In recent years, it's become commonplace for school superintendents to integrate social media into their communication plans. From taking to Twitter to announce school closures to using Facebook Live to field questions from the community in real time, it’s clear that superintendents are expected to be connected.
But learning how to use the practical tools is something they’ve likely had to do outside of their doctorate programs.
As part of their professional development, superintendents attend AASA’s annual national conference to engage with colleagues and learn from the sharpest minds in education. An increasingly popular topic is social media in K-12 education.
Thousands of school system leaders have created Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts, but it’s how they’re using them that counts. This is why AASA’s online technologies team has recruited more than 20 tech-savvy superintendents to lead the conference’s second annual Social Media Lounge.
The Social Media Lounge is located in the NCE Marketplace outside the Knowledge Exchange Theater. Superintendents from Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, Minnesota, Montana, Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, Tennessee and North Dakota will lead mini-sessions, provide hands-on social media assistance and run contests and giveaways.
“The Social Media Lounge inspires superintendents and school administrators to share their districts’ stories and collaborate with colleagues,” says AASA’s Online Technologies Director Gayane Minasyan. “At its best, collaboration creates a community working to achieve a common goal through the sharing of best practices, knowledge and successes.”
Download this flier for the complete schedule of sessions and happenings at the Social Media Lounge.
In addition to the social media sessions in New Orleans, attendees can use the #NCE17 hashtag in their Twitter and Facebook posts throughout the conference and join the official National Conference on Education Facebook Group to share photos and videos, begin and join discussions and discover what their colleagues are doing at the conference.
A special Focus Group session, sponsored by Educatius Group, will be held on Saturday, March 4, from 8 to 9 a.m. in the Hilton Riverside’s Cambridge Room, where AASA leadership and social media experts will attend. All attendees may join this session. A light breakfast will be served.
Questions regarding social media activities can be directed to Minasyan at gminasyan@aasa.org or Deanna Atkins at datkins@aasa.org.
(By Deanna Atkins, online technologies and advocacy specialist at AASA.)