Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Techie Tuesday: Ten Tech Tools for School Public Relations

The Kentucky Society for Technology in Education or KySTE held their annual conference March 4-6 in Louisville. Using Twitter, I shared the KySTE conference hashtag #kyste15 and mentioned how school technology and school public relations departments work together a lot. This is especially true in my house because I recently married a school technology resource teacher! So linking the techie and PR worlds together, here is a quick list of 10 apps and tools to check out.

Please feel free to share additional apps or tools in the comments below!!

1. Google- Much more than a search engine, I use Google Drive every day. Drive allows online files to be accessed on multiple devices, as well as the ability to share and collaborate or link to the files online. Within the drive, I use Google Docs for word processing, Sheets for spreadsheets, Forms to create surveys or collect information, and Slides for presentations. I also use goo.gl to shorten URL links and create QR codes for when I need to share links on Twitter.

2. Tweetdeck- Tweetdeck is also a tool I use every day for both Bowling Green City Schools and KYSPRA. Tweetdeck.twitter.com offers a more organized view of Twitter activity. I have created several columns to see timelines, notifications, mentions, and also hashtag activity. Tweetdeck also has a scheduling feature to schedule tweets in advance.

3. Animoto- An oldie but goodie, and very popular among teachers, Animoto lets users choose a video style, then upload photos and short video clips, choose music, and seconds later, produce a photo/video slideshow. The video then may be shared through a link or embedded to a website.(Below is a sample Animoto from Opening Day in Bowling Green City Schools. Employees sent in vacation photos throughout the summer wearing BG gear and this video was shared at the district's kickoff to the school year.)



4. Pixlr- https://pixlr.com/ If you’re looking to a free alternative to photoshop, Pixler is a great! A lot of advanced tools and options. There is also an app!

5. Today’s Meet- https://todaysmeet.com/ Today’s Meet can be used as an online text/chat room or back channel for classrooms with devices or in community forums with parents. View this link to see 20 ways to use Today’s Meet in Schools: (http://ditchthattextbook.com/2014/01/30/20-useful-ways-to-use-todaysmeet-in-schools/)

6. Tubechop- http://www.tubechop.com/ Have you ever found a YouTube video and needed only a few seconds from a long video? Use Tubechop! Add the link to the YouTube video and use a sliding bar to “chop” the piece you would like to use.

7. Prezi- http://prezi.com/ Another oldie: Free online presentation software that is more interesting than PowerPoint. Add, drag and drop text, import photos and videos, and then set the path for the presentation. When complete, present, share the link or embed the presentation. There’s also an app for Prezi. (Sample Prezi that was prepared for Bowling Green Independent School District Superintendent Joe Tinius.)


8. Evernote- Tracy Green shared information about using Evernote after the Fall Conference. Evernote is a cross-platform tool to organize resources. Read more: http://kyspra.blogspot.com/2014/11/using-evernote-additional-info-from.html

Business cards: Canva.com
9. Canva- I love Canva and shared a quick preview of Canva on the blog a few months ago: http://kyspra.blogspot.com/2014/12/preview-of-canvacom.html. Cavna is a quick, free online design tool. It also has a lot of free shapes, and custom layouts.


10. Bill Watch- Bill Watch is free and allows unlimited tracking of legislation during the session. Read more: http://kyspra.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-2015-legislative-session-school-pr.html

Additional resources:

Leslie McCoy
KYSPRA President, 2014-15
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