E-Newsletters
A New Paradigm in School
Communications
Why Electronic Newsletters
• School newsletters generally remain the
preferred communication forms for parents
and others in the community
• People want to hear directly from schools and
their leaders on key school issues
• Twenty years ago, the introduction of desktop
publishing offered new options that reduced
production costs and time
• Today digital publishing offers schools more of
these options
Advantages of E-Publications
• The e-newsletter can be distributed quickly and
inexpensively to parents, churches, and constituents
• The e-newsletter can be quickly forwarded by
recipients to other interested persons with whom they
would like to share your news
• The e-newsletter can include links to more detailed
information such as the school or teacher web site.
• The e-newsletter can help schools measure their
communication program and help them collect
feedback from readers easily and efficiently
Concerns
• Will our parents have access to computers to receive
our newsletters?
• Do enough people in our community have high-speed
internet access, making easy access to our newsletters
available?
• Do enough people in our community have the computer
skills necessary to be comfortable using the enewsletters?
• Can we make our material unique enough to stand out
from the avalanche of junk mail and other unwanted email that clutters many e-mail boxes?
Computer Usage in the U.S.
Gender
Household Income
Male
Female
Less than $30,000
55%
$30,000 - $49,000
82%
$50,0000-$74,000
92%
$75,000
93%
73 %
72 %
Age
•Ages 18 •Ages 28 •Ages 40 –
•Ages 50 •Ages 59 •Ages 69+
27
39
49
58
68
85 %
87 %
84 %
76 %
57 %
24%
Education
•Less than high school
39 %
•High School graduate
67 %
• Some college courses
84 %
•College graduate/post
91 %
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project Tracking Survey March 1, 2004
Advantages
• Parents are more likely to read e-publications than
some traditional print publications
• Many in the community would access epublications while at work – where they have ready
access to high-speed internet
• Traditional print publications are often seen as
“products” that parents use in their homes where
e-newsletters are more likely to be viewed as
“resources”
• Easier to contact a broader range of reader and to
transmit news about the school
Types of E-Newsletters
• Text
• PDF
• HTML
Text E-Newsletter
• Advantages
–
–
–
–
Easy – almost anyone can utilize this
Uses word processor
Everybody can read it
Since it is just text it is more likely to pass through
spam filters
– Easy and quick to prepare
– Speedier downloading
• Dis-Advantages
– Plain vanilla
– Limited
Sample of Simple Text
From: Loma Vista Adventist Elementary School
To: Mary Smith
Date: Friday, May 5, 2006
SPRING CLEANING – on Sunday, May 14, we will have our
annual “Spring Cleaning” Day. Everyone is invited to bring
their work clothes, dust rags, brooms, hammers, etc. and assist
us in sprucing up our school before graduation. Contact the
school office (818) 555-1212 for more information
NO SCHOOL - There will be no school on Monday, May 8.
The school staff will be involved in a conference-wide training
program on brain-learning. School will resume on Tuesday.
PDF Newsletter
• It is the most commonly used format
today in distributing e-newsletters.
• You can produce it in many different
formats and word processors and still be
read by any computer
• Allows you to use more colors and
graphics for a more sophisticated look
and feel.
HTML Newsletter
•
HTML (hypertext markup language) e-newsletter is more like a web page
•
Advantages
– It can include graphics, sounds, color, columns, links, and even
video.
– This is a richer, more interactive experience for the reader
– Links in HTML newsletters can be customized so that “clickthroughs” by your recipients can be tracked so that you will know
what is being read and what is not.
Disadvantages
– Because it is more complicated can present technical issues that can
be tough for schools without adequate technical support
– May appear as garbled nonsense to recipients who are set up to
receive text-only email (however, it is estimated by online marketers
that 90% of users today are able to utilize html newsletters)
– Can fall prey to spam filters
•
HTML Cont’d
• Summary
– HTML is clearly the trend of the future with
newer technology making it easier to both
send and receive.
• Suggested software that may be used to
create HTML newsletters include the
popular “Dreamweaver” and “Front
Page” programs.
Questions to Ask
• What technology can we use to best create our e-publication, store
it, and distribute it?
– Designing and creating your e-newsletter is only the beginning
– You need both a method and a system for designing your publication
and one for distributing them
• How will we compile a distribution list?
– Some lists will be easy – parents
– Other lists such as interested people in the commuity will need to be
compiled
• How will we manage our distribution lists?
– How will people be able to get on or off your lists?
– How will people be able to update or change their e-mail address?
– Who will manage them?
• Do we have adequate resources and expertise to do this all inhouse or should we seek outside help?
Links
•
•
•
•
www.ascd.org
www.nspra.org
www.charactercounts.org
www.Bartleby.com
Where to Find Content
That People Will Read
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Classrooms
Boardroom
School Administration
Events
– School
– Church
– Community
Budgets
People
Issues
www.ascd.org/news & issues/education issues/lexicon of learning
Writing Tips
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Why does this matter?
Limit passive voice
Pick strong verbs
Clarity
Bloat
Tone
Transitions
Why Does This Matter?
• Does your publication make a difference?
• What is your objective?
– Should the copy simply inform the reader of
a certain set of facts or
– Should the copy encourage the reader to
acknowledge or agree with your perspective
or
– Should the copy prompt the reader to take a
specific action?
Limit Passive Verbs
• Passive voice verbs can be used to add emphasis and variety to
your article but passive voice is frequently overused.
• Using Passive voice create dull and dreary copy with resulting
longer sentences
– Before: The Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award was presented to
Billy Bob Smith yesterday.
– After: Billy Bob won the Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award
yesterday
• Note the passive sentence takes 13 words to make its point and the
activity in the sentence centers on the “thing” (the Award)
• The Active voice uses only 11 words (a significant 15% cut). Also
the Active puts the action on the person
Pick Strong Verbs
• Verbs can lose impact when the writer, often
unknowingly, coverts them to nouns. For
example:
• Original
– The superintendent made a suggestion that we vote.
• Better
– The superintendent suggested that we vote.
• Feeble words are another sign of weak copy
• Short, punchy verbs communicate a clear
specific action
Clarity
• Use words your readers are comfortable with. Create
specific calls to action in ways that make the reader’s
action easy and immediate
• Before
– Parents make it a priority to read the new testing report which
can be found on the school web site.
• Better
– Parents can read highlights from this important new testing
report by clicking here. The full report is available by clicking
here.
• Lack of clarity causes copy to lose ability to create
clear, inspiring copy. The result is dense and fuzzy
copy.
Bloat
• “Bloat” are unnecessary words in phrases in sentences.
• Look for phrases like “There is” or There are” and
delete them. For Example:
• Original
– There are 40 students who won scholarships. (7 words)
• Better
– Forty students won scholarships. (4 words)
• Dump redundancies that are multi-word combinations
that simply repeat what one word can do. Like:
– Cancel rather than cancel out, innovation not new intervention
Tone
• Use positive statements to convey
information and details.
• Negatives often create a distrustful tone
not conducive to prompting action.
• Original
– The main office closes at 4:30 p.m.
• Better
– The main office is open until 4:30 p.m.
Closing
• Know your objectives
– Have a clear defined objective
– Have a clear defined audience
• Pace yourself
• Know your limits
• Start small then grow as you grow
– In skills
– In vision
– In audience
Questions
Thanks For Coming
Presented at NAD Teacher Convention 2006
• Susan Vlach & Richard Carey
• Southeastern California Conference
• RichardCarey1@cs.com