use the website to drive
readers to your social media site(s).
Are You Blocking? Filtering?
When your IT Department says it can't
be done, show them this:

--from whitehouse.gov
 Feeds and Alerts
RSS (Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site
Summary) Feeds allow you to receive and organize
all your favorite websites and blogs, instead of
searching for them. Almost all news-related sites,
weblogs and other online publishers syndicate their
content as an RSS Feed to whoever wants it.
 
                    iGoogle
                    Pageflakes
                    Netvibes
                    Bloglines
                    Google Alerts (alerts via email)

 
Start Your Day with iGoogle...
 Google Alerts

http://www.google.com/alert
 Scary, Scary Places
Facebook, Twitter & YouTube
Higher Education on Social Media
Independent Schools on Social Media
 White Plains Public Schools

935 fans
 NYC Schools

10,000 fans
 Boston Public Schools

1,500 fans
 Queensbury UFSD

376 fans
New York State School Boards
 National PTA

12,620 fans
 Don't Let This Happen to You...

1,087 fans
 School Districts/Schools on Facebook
• Durham, NC, Public Schools
• Anchorage School District 
• Blue Valley Schools (Kansas)
• Taylor County Schools (Florida)
• Boston Public Schools
• Ferndale, Mich., Public Schools
• Richmond, Va., City Schools
• Pendleton, Ore., Schools
• Fort Worth, Tex., Independent SD 
• Plano, Tex., Independent SD
• Portland, Ore., Public Schools 
Akron Public Schools
Crestview (Convoy) Local Schools
Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA)
Ohio Hi-Point Career Center
Tri-Rivers Career Center
Elyria City Schools
South-Western City Schools
Lorain County JVS
Muskingum Valley ESC
Warren County Career Center
Pickaway-Ross Career and Technology Center
Butler Tech
Middletown City Schools
Miami Valley Career-Technology Center
To Tweet or Not to Tweet
Twitter in Public Education

Photo credit: chriswallace.com

 Twitter
• Micro-blogging tool (140 characters) that can be
used to post news, links, photos and more.
 
• A tool that can be used (along with others) to drive
traffic back to your district website

Edmodo -- Twitter for Educators

Janis Krums’ Tweet from his cell phone on Jan. 15,
2009 – aboard a ferry on the Hudson River in NYC
 Who’s Using Twitter?

• Largest age group is 35-49, comprising

almost 42 percent of the site’s audience.
(Nielsen Online)
 
• Majority visit Twitter while at work, and 62
percent access it from work only. (Nielsen
Online)
 
 Twitter as a News Tool

Stissing Mountain HS,

Pine Plains, NY
Yonkers Public Schools
Elmsford UFSD
Southern Westchester BOCES

Twitter's new look

 Companies & Organizations Tweeting
• Ford
• Starbucks
• Whole Foods
• Southwest Air
• Jet Blue
• The Smithsonian
• American Red Cross
• Honda
• NASA
 Government Twittering
• Centers for Disease Control
• The White House
• US. Dept. of Education
• 10 Downing Street
• U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security
• U.S. Senate
• U.S. House of Representatives
• World Health Organization
 Twitter Lists

@schoolpr/k12schools
Missouri Educators Twitter List
My Favorite Twitter List
Facebook to Twitter
Wisconsin Dept. of Public Instruction
 Oak Harbor School District

5,800 video views

Manfield ISD
Texas
Boston Public Schools
Check out Youtube EDU for ideas/inspiration
Remember: YouTube is Used by the Masses...
 Who Else is on YouTube?
• The Pope 
• Queen Elizabeth
• Barack Obama  
• PBS 
• National Public Radio  
• The White House  
• Disney Parks 
• The Travel Channel
• The New York Times 
 Alternatives to YouTube 
(in the classroom)
 
• TeacherTube (gated videos site for teachers
and students. Not blocked like YouTube)
• Zamzar (allows you to download videos from
YouTube and use them in the classroom
without having to go online)
 Commenting
• Allow/encourage comments on
Facebook (can see names & profile
photos) Offensive comments can be
removed
• Monitor Twitter "followers," avoid
"following" individuals but
companies/organizations OK 
• Turn off comments on YouTube (they're
anonymous)
• Moderate! 
Social Media Policies/Rules of Engagement

• Just taking off. Do you use the tools first, then

write the policy? Or write the policy first, then start
using the tools?
• Three audiences for policies: public/parents,
students, staff
• Don't have to re-invent the wheel. Update
Acceptable Use Policies and Code of Conduct to
include use of social media
 Lee County (FL) Schools

Two parts:
1. district/professional
use
2. personal use
Facebook Disclaimers/Rules of Engagement
New York State Internet Safety Page

Janell Hallgren, Erie 1 BOCES Policy Services

[email protected] or 716-821-7084
Webinar: Policies for 21st Century
 Inspiration/Best Practices

contact info
news releases for the press

social media youtube videos

links
I Am CPS
Northfield Mount Hermon School
Email: [email protected]   
Facebook           
LinkedIn   
Blog: School Communications 2.0
Twitter: www.twitter.com/nylady
 Creating a Facebook Fan Page
1. create a "personal page",
either in your name or in a
fictional name related to
your district (founder,
mascot, etc.)
2. link account to an
authentic email address and
wait for FB to confirm.
3. go to:
 facebook.com/pages/create
.php
4. When page on left comes
up, choose Official Page  
5. Choose Local Business
6. In dropdown, choose
Education
7./
7. 
5. Give your page a name,
Community pages are less private than fan pages. click checkbox, then Create
Members can see each other's information. Better Official P
for PTAs, Foundations, causes, etc.
Set a Customized URL for Your Page
1. Once you have 25 fans, get a customized URL for your
page by going to: www.facebook.com/username
2. Any FB fan pages attached to your account will show up
and you can choose a user name. 
Building Your Page
Choose tabs for your page

1. Upload district logo

2. Insert mission statement or

paragraph explaining that this
is the official FB fan page of
your district

3. Add address and phone in

info box.
 Facebook Insights
Once you've created a fan page, you'll see an Insights box
in left hand margin. Click on "see all" to see more info about
your page -- viewers, demographics, etc. You can also elect
to receive Insights emails once a week.
Facebook in Education
Setting Up Twitter
1. Go to http://twitter.com
 
2. A window like the one at left will come
up.
 
3. Click on "Join the Conversation."
 
4. A window like the one at bottom left will
appear.
 
5.  Choose a user name as close to your
school name as possible.

6. Add your email address -- personal or

business.
 
7. Type in the security code then click “I
accept, Create my Account.” 
Twitter will find people in
your email address book
and suggest that you
follow them. 

While this is cool, you

might want to hold off
following anyone until
you've started posting to
Twitter.
Twitter Tools
TweetBeep allows you to get email
alerts about tweets on a topic you
choose.
 Twitter Search

• Search by name, user

ID, topic.
• Search by hashtag
(#haiti)
• Search using the @
sign (@wpschools).
 URL Shorteners

All free:
 
http://bit.ly/
 
http://is.gd/
 
http://tinyurl.com/
 
 Retweeting & Direct Messages
hashtag -- put in front of any
term or name. Great way to
follow conversations
 

-- use RT to repeat a post made by someone else on

Twitter. Identify the source by using @ in front of their A shortened URL. You can get
Twitter ID. apps that do this.
-- use D in front of someone's ID to send a direct
message
 Removing Comments and Followers

On Facebook: Just hover your cursor

over any comment and then click on
the "x" to delete any comment.
You can also delete your own posting
on FB by hovering to the right of your
comment and clicking on the "remove"
button.

On Twitter: Go to your followers, and click

on the "gear" icon.
The dropdown will give you options. Click
on "unfollow" or "block"
 Social Media Aggregators

Tweetdeck & Hootsuite

 Two Great Resources
Mashable's Twitter Guide Book

Mashable's Facebook Guide Book

 A Few Other Handy Tools...

Issuu

Upload any print document to

this site.

Once the doc loads, it will be

visible on your bookshelf.
 
You can "embed" the
document anywhere on your
website.
 
Easy to read, no need to
download PDFs.
Tools of the Trade
Slideshow Tools

Photobucket, Flickr, and several other

photo sharing sites come with the ability
to make slideshows. 
Just download a group of photos and
copy the embed code they give you and
place in news section of your website.
Mac users: You can also do this on
iMovie.
 Golden Rules for Using Social Media
1.Respect the spirit of the Internet
2.Listen, give kudos and be generous.
3.Add value. How am I adding value to the
conversation or the community?
4.Respond in a timely fashion.
5.Do good things. Visit
Social Media for Social Good
6.Be real. Authenticity is important.
7.Collaborate. It's all about community.
 
--credit: Simona Boucek, Salem-Keizer (Ore.) Public Schools 
 Resources

Additional Web 2.0 tools, links and

more videos
  Web 2.0 & Social Media Resources

Online Document Sharing:

Google Docs
Scribus
Writewith.com (group writing/editing)
Piconote -- online note-taking
Helipad -- online document and notes tool
Writewith -- cooperative document editing

Newsletter Creation & Tools:

Letterpop (create newsletters for free. A bit clunky.)
Issuu (free-post any print document, email, embed, etc.)

Photo Editing:
Snipshot (edit your photos online/alternative to Photoshop)
FixRedEyes -- fix red eye on photos online
Wikis:
Wetpaint Wikis 
Wikispaces
 
Blog Platforms:
Wordpress
Blogger
Edublogs

Organization:
30 Boxes (online calendar)
Remember the Milk (online to-do list and task management)
Evernote (clipping favorite websites and saving online)

Writing:
Save the Words -- Vocabulary builder (hilarious and fun)
FreeDictionary
Gramlee (site that checks your grammar--not free)
Twitter tools:
Grouptweet – send private messages to specific groups using
Twitter
Mytweetmap – shows where tweets are coming from on a map
Twitter Search – search for terms and people on Twitter
Twitpic – Post photo links on Twitter
Twitter 101/A Special Guide
Make Use Of's The Complete Guide to Twitter

Miscellaneous Web 2.0:

VisualCV – Create a visual resume online
The Common Craft Show (video how-tos)  
A-Z Glossary of Web 2.0 Terms
Slideshare
NSPRA Facebook Page
Kansas State University's Mediated Cultures Website
Big Think
eSchoolNews Educator Resource Centers
Go 2 Web 2.0 – great resource
Good Search -- search engine that donates one penny to
school districts for every search made by a user
 
Related Presentations:
Four Social Media Sites Schools Can't Ignore -- Lorrie
Jackson
Dive Deep into Facebook -- Lorrie Jackson

Free Webinars:
eSchoolNews
Classroom 2.0
Burrelles Luce