Developing a Successful Cyber Image (Part 4)

In Hough’s opinion, there are three interrelated emerging challenges faced with regards to a school’s cyber-image.

·         Selecting and presenting data and information in ways that benefit the school and its students

·         Identifying staff and student needs to enable them to meet these challenges

·        Planning to resource and implement responses to those needs

Hough points out that one of the early ‘victims’ of the current I.C.T. enabled clamour for “information about everything”, is a loss of wisdom in much of our social and public commentary. This loss is evident by our collective unwillingness to consider context as a reason or excuse for some comment or observed action that usually we don’t like or we disagree with. There is a clear reduction in our collective willingness to forget or forgive. In practice, there is now a permanent record available for web based actions of individuals and schools. This ‘permanent record’ aspect is an important part of creating, managing and protecting a cyber-image. Students in particular, but everyone in general, need to understand and accept that web based comments and behaviours are public and permanent and that your cyber-image is constituted from this mosaic of comments and occurrences with little regard for context or timing.

In today’s ‘information rich’ society, it is not a question of whether a school wants to take on the responsibility of the creation of its cyber-image since this cyber-image will be created with or without their involvement or permission through informal use by students, parents, and staff. Hough recommends that schools accept that data will be selected by others to be made public, and that leadership is required to be proactive and ready to explain the published data in ways that will benefit the school wherever possible. He also recommends that any data and information selected by the school be voluntarily presented and should, wherever possible, related back to the strategic thinking of the school, and always be designed to promote the positive image of the school.

Hough is correct in his thinking. Schools must take the ‘bull by the horns’ and take control of their cyber-image. As Hough pointed out, schools need to take two approaches, one reactive and the other proactive. In the reactive context, others have (and will continue to) select data and information about the school and will also provide interpretation and comments about it. In this context the school needs to manage its cyber-image which is created by others. In the proactive context, the cyber-image is being deliberately created and presented by the school by selecting the data and information about the school that will enable the schools goals and aspirations to be achieved. By using both of these contexts, the school cyber-image that is created is one that can influence others to be positive and supportive of the school.

References

Hough, M., Cyber Images, ACEL National Conference 2011, retrieved from http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=creating%20a%20successful%20cyber%20image%20for%20schools&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.acel.org.au%2Fascd%2F2011confpres%2F6%2520Oct%2520Thu%2F1510%2F2011-10-06%25201510%2520ACEL%2520Conf%2520Hough.pptx&ei=PAuEUM2GBIb20gGs4ICoAw&usg=AFQjCNHAZZXL5m7uKe1XsbOhLsk39Rv52A on October 20^th, 2012.