Your Call to Action!

By Martha Blythe for Ottawa Carleton E-School

It is becoming evident that the uses of Social Media platforms are for more than keeping in touch with friends; schools and businesses are also keeping connected with teens this way. Because Ottawa Carleton E-School is an online high school, this is a natural way for us to enhance our relationship with our students. In just a few clicks eSchool students can check out our blog, Facebook page, view our tweets, see us on YouTube, read our newsletter, find us on LinkedIn, and see who made the Honour Roll. Social media benefits eSchool and our students by creating a large online school community.  As potential students learn about and join eSchool, they come together from around the world, making connections possible.

Fun is our first stop on the social media tour – and that means Facebook.  This is where we connect with eSchool students in a light-hearted and interactive way through contests, trivia, and game-playing. With more than 1,000 friends and fans combined, we can interact with our student population in their preferred environment. We think of this as our online cafeteria, where our students can relax and keep in touch with other students between classes.

YouTube, Twitter and blogging are also great social media options. Our blog is a great resource for students and their parents where they can read articles that may be of relevance as they reach graduation and seek employment. On YouTube you can view our television commercial. It’s a great way to marry two of the most powerful forms of media. Twitter and LinkedIn are two other places to learn about what’s happening with eSchool. Tweeting about our school and online learning at large, on a global scale, and following those who do the same, help us maintain our place as leaders in eLearning . All of these avenues for students and their parents learn about who we are, make it fun and easy.

And, though it’s not a social media site, all of this would be harder to find and track, without the use of Google. By simply Googling ”Ottawa Carleton E-School” you can learn everything from who we are, what we do, the courses we offer, how to enrol in one of our high school courses, and even take a peek at our eNewsletter. As an online high school, the Web our natural place to socialize, inform, and create awareness for our school, and students for who are seeking academic success.