Presentation by Ellen Lane and Evelyn McCormack at annual conference of the New York State School Boards Association. New York, NY

1. A Paradigm Shift in School
Communications
Presenters:
Evelyn McCormack, Southern Westchester BOCES
Ellen Lane, Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES

2. #hashtag for Today’s Workshop
#nyssbasocial
• If you would like to ask us questions via Twitter, we
will answer them at any time after our
presentation.
• Let’s keep the conversation going!
• You can find this presentation at
www.slideshare.net/evelynmccormack
(longer version on NYSSBA site)

3. The Tech Train Has Left the Station

4. A Bit of Mind-Blowing Data
• 700 YouTube video links shared on Twitter every
minute
• 500 years’ worth of YouTube videos watched on
Facebook each day
• FB users share 2.5 billion pieces of content a day
• 400 million tweets sent a day
• Instagram users upload 40 million photos a day
• 59% of US companies now have Instagram accounts
• 15 million businesses, companies, organizations have
FB fan pages
Sources: Neilsen, Lab 42, Relevancy Group

5. Why Social Media Matters
• People are already there. It’s time to join them where
they’re most comfortable
• Collaboration, information sharing & engagement
• Transforms monologues into dialogues
• Provides platform from which to share opinion &
information, empowers individuals
• Anywhere, anytime and immediate
• Transparency and listening
• It’s free
• A great way to tell your district’s story

6. District of 2,490
students
Facebook Fan Pages

8. UFSD Tarrytowns on Facebook

9. Facebook = Engagement
Simple announcement,
but with an
engagement angle.
“Who is excited?”

10. Drive traffic back to your website!
Post cute kid photos!

11. Tarrytown UFSD’s video
library, which is updated in
real time via YouTube.
Always one featured video
and library of earlier videos.
Facebook Videos
https://www.facebook.com/youtubetabapp

12. Miles for Smiles fundraiser at
Valhalla Middle School
We Love You, Conrad! Tarrytown
Create & upload albums of photos related to the same event
Schools
Facebook Photo Albums

13. Putnam/Northern Westchester
BOCES’s photo albums on
Facebook

14. Facebook for Advocacy & Curation

15. Allow Comments on Facebook
When to delete a comment from a FB page?
•If it depicts some illegal action
•If it uses words you wouldn’t want a child to use
•If it is completely off topic
•If it attacks or insults another user
•If someone is selling something on your page

16. Twitter to Spread the Word
Ossining School District Twitter page

18. Twitter = Personal Learning Network
Superintendents and principals use Twitter to share news
stories, links, with colleagues. They follow people with
whom they share the same interests.

19. Great way to
share news
about your
district & schools.

20. Curate information and news about education, leadership,
Common Core, & other topics by using social media to spread
the word.

21. Twitter as Parent/Student Engagement Tool
A great tool for principals

22. Twitter = Vital News Source

23. http://www.dallasisd.org/healthupdates

24. YouTube Channels
Tarrytown School District

25. Mahopac Schools YouTube Channel

26. Ways to Use YouTube
• Promote curriculum, best teachers, new buildings,
bonds and votes, student accomplishments, etc.
• Brand your district
• Don’t allow commenting on YouTube.
• Shooting and editing videos requires time/staff.
• If you don’t have a video staff, use photos from an
event to create an ANIMOTO video.

27. Mobile Apps for Your District
Does this look familiar?

28. Why Mobile?
• More parental involvement & engagement
• The world has changed
• Delivery method is arm’s length & convenient
• Parents expect immediate and customized news
and information
• Mobile apps reach a greater and more diverse
audience
• English and non-English adoption

29. Because They’re There
• Smartphone sales have risen 85 percent year over
year.
• More than 1 million devices activated per day.
• By 2015, nearly 1 trillion apps will be downloaded
globally, compared to 7 billion in 2009.
• Average American spends two hours/day on mobile
device. 57,293 hours over a lifetime.
• One of every four online searches takes place on
mobile device.
-- Gartner Inc., Berg Insight, onlineschools.org

30. • 75% use smartphones while in the bathroom.
• 83% of young people sleep next to their mobile device.
• Young adults, non-whites, and those with relatively low
income and education levels are particularly likely to be
cell-mostly internet users.
--Pew Research Center, convinceandconvert.com, onlineschools.org

31. App 101: What’s Right for Your District?
• Native Apps
• Mobile Website
• Hybrid Apps

32. Native Apps
• Created for a specific platform
• Downloaded from an app store like Google
Play or Apple’s App Store
• Live on device & can use its features
• Allow for personalized experience
• Work offline
• Push notifications
• Better user experience

33. Responsive/Mobile Web
• Website that looks and feels like an app
• Works across platforms
• Written in HTML5
• May increase website visibility in search engines
• Does not work offline
• No Push Notifications

34. Hybrid Apps
• Installed from an app store
• Cheaper to create than native app
• Can use many of the features of the device
• Rely on HTML being rendered in your browser
• Combine elements of native apps and mobile
websites

35. Mobile Website Generic App Branded App

36. What to Look For in an App: Integration
• Easy access to school addresses, staff/contact
information, calendars, sports, lunch menus.
• Delivers alerts (weather notifications, school closings,
athletic scores, significant events) in real-time using
push notifications.
• Integrates with 3rd-party technologies so parents and
students can access records, grades, calendars,
attendance info.
• Integrates w/district social media sites.

37. Calendars
News Visuals
Social Media

38. Student Information System
customized for parent users
Staff directory with names
and head shots

39. User Experience
● Well designed, easy to use so parents, students & teachers
can easily adopt.
● Easily downloaded from iTunes® and GooglePlay® at no cost.
● Access to critical information/resources on district website, so
stakeholders can keep up with what’s happening when they’re
working & away from home.
● Provides ad-free zone.
● Delivers familiar experience with updated feed (similar to
popular social media).

40. Customized “stream” of news items of interest to the user

41. Features & Customization
• Brand app with district colors, themes, logo to match
website.
• Vendor/provider frequently updates app to introduce
new features and functionality.
• Do-it-yourself capabilities, including ability to add icons
that give users easy access to information, including
calendars, lunch menus, online payment systems.
• Allows you to reconfigure links as often as you want.

42. Branding

43. Languages
Can parents configure the app in their
native language?
English is not the primary language
spoken by 21% of American parents. (US
Census)
The English Language Learner K-12
student population in the US has grown
10 times faster than non-ELL population
from 3.5 million in 2000 to 5.3 million in
2010.

44. Service and Support
•Vendor has 24/7 support, resources and expertise
to maintain app throughout its lifecycle.
•Vendor configures and launches your mobile app,
and sets up your information in Apple and
GooglePlay app stores.
•Look up app ratings and pay particular attention to
apps that get four star ratings.

45. Rolling Out Your App
• Test app on multiple devices & make adjustments
where necessary before rolling out.
• Choose popular school events that attract large
audience to announce and/or display your app. Back-to-
school night, concert, etc.
• Create flyers or postcards for parents to take home
with pertinent information on how to download app.
• Create QR barcode that users can scan to be directed
to app on the app stores.

48. • Chippewa Falls USD received local press about their
app = 1,600 downloads.
• Baldwin County Public Schools sent out text and email
notifications about their new app = 6,000 downloads
in one day.
• Papillion-La Vista Public Schools posted banners in all
their school buildings = 8,000+ downloads
• McKinney ISD notified their sports booster and PTA
organizations = 20,000 downloads.

49. Mobile App Vendors
• Parentlink
www.parentlink.com
• School Messenger
www.schoolmessenger.com
• Willow Tree
www.willowtreeapps.com
• School Connect
www.schoolconnectservices.com
• School Info
www.schoolinfoapp.com
• Allerton Hill
www.allertonwww.allerton-hill.com

50. ▪ Ellen Lane: elane@pnwboces.org
▪ Evelyn McCormack:
emccormack@swboces.org