In an age of instant information, many [Maryland] schools are turning to Twitter, Facebook and blogs to keep parents, community members and alumni in the loop.

"Everybody's using all of these different mediums for communicating now," said JoAnne Scribner, a Westbrook Elementary School parent who helps coordinate the school's Twitter and blog pages. "And instead of one-way communication like it used to be, now it's two-way."

Westbrook Elementary started using Twitter this year to inform parents about the school's expansion plans. The Twitter page is an offshoot of the school's blog, which provides parents and community members with monthly updates about the school's development.

Some of the Tweets are as simple as reminders about meetings; others carry more heft. After a recent community meeting hosted by Montgomery County Council member Roger Berliner (D-Potomac-Bethesda), parents took to Twitter to recount his support for a Westbrook Elementary expansion.

Social networking platforms are particularly useful for reaching parents and students who are spending an increasing amount of time online, said Marlene Nesary, a spokeswoman for the Eugene, Ore.-based International Society for Technology in Education, a nonprofit group that supports the use of information technology in learning.

"It's what the kids and parents are at home with, and it's really important to be able to meet them where they are," she said.

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Source: The Washington Post, 10.29.09