Taking your high school paper online.

1. “We are all publishers now”
10 Challenges and 10 Rewards
of moving your high school paper online
Melissa Wantz/June 2013

2. “We Don’t Use Paper for This”
Launching The Foothill Dragon Press (October 2009)
(video)

3. Challenges to
Publishing Online?
What are the

4. 1. Jack of all trades

5. 2. The ground constantly shifts
• Online resources are developing daily
Keeping up is difficult
Is it possible to feel like you know
what you are doing?
>

6. 3. Audience expectations are high
• As mainstream media and social networking
sites add more digital goodies at ever cheaper
cost and higher speed…
the pressure is on
to do the same.
>

7. 4. Online = Always on
• There is no reason not to publish news as or
shortly after it happens.
• This is difficult when you have a staff less than
5 hours a week.
• When your students
– Have responsibilities
interests electives finals
LIVES >

8. 5. Online requires more
monitoring
• Inappropriate comments
• Inappropriate articles
• The publication is like a baby, rarely sleeping
always crying out for attention.
>

9. 6. Online is more fragile
• The freedom, fluidity and flexibility of online also creates a
vulnerability that must be protected
from student error
and
from outsiders
• Your entire site can disappear in an instant.
– I know this for a fact
– It’s happened several times
>

10. 7. Online scares some people
• Some administrators worry about…
“things getting out of control”
and
“teenagers running amok”
>

11. 8. Online is forever
• Digital footprints do not easily go away.
• Responsibility is really on staff to use
good judgment
in deciding what to publish.
>

12. 9. The competition is vast
• At school, teachers won’t give up time for kids to
read our online publication the way they might
for a print newspaper.
• At home, there are a million other
online places for readers to go.
• Everyone is a “journalist” now which means
our competition is “everyone.”
>

13. 10. The technology can be
inconsistent...
• Just like a student, sometimes it works,
sometimes it doesn’t.
• This is frustrating.

14. Benefits of Publishing online
Top 10

15. 1. Student ideas go farther.
In the past 10 months:
• Dragon Press visited 60,000 times
• 125 countries
• 255,00 page views

16. Student ideas go farther.

17. Student ideas go farther.

18. Student ideas travel farther.

19. 2. Student work travels faster.

20. 2. Student work travels faster.

21. 2. Student work travels faster.

22. 3. Student opportunities are greater.

23. 3. Student opportunities are greater.

24. 4. Feedback is more authentic.

25. 4. Feedback is more authentic.

26. 5. Costs are less.
• After accounting for one-time expenses
– equipment
– software
…Publishing online is cheaper than print.
• Hosting fee: $25 a month
• Domain fee: $12 per year
• Theme/template $75 per year
• Total: < $400 annual cost
…versus ?? annually for printing

27. 6. Online is interactive.

28. 6. Online is interactive.

29. 6. Online is interactive.

30. 6. Online is interactive.

31. 6. Online is interactive.

32. 6. Online is interactive.

33. 7. Online has more room.
• Space is unlimited
• More students can publish more (frequently &
in depth)
• Typical year:
– 30-40 videos
– 500 + articles
– 600 tweets
– 2000 photos & illustrations

34. 8. Makes history more accessible.

35. 8. Makes history more accessible.
Two years ago This year

36. 9. Creates a searchable database.

37. 10. Builds positive digital identities

38. 10. Builds positive digital identities

39. 10. Builds positive digital identities

40. 10. Builds positive digital identities
Staff created an
online resume as
their final project
for second
semester.
Used free website:
www.visualcv.com

41. Review of Benefits
1. Reaches farther
2. Travels faster
3. Provides unexpected opportunities
4. Allows authentic, immediate feedback
5. Costs less
6. Is interactive
7. Has unlimited space
8. Is searchable
9. Offers accessible archives
10. Builds positive digital identities

42. • “I don’t think these are dark days. I think this
is just what disruptive change feels like. The
barrier has never been lower. You are all
journalism entrepreneurs, innovators.”
—Bill Gannon, Director of Online Operations, Lucasfilm LTD

43. 2 questions
• How can you squander even one more
day not taking advantage of the greatest
shifts of our generation?
• How dare you settle for less when the
world has made it so easy for you to be
remarkable?
-- Seth Godin

44. end