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5 Aspects of Social Media Leadership for School Administrators and Other Educators

Posted by Unknown Sabtu, 23 Juni 2012 0 komentar

Twenty-first century school leaders need to become masters of social media leadership. Those who don't, or those who dismiss it as a fad, are failing in one of the major responsibilities of being a 21st century educational leader. What does being a social media leader look like? Here's some items to consider:

Being a social media leader means you see the technology of social media as a way to invite stakeholders into conversations, not as an announcement system. By default, this one also means you have to act with courage. Using social media in this manner means greater transparency with what is happening in your school. It also means greater involvement in your school community. The courage comes in when others comment on how your doing or how your school is doing.
Being a social media leader means you don't just use social media to tell your parents and community what you think they want to know: you tell them the kinds of information they want to have. The old communication model would be sitting at your desk, carefully deciding what you want your parents to know. The new communication model means you need to communicate out to your public the information a 21st century audience demands. That sometimes means communicating things you are a bit uncomfortable with.
Being a social media leader means using it to provide 21st century connections with your parents and community. Twenty-first century connections are two-way, not one way connections. For example, newsletters or posting a video of your graduation on your web site is one way communication. Posting an announcement or video on Facebook with comments activated invites two-way. But make sure you have clear guidelines on what is acceptable comments and not acceptable.
Being a social media leader means understanding social media in the manner suggest by authors Kitty Porterfield and Meg Carnes in their book Why Social Media Matters: School Communication in the Digital Age: Social media is a "process not a product." It isn't something you engage in on Fridays at 4 PM. It requires time and investment to be effective. Engaging in social media is ongoing, not a one-time event.
Finally, being a social media leader means using it to create an environment of collaboration. It involves creating a place where all opinions are valued. In other words, using social media to create a sense of shared responsbility for the entire school or district. You can't always to expect to invite your parents to collaborate on your terms. They also have desires and aspirations for their schools. Social media is an opportunity to foster that kind of thinking more, and social media leaders do it well.

If you as a school leader or educator wonder why you are failing to engage others in your social media, it might be that you are not demonstrating 21st century social media leadership. To to that, you need to change your perspective of communicating with your parents and community. That perspective needs to now include the idea that one-way communication is 20th century. Social media is a multi-way media to engage others in a conversation, not just talk at them.

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4 Social Media Listening Strategies for 21st Century School Leaders

Posted by Unknown Minggu, 20 Mei 2012 0 komentar

In their book Why Social Media Matters: School Communication in the Digital Age authors Kitty Porterfield and Meg Carnes argue that for school leaders to use social media effectively, they not only use it to communicate out information, they must also engage in listening to what stakeholders are saying.

"Listening online gives leaders insight into their communities in a way that face-to-face meetings and surveys do not."

It is through social media that people sometimes reveal their true feelings. If they do not think you are listening, they may say things quite unlike those occasions when they think you are. Using social media to listen to what your stakeholders are saying is another way for you to get in touch with what they really want. To do that, Porterfield and Carnes suggest establishing a listening strategy for your school or district. So how does one establish this? Here's some suggestions I've paraphrased from their book, Why Social Media Matters: School Communication in the Digital Age.

Decide how much time will be spent listening. Will it be once a day? Once a Week? Portfield and Carnes suggest that school leaders need to listen to their school or district's social media channels at least once a day. If a crisis occurs, obviously it will be necessary to listen more often. For example, during a contentious school board decision or during a well-publicized event involving a staff member or student, listening to social media channels needs to be much more often than once a day.
Designate personnel who will do the listening and report back to administration. These individuals are charged with the task of listening to your social media channels. Large districts can perhaps charge their communications teams with these tasks. Small districts may have to select current district staff to serve on a listening team.
Portferfield and Carnes suggest developing a "Social Media Collection Tool" to report out what was found from listening. This gives the district or school a physical record of what others are saying on social media sites. School leaders need to have a record of what conversations are occuring about their schools or districts, and this tool satisfies that need.
Develop a plan on how the school or district will respond to what is heard on social media. School leaders need to evaluate the influence level of those engaging in conversations on social media. Answers to such questions as the following are also important: How will you respond to inaccurate or incomplete information being shared about your school or organization? What offical media channels will you use in your response if you decide to do so?

The perception that most school leaders seem to have of social media is a tool for making announcements to their stakeholders rather than a means to engage that same group in larger conversations about how we're doing our jobs. It is imperative that 21st century school leaders establish a social media listening strategy for their school or district in age where people are talking about us through social media whether we're listening or not.

Next Up: Social Media Listening Tools for 21st Century School Leaders

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