Tech Toolbox
Why your district needs a blog — now

"It began with conversations. Then we got into broadcast media. Now we are going back to conversations. It's a full circle." — Terry Catchpole, The Catchpole Corporation

If you are not familiar with blogs, now is the time to dive in. This valuable, and often free, tool can provide your school district with an informal communication channel and a great platform for feedback and discussion. Coined in 1997, "blog" is short for "weblog" (a contraction of the words "web" and "log"). Since the early years of blogging, these online journals have become a hugely popular medium for sharing information.

Many administrators I have spoken to say they do not want to start a blog because they do not want to air their dirty laundry in front of a wide audience. My response is that the issues, questions and complaints that appear on blogs are the same discussions already happening at grocery stores, in football stadiums and in homes in your community. The great thing about a blog is it allows you to intercept those comments and respond as necessary. In other words, you normally aren't there to correct someone if they take a cheap shot at the district. In the blogosphere, you are able to respond and prove that you are listening to their concerns.

Before you start your blog, decide what your policy on commenting will be. In initial discussions, many administrators say they would prefer to turn off the commenting feature. This is enticing, as comments will often not be flattering. But I would caution against this strategy because one of the greatest powers of a blog is its two-way communication. A blog without comments is basically a Web site. The act of prohibiting comments also can give the appearance that you are not interested in community feedback. The online community has grown accustomed to the ability to comment on items they read.

I also would recommend posting your blog policies. Our policy in Mansfield ISD lays out the purpose of the blog and the way commenting works. It does this in a relatively informal, yet legally acceptable, way. One important element of our commenting policy is that we do not promise to post comments that are not related to the subject of the initial blog post. Regular blog readers can sometimes engage in side conversations or personal attacks with other individuals commenting on a post, but I do not think this is a valid use of your blog space.

The comment feature provides a means for people to thoughtfully praise, criticize or challenge a topic, but not for unrelated conversation. Blogging tools have a feature allowing you to approve or deny comments before they are posted, and I would highly recommend using this feature. You are opening yourself up to legal issues if you allow open commenting without any approval process. These legal concerns would stem from the usual areas of concern like posting student information, open complaints against an employee, et cetera.

Starting a blog can be a fun, but sometimes intimidating, exercise. Review a few school district blogs and non-education blogs to determine the desired tone and content of your blog. Two of the most popular public sites to host a free blog are blogger.com and wordpress.com. I would caution you against hosting the blog on an area of your district's site that is difficult to access. After all, the purpose of the blog is to spur discussion. Good luck and please feel free to share your success and horror stories with me.

TERRY MORAWSKI is the assistant superintendent of communications and marketing for Mansfield ISD. He is also the incoming president of the Texas School Public Relations Association. He can be reached at terrymorawski@gmail.com.