5 Unique Ways to Communicate Digitally with Stakeholders

The time is now to rethink the way classrooms, schools, districts, and organizations communicate with stakeholders in the digital world. Differentiation is key if students, parents, and community members are to stay informed and feel proud of daily accomplishments that take place in their educational institutions. I speak to this in my book All Hands on Deck: Tools for Connecting Educators, Parents, and Communities. I truly believe that if you do not tell your story someone else will and it could be wrong. In my upcoming book, 140 Twitter Tips for Educators, the importance of connecting with school stakeholders through tweets is highlighted in great detail and stresses the importance of accessing real time information from a few taps of a person's mobile device.

Here are five ways communicate with stakeholders in the digital world...

Smore: Create weekly or monthly digital newsletters to keep stakeholders informed of school and district happenings.
Canva: Design visuals and engaging documents that can be shared out and downloaded by stakeholders across multiple platforms.
Tumblr: Host a classroom, school, or district blog that highlights all the wonderful educational experiences that place on a daily basis.
Periscope: Create an online television channel that stakeholders can then access in real time to stay current in a more authentic and personal manner. Tip: use Katch to archive Periscope episodes. 
Snapchat: Reach your student population to inform them of upcoming events and celebrate accomplishments.
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It's important that educational institutions meet their stakeholders where they are in the digital world. No better way to do this than by leveraging the power of available web tools and social media. Take a risk and choose a few of the tools mentioned above. It's perfectly fine if it doesn't work out. The important thing is that you begun the process of exploring what is possible. Over time, it will become more clear which tools meet your stakeholders' informational needs.

Brad Currie is the author of All Hands on Deck: Tools for Connecting Educators, Parents, and Communities and the newly released Personalized PD: Flipping Your Professional Development. He is one of the founding partners of Evolving Educators LLC. Brad is a 2014 ASCD Emerging Leader and Google Certified Trainer. Brad currently serves as a K-8 Supervisor of Instruction and Dean of Students for the Chester School District in Chester, NJ. He is a Google Certified Trainer and speaks nationally about tech integration. Learn more about Brad by following him on Twitter @bradmcurrie or visiting his website at www.bradcurrie.net.