Condensed History Lesson & The Future of School District Communication
On the night of April 18th, 1775, the most important message of the United States was delivered on horseback under the cover of night by Paul Revere. His simple "1 if by land, 2 if by sea" system gave the American forces time to rally and eventually defeat the British Army.
Fast-forward to 103 years later...
In 1878 David Hughes noticed that sparks could be heard in a telephone receiver with a carbon microphone. Hughes developed his carbon-based detector further and eventually could detect signals over a few hundred yards. Radio later became the media outlet on which Adolf Hitler made his famous declaration of war.
Fast-forward again, this time 131 years...
On Tuesday, January 20th
2009, the world witnessed the inauguration of the first African-American President of the United States of America. Over 23 million people watched the inauguration... ON THE INTERNET!
Let's review. What have we learned from our brief history lesson that pertains to school district communication?
At first glance is doesn't look like much, but hear me out!
Imagine trying to explain to Paul Revere the concept of a computer. Or maybe you would like the task of telling Hitler that there would someday be an African-American President of the United States. In either case, both messages would have been met with tremendous uncertainty.
The message I am trying to convey is simple. If school districts are going to survive in the ever changing world of communication, THEY MUST LEARN TO ADAPT!!!
This is not a knock on any specific school district, or even any particular demographic of citizens. Instead, think of this as a request to all people in charge of school district communication. Our schools are too important to let their communication slip by the wayside. Students across the country are excelling in ways like never before, yet negative stories dominate the headlines concerning today's education system.
Today's traditional and social media outlets have spoiled audiences. People no longer rely on the Sunday paper to fill them in on what is happening in their community and around the world. Today's media audiences want their information on their terms, and they want it now.
One way cutting-edge districts are combating this problem is by infusing user generated content (UGC) into their communication efforts. (Look here for a great example www.hipointjourneys.com) With the demands of today's media audiences, user generated content allows students, staff and even alumni the chance to provide positive messages about their respective districts.
However, user generated content is not the "end all be all" for school communication, and that is exactly my point. Confused yet?
User generated content is not new to the communication world. Unfortunately, it is still relatively new to school districts across the country. This only further reinforces the significance of my previous request. Lagging behind most other organizations can't become a trend with school districts. Schools, especially public schools have an image problem. The only way to combat this problem is by becoming as transparent in communication efforts as possible.
To bring this post full-circle, nobody knows exactly what the future holds for school district communication. But then again, nobody knows what the future holds either. What we do know is that the most successful industries and companies are the ones who best communicate with their target audiences. Just imagine the fate of the United States if Paul Revere would have tried delivering his message on his own two feet. The results would have been catastrophic. A similar fate can't be shared by our schools, they are simply too important!
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