Princple Dr. Munk is now using her twitter account in order to highlight the school's achievements. --Photo courtesy of Twitter
Imagine a school environment in which ‘ Can you put the homework up on Twitter?’ is echoed by students school-wide; with the rising popularity of social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter among teachers and administrators, that school environment might become a reality in the near future.
MCPS Superintendent of Schools Joshua Starr is well known for using Twitter to communicate with both staff and students and has 1,460 followers. During a recent visit to RHS, Star mentioned two RHS students via Twitter. But Star is not the only MCPS administrator using Twitter; nearly 25 MCPS school principals, including Principal Dr. Debra Munk, are users of the website.
For Dr. Munk, Twitter is a way to reach out to the student body and spread information to students and staff members. “[Twitter is] just a way of highlighting the positive aspects of our school. Email isn’t enough, ConnectEd calls aren’t enough, morning announcements aren’t enough… it’s just one more way for me to get information out.”
Dr. Munk has had a Twitter account for years, but has recently found a more efficient purpose after realizing how superintendent Dr. Joshua Starr uses his Twitter. Instead of tweeting about her personal life, Dr. Munk is now able to tweet about upcoming events, new activities, scholarships, athletics – anything.
What amazes most people about Twitter is the ability to communicate with other people around the world. “Somebody in South Africa or somebody in Iceland can read my tweet… it’s powerful,” said Dr. Munk. “It’s just a positive way of marketing our school.”
In hindsight, it is also important to realize that Twitter can pose as an invasion of privacy, especially for students who follow teachers. But where can we draw the line between informational and personal tweets?
“As we get into this technology, were gonna have more and more questions,” said Dr. Munk. While the line between information and privacy is blurred and indefinite, Twitter remains a valuable method of communication, whether you are a school principal or a student.
Loading ...