SNOW HILL — As technology advances, social media starts to play a larger role in all aspects of everyday life, including education. Worcester County Public Schools (WCPS) acknowledged that last week by unveiling their new website and by implementing a social media use policy for staff.
The new website, which launched earlier this month, is significantly evolved from the former site. The original web page lacked the ability to interact fully with devices like tablets and smart phones.
“One of the things about this [new] website that is different is that it is flexible,” said Barb Witherow, coordinator of Public Relations and Special Programs for WCPS. “The other one was static and presented itself in the same way no matter what device you were using and you couldn’t access about 70 percent of it on a smart phone. Everybody can access this regardless of what they are using.”
The new site features a more convenient layout and serves as a hub for all of the school system’s news and information. It also has links to all of the WCPS social media sites, which at this point include Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Shutterfly. There will be a steady stream of new information going onto the site, with access on the go a priority.
“One of the functionalities you’ll see is a lot of news…little blips of news to keep everybody current,” Witherow told the Board of Education (BoE) last week. “These are going to be feeding a mobile app that we are going to be launching later in June.”
As the most popular social media outlet, the school system’s new Facebook account will also see some attention, according to Witherow. WCPS had already dipped their toe in the water of social media by way of Twitter and Youtube months ago before launching their Facebook page in May, but the new project represents a major step forward in how the school system interacts with the county.
The page has already generated over 400 likes and serves as an easy place to post everything from student and teacher award pictures to school delays and closings.
Checking Facebook has become a several-times-a-day habit for a lot of people, including students and parents, and Witherow hopes that the progress WCPS is making in staying modern will make the school system more interactive. Other early statistics reflect that.
In its first four days, the WCPS Facebook page saw 4,364 users or viewers between May 15 and 18, an average of 1,091 per day. Likewise, the newly designed website had 2,922 users or viewers for the week between May 20 and 27, an average of 417.4 per day. The school system’s Twitter page received similar activity for the same week, logging 2,337 visitors, an average of 333.8 per day.
With the website, about 61 percent of users are between the ages of 18 and 34 and within the debut week of May 20 through 27, 41.5-percent of all visitors were new. The data shows that 36.9 percent of those viewing the website are doing so with a tablet or other mobile device. It is all consistent with what the school system was looking for by adapting the site to work better with smart devices and linking Facebook, Twitter and other platforms from one central hub.
“According to our students, they want to know important information first and social media is the perfect vehicle for immediacy,” said Witherow.
However, Board of Education member Doug Dryden pointed out that while social media is a unique tool for improving connectivity it also contains “pitfalls.” Use of the platforms in schools and by WCPS staff has the potential to be very positive as long as there are guidelines in place to keep interactions professional, according to the Board of Education. The new policy, which was unanimously adopted last week, lays out those guidelines with the emphasis on social media being treated much like a classroom.
“[Worcester County Board of Education] is committed to ensuring that all WCBOE stakeholders who utilize social media technology for professional purposes described below, including staff and students do so in a safe and responsible manner. The WCBOE strives to create professional social media environments that mirror the academically supportive environments of our schools,” the policy reads.
Included in the policy are guidelines for staff to keep separate professional and personal email accounts. When interacting with students via social media, educators are to use professional accounts and platforms and should do so with no expectation of privacy from being monitored by the school. Interacting with students via a personal social media account is discouraged though permissible in emergencies.
In addition, personal social media use even when the teacher is not in school “has the potential to result in disruption at school and/or the workplace,” reads the policy, and is therefore subject to BoE law and policies.
For more information and social media links, visit the new WCPS website at www.worcesterk12.com.