On Wednesday night I was delighted to do something on this site that I had delayed for a reason. I placed a link to the School District #769 site on this site.
I hadn't previously done this because I considered that site behind the times in its approach. Previously it was one of those stagnant, billboard type of sites that was typical of the early, developmental stages of the world wide web. It was a reference type of site and pretty skeletal even in that regard.
In the early days of the web, any type of site looked impressive. As with anything connected to the new communications universe, progress has been rapid. A reference-oriented, billboard type of site is no longer good enough to cut it. I had been frustrated by District #769's tortoise-like pace in coming to the realization of this. I had e-mail exchanges with two school board members in which I shared my views and got no arguments from them.
I rationalized that schools can be a little slow adapting to change because of their inherent structure: a bit bureaucratic and with contracts involving professional associations - I won't say "unions" - so you can't just boss people around and say "do this." So I've been setting the bar fairly low in looking for constructive strides with the school website.
Well, life can bring an eye-opening surprise once in a while. So on Wednesday night, during my allotted one hour of time at a computer carol at our wonderful Morris Public Library, I made the discovery of the improved school website that was much more than a facelift.
My delight isn't just based on the obvious improvements, it's based on how the school now clearly embraces the right philosophy for online public outreach. There is a statement on the site that "a site is never finished." With the old billboard approach, the site might sit basically unchanged for an entire year. Now it's going to be fluid with information of current interest. There will be incentive for parents and other members of the community to visit regularly.
Besides being informational it will be promotional. You can't underestimate the importance of that in situations where the school strives for more financial resources. (I could tease the school here and say "when isn't that the case?")
The school is interested in "strategic planning" now. It's a pretty catch-all term, basically suggesting a sharpening process, and I can't think of anything facilitating this better than the new website.
Until recently I would have considered a blog post upbraiding the school administration pretty severely on the former website. The administration has now "deprived" me of that venting opportunity, so I don't need to consume a large mug of heavily caffeinated coffee as I compose the choice words to nudge those people at the top!
Instead I'll smile and say "great job" but with an afterthought of encouraging vigilance with the website, always being proactive by thinking of ways to connect better with the school's constituencies and the public at large.
Teachers - the most important resource the school has - should be fully on board with this. There are legitimate issues like to what extent students' names should appear on the site, as in reporting news of school activities. This is worthy of discussion. But I feel that with time, as the Internet becomes ever more mainstream and privacy issues almost impossible to guard anyway, these concerns will wane and news will be reported in an unbridled way.
Some fascinating books will someday be written on the history of the web, with those early days looking so quaint (as with the Alta Vista search engine). Early-on in the development, the web was known as a hangout for conspiracy theorists and snake oil salesmen. There were cliche lines like "you can't believe what you read on the Internet."
Oh, there's still lots of garbage online, probably more than ever, but the mainstream uses are burying all that in a system facilitated by search. The Internet is just a "place," and just like in our physical world, there are blighted areas that can never be eradicated. But we all find our niche and move on. And we are moving on from an old (legacy) media world that is shrinking and must increasingly be pushed to the periphery. No longer must we delegate communications to an elite professional sliver of our population, a sliver with the privilege of having access to a printing plant, for example. Or at the macro level, depending on three TV networks to sift through and decide what the day's news is. . .
Supt. Scott Monson should consider writing his "newspaper column" on his own terms, meaning that it wouldn't originate as a "newspaper column" at all. It could be presented as a blog which is what you're reading now, and linked to the school website. No need to shut the local newspaper out, of course, so the paper could still be free to come to the site, copy and paste Monson's latest offering and publish it for people willing to get ink on their fingers to read it.
The "dead tree" newspaper people will gnash their teeth some over this, because they will lose their exclusivity. Well, here's my little violin.
In the spirit of strategic planning, allow me to advise Supt. Monson that his constituencies are increasingly going to look for school news and promotion online, whether it's on the school website itself, independent sites (e.g. of booster groups) that have the imprimatur of the school, or totally independent sites (like this one).
One of the most visible aspects of school life is sports. There is a regional site called Pheasant Country Sports that does a decent job of facilitating this, but in terms of Morris Area content it's spotty. Ken Gagner has been an eager beaver and gotten his MA-CA GBB team covered there. His industriousness doesn't surprise me. Even on the old stagnant school website, Gagner had some of his programs linked in an almost anomalous way, as other programs were not similarly represented. I had a brief conversation with him once - I actually reached him by dialing a wrong number - in which I complimented him on this, but it seemed to make him nervous. Because he knew what I was implying: School staff needed to move full-bore into the new communications frontier. And that might require some work.
Teachers need to negotiate for new work burdens to be assumed. That's fine, but I hope teachers have a spirit of being receptive to the new communications frontier. I think they will because it's empowering. It's really in line with their own parochial interests. And it's not as if they haven't done a lot of this type of work before. Prep coaches famously "spoon feed" local newspapers with written summary pieces that are very close to being a finished product. Same for theater directors and others. Now these individuals can publish directly to the web if they choose, getting more credit for their work.
What about Pheasant Country Sports? Outside of Tiger girls basketball, the coverage of Tiger/Storm sports seems pretty spotty. I actually do not endorse Pheasant Country Sports. I have frequently made the point that sports reporting could be managed at the grassroots level. I have personally taken many photos for the Morris Eagles Baseball website which is a grassroots effort. And easy as pie.
The Alexandria school gives an ideal example of how prep sports can be showcased right from the source. Just click on "Cardinal Connection" on their site and you can appreciate this textbook example. Alex has actually been doing this for several years, going back to when it was a true novelty.
What reservations do I have about Pheasant Country Sports? It has too many of the recognizable spots of the old media: delegating to a gatekeeper editor (Craig Olson) and an expectation there will be "sponsors" (advertising). Here's a thought: If advertising is really an expected component of this, all the more reason for schools to set up the coverage themselves. They could sell advertising for sports coverage on their own sites. It could be a revenue source! It's not far-fetched, because didn't the school open the door for advertising on sports game programs a couple of years ago? I don't see the programs because I don't pay to view Tiger athletics.
In the fall I get a glimpse of Tiger football from the outer periphery of Big Cat Field. And hey guys, there's a significant issue looming in terms of fan turnout for Tiger football at this still-new facility. It appears to have gone down over time, with a low point having been reached for the Tigers' playoff game against Minnewaska Area. So the point is, you really have to look at PR issues and be proactive with the website in this regard.
Our local radio station would be happy to link to anything you do. The radio station's website is free and open. My experience with the newspaper website is that there's a log-in barrier, at least much of the time, and the sports coverage is spotty. If it has improved lately I wouldn't know it, because I've stopped going there. I refuse to log-in to read on any website. And based on what I've learned, there are many others out there like me.
As for the ink-on-paper newspaper, there's only one of them each week now, down from the historical two (when it was hard enough trying to keep people happy), so there's an element of futility trying to keep up with coverage expectations.
We live in a communications age marked by instant gratification. It's the way of the world.
District #769, by dramatically improving its website, has put aside the need to vigorously discuss this issue during strategic planning, because the issue is being addressed so well. Congratulations and feel free to click on the District #769 link on the right-hand column of "I Love Morris."
-Brian Williams - Morris mn Minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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