Should Public School Administrators Use Social Media (Twitter) for Communication?
Contemporary educational literature referring to 21st century learning often emphasizes the importance of students using technology tools in our classrooms. Education however is not only about learning: it is also about teaching as well as leading the environments in which our students learn. Howard (2013) writes about educators’ responsibility to learn and understand the language of the technological landscape that is an integral part of today’s students’ lives. Larkin (2013) concludes in his article about “Tweeting the good news” that “we are really not teaching responsible citizenship if we are not modeling appropriate use of digital resources” (p. 71). Educators that truly understand the language of digital literacy and can navigate social media can make effective use of it in school leadership. In this paper, we will take a look at how K-12 public school leaders can utilize social networking tools such as Twitter to enhance communication between the school and its stakeholders.
Why should we use social media?
First, let’s look at the obvious benefits of using social media. Using social media tools can enhance our overall communication (Cox & McLeod, 2014). While communication may seem as a simple task, it is an important one in the era of heightened accountability in public education. Leaders need to be able to convey their message and promote their vision to gain support of the stakeholders. The media will typically pay attention to schools when something newsworthy happens, and the outsiders will then portray a picture of the school that may not necessarily align with the school leader’s vision of the school. Choosing to use Twitter allows the school leaders to start branding their image (Cox & McLeod, 2014), taking control of what information is disseminated about their school.
Literature on school leadership often reflects the isolated nature of our jobs where school principals typically have very few counterparts (Sauers & Richardson, 2015; Carpenter & Krutka, 2014). School leaders can use the social media tools such as Twitter for enhanced collaboration and communication (Sauers & Richardson, 2015; Carpenter & Krutka, 2014; Lu, 2011), and to create communities of practice (Sauers & Richardson, 2015). Additional benefit of social media tools in educational administration is that it can widen personal learning networks (Wejr, 2011). Heightened engagement with peers in general can improve our leadership (Sauers & Richardson, 2015) because we would be more up to date with the recent trends in our profession. Paus (2013) discusses the transformational use of social media in public institutions that allows the leaders to enhance their organizational operations and create a culture of sharing. Sharing information on a regular basis leads to increased interaction with stakeholders (Cox & McLeod, 2014) which is a worthwhile reason to look into including social media as a tool in our leadership arsenal.
To understand exactly how to make the best use of Twitter in public school leadership, let’s start with a discussion on the nature of “tweeting”. Tweets are small bursts of information, each of which is no more than 140 characters long (Twitter, 2013). They are short and on topic, making them time efficient and easy to use. Carpenter and Krutka (2014) list the brevity, immediacy, and openness as three main benefits of communication via Twitter. They also list efficiency and accessibility as perceived benefits by Twitter users in their study. The nature of instant tweeting allows collaborations to take place in real-time (Sauers & Richardson, 2015). Kurtz (2009) emphasizes the personalized nature of communication via Twitter, providing parents a “window into their children’s days” (p.2). In their study of the school district superintendents using social media, Cox and McLeod (2014) echo the abovementioned benefits of Twitter, adding also greater transparency, impact on their personal growth, and stronger connections as additional reasons we should utilize the social media tools in our leadership. Furthermore, the superintendents that participated in their study emphasize that the use of Twitter is no longer an option but a must in 21st century leadership. They go as far as naming the use of social networking (Twitter) as a 21st century communications strategy.
Institutions also try to tap into the benefits of social media in crisis management situations. Immediacy, access, and firsthand exposure to information are just a few of the benefits that tweeting can offer when disaster strikes. United States Department of Education Office of Safe and Healthy Students training module (available at https://rems.ed.gov/docs/Training_SocialMediaInEM.pdf) for using social media in school emergency management outlines posting information about the school dismissal and closure procedures, during the emergency updates and post-emergency status, as well as post-reunification protocols. Using social media allows us to communicate firsthand information and eliminate the other media as the middle man in our crisis situation. We cannot underestimate the fact that all of the abovementioned benefits are available for school administrators at no cost as Twitter (as most other social networking tools) is available to users free of charge.
How should we “tweet”?
Twitter lends itself to extending the content through the use of hyperlinks that can link to the institutional website or the administrator’s blog. Hashtags (#) can be used to relate to similar content on the particular topic posted by others – therefore creating professional networks and interest groups that can be further used for professional development (Carpenter & Krutka, 2014; Jackson, 2012). One of the important aspects of using social media for communication is stability. We cannot simply use it daily one week and then quit posting for a while. To overcome the time crunch and the possibility of forgetting to post important information such as upcoming events, important dates, etc., we can tap into the feature of scheduling our posts ahead of time, therefore using Twitter strategically and continuously but on a schedule that will allow us to take some time off of tweeting if needed. Strategies suggested by Cox and McLeod (2014) in making Twitter part of our brand image include posting tweets simultaneously on social media as well as on our institution’s website, using the icon of Twitter in an e-mail signature, as well as on our school letterhead. Those that still have business cards can also include their Twitter handle on their cards.
Finally, while advertising has typically not been a practice of public schools, we cannot overlook the potential of using Twitter for that purpose. When public schools compete with private schools, and more recently with the virtual schools and home schooling, it is increasingly important to use social media as part of our business strategy to attract potential students as well as to retain our existing students. While this may be a more immediate concern for post-secondary education, it is not too early to think about the same in a public school setting. Every additional student on our enrolment list translates into additional FTE (Full Time Equivalent) dollars, and every student attending our school out of zone (or moving to our school zone due to the popularity of our school) has a potential to bring in another involved parent that can become an active participant in the school’s PTO (Parent Teacher Organization) - further enhancing the communication between us and the community. In addition to attracting students, a positive and even attractive digital image can also spark the interest of potential new educators that can become an asset to our schools.
What are the concerns?
Before making a decision to use social media or not, it is also important to understand the limitations of electronic communication. Just because tweeting is popular, it may not be appropriate in every situation and for all audiences. School administrators in Sauers and Richardson’s (2015) study expressed the concern about the public perception of social media caused mainly by inappropriate tweets and cases of online bullying. In other instances, parents and community may not be fond of social media due to the negative and inaccurate information that is often posted on public sites (Cox & McLeod, 2014).
It is also important to consider the nature of the audiences that we are attempting to reach. For an elementary school administrator, the audiences would be clearly the parents, staff, and the community, while in the case of a secondary school we must also consider the students as our potential audience. Other concerns expressed in the literature about using Twitter by institutional leaders deal with rules and regulations of individual work places. In many instances, those wanting to use Twitter for educational and professional purposes still report the incompatibility of this kind of communication with the institutional policies (Carpenter & Krutka, 2014). Implementing Twitter based communication may not be suitable in a community where another network has been chosen by the audience as an alternative over Twitter (Carpenter & Krutka, 2014). In their study, Carpenter and Krutka (2014) also point out the concerns about privacy and academic integrity and lack of evidence based material when it comes to the use of any type of social media, but I would like to pose a counterargument to their claim. Namely, our goal in using social media tools is indeed to break the walls of silence and inform the public of our opinions. When using social media mindfully and meaningfully, it can be a powerful tool in shaping the perceptions and the image of our school as we see it, and not as the public wants to regard it due to the lack of having better information. The non-use of social media can lead to perceptions formed on social networking sites behind our back without a chance for us to protect ourselves and our institutions.
Carr (2012) brings out the final but important aspect of using social media as a tool of communication: social networking should not take the place of the traditional ways of communicating with our community and the stakeholders. Tweeting is an additional, 21st century mean for communication that can lead to a heightened collaboration and engagement with the community and the stakeholders.
References:
Carpenter, J., & Krutka, D. (2014). How and why educators us Twitter: A survey of the field. JRTE, 46(4), 414–434.
Carr, N. (2012). Technology for effective communication, in Hancock, R. and McLeod, D. (Eds). What school administrators need to know about technology leadership? International Society for Technology in Education. Washington DC, p.1-30.
D. Cox, D., & McLeod, S. (2014). Social media marketing and communications strategies for school superintendents. Journal of Educational Administration, 52(6), 850–868. http://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-11-2012-0117
Howard, K. (2013). Using Facebook and other SNSs in K-12 classrooms: Ethical considerations for safe social networking. Issues in Teacher Education.
Jackson, C. (2012). Synthesis & Sensibility: Twitter 101 for school leaders: Four reasons to join the conversation today! Retrieved from http://carriebjackson.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/twitter-101-four-reasons-to-join-the-conversation-today-2/
Kurtz, J. (2009). Twittering about learning: Using Twitter in an elementary classroom. Horace, 25 (1), 1-4.
Lu, A. (2011). Twitter seen evolving into professional development tool. Education Week 30(36), 20.
Paus, V. (2013). New media and leadership: Social media and open organizational communication. Change and Leadership, (17), 73–78.
Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) Technical Assistance Center. (n.d.). Retrieved January 23, 2016, from http://rems.ed.gov/
Twitter. (2013). About Twitter. Retrieved from https://about.Twitter.com/company
Wejr, C. (2011). Connected leadership: A journey. Retrieved from http://connectedpincipals.com/archives/4833
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