How to Use the Internet to Communicate with Your Audiences
Harold Olejarz, Artist and Educator
About
Using the Internet to Communicate with Your Audience How to Use the Internet to Communicate with Your Audiences Presented to: New Jersey School Public Relations Association Spring Workshop, April 30, 1999 Jamesburg, New Jersey Introduction Lewis Carroll published Sylvie and Bruno Concluded in 1893. In Chapter Eleven - The Man in The Moon, we find the following dialog: Mein Herr looked so thoroughly bewildered that I thought it best to change the subject. What a useful thing a pocket-map is! I remarked. That's another thing we've learned from your Nation, said Mein Herr, map-making. But we've carried it much further than you. What do you consider the largest map that would be really useful? About six inches to the mile. Only six inches! exclaimed Mein Herr. We very soon got to six yards to the mile. Then we tried a hundred yards to the mile. And then came the grandest idea of all! We actually made a map of the country, on the scale of a mile to the mile! Have you used it much? I enquired. It has never been spread out, yet, said Mein Herr: the farmers objected: they said it would cover the whole country, and shut out the sunlight! So we now use the country itself, as its own map, and I assure you it does nearly as well. The Internet as a map of the world. The Internet is "spread out" over the entire world and does not shut out the sunlight. Millions of people are making the "map" (Internet) larger every day. Millions of people are using the Internet to "surf" the world. The Internet reflects more than a mile-to-mile scale of the real world. Web sites present information about the contemporary world. Web sites present historical information. Who are the audiences that you can reach on the Internet? Students Parents Teachers Administrators Board Members Local Community and Businesses Prospective Community and Business Members The World - everyone with access to an Internet connection. What do you want to communicate about your district? Your district's students are doing excellent work. Your district's teachers are doing excellent work. Your district's administrators are doing excellent work. Your district's parents are encouraged to and actually do communicate and participate. You have an excellent school district. How can you use the Internet to communicate that you have an excellent school district? Use your district and school web sites to: Publish exemplary student work. Publish web pages that enable your students to do excellent work. Publish web pages that enable your teachers to do excellent work. Publish web pages that demonstrate your teachers' and administrators' knowledge and expertise. Publish school and district web pages that provide your audiences with important and valuable information about your district. Provide your audiences with an opportunity to contribute to