Pretty much every school in America has a website, but few of them have the tech-savvy to bring those sites to their full potential.
Fortunately, the 1,200 clients who use Schoolwires don’t need much technical know-how to build websites that also serve as tools for connecting with their communities. The 11-year-old State College company’s platform, Centricity2, allows teachers, administrators and club advisors to use their websites as true tools for community interaction. Jason Coudriet, Schoolwires’ VP of product design and innovation, says teachers can use Centricity2 to create podcasts or slideshows of field trip photos. A coach could post videos from the latest football game.
A school district in Sacramento, Calif., uses the platform to keep its website up-to-date on lunch menus and school activities, and to survey the public on how the district can better communicate. Students at State College Area High School use the technology to interact with students in China in a format comparable to a social-networking platform.
Centricity2 is achieving another level of national recognition as a finalist for a CODiE award, given by the Software & Information Industry Association. Winners are due to be announced in May.
Sources: Christiane Crawford and Jason Coudriet, Schoolwires
Writer: Rebecca VanderMeulen
