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| www.kristinmagette.com |
Looking
back over the past few years in my school district, it's incredible to see how
a few seemingly small conversations can yield big results. Back in 2012, the
school district leaders in Eudora, Kan., decided that it was time to embrace
social media as a broad tool in education. Not just a a communications tool,
but also a teaching and learning tool. We had an established Facebook page, and
a few teachers dabbling on their own time. (Because, of course our school district
filters didn’t allow them on Facebook or Twitter. I had
double-secret-probation-extra-special filter settings to manage our district
page at work.)
The History of Policy
But three years ago, my
superintendent realized that locking down social media was no longer the best
option. No, the ostrich pose wasn’t going to serve our students well (at all).
With the help of a nearby consultant with a hefty corporate social media
pedigree and personal passion for local schools, we wrote policy and guidelines,
we set up a few procedures to keep the internal lines of communication open, we
provided training to our employees. And we reconfigured our network filters to
allow adult users the privileges to access social media at work. Crazy, I
know.
In the time since, I’ve
shared our story with many different groups and contributed articles to trade
magazines. I even wrote a book that was released last December, taking leaders
step by step on the path of embracing social media across a school system.
What surprises me most, when
I consider the road we've traveled in Eudora Schools and hear questions from
colleagues around the country is, really, how simple our work has been.
Social media inspires enormous fear and loathing in
the hearts and minds of people leading school districts, non-profits, public
agencies and — especially — the boards that govern these groups.
What Scared Us
While a lot of things in
social media have changed since 2012 -- increasing participation among older
audiences, live streaming video apps and anonymous mean-spirited site flavor of
the month -- what hasn't changed is what scares us. We read the stories and see
the reports on television about people making really bad decisions on the
social media stage. In education, we see teachers and administrators who lose
their jobs, kids who jeopardize their future goals, and parents who go a little
(and sometimes a lot) crazy.
Why We Have to Use Social Media
But the simple lesson that
we’ve learned in Eudora — over and again — is that social media is no
different than the other issues that we manage every day. We serve kids
lunch every day because our food and nutrition services workers have been
trained in safe kitchen skills and food safety. We transport kids on buses
every day because our drivers follow specific vehicle, traffic and safety
procedures. We facilitate town hall meetings, where people might hog a
microphone to spread misinformation or angry opinions. But at the end of the
day, our work is woven together with calm leadership and basic risk management.
Social media programs included.
The Rewards of Social Media
I believe that social media
offers a huge reward to districts of all shapes and sizes. We can engage with
parents in a content-rich, real-time exchange. We can create legitimate
relevance and rigor for our students as they learn. (Show me the student who
won’t bring their “A” game if told his or her work will be on a public stage.)
We can encourage our staff to seek professional development through the
enormous opportunities on Twitter. And instead of policing the horizon for the
next thing we have to lock out of our schools, we can be open to the next great
opportunity to engage with our audiences.
The Eudora story I've been
privileged to share means a lot of things to me. But I hope the most important
take-away to you is this: Jump in (or wade in, or dip your toe in) and see for
yourself — the water’s great!
Kristin
is a wife, a mom, a friend. She’s also a communications professional in a
small, rural public school district in Kansas.
You
can follow Kristin on Twitter @kmagette
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