By Nathan Park

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Edline has been a very powerful apparatus for communicating information to the student body. It has allowed class and club advisers to post important dates, events and forms and offers a way in which students can get involved with the school. Unfortunately, with so many activities and events going on, many advisers find it hard to regularly update and organize their pages. As a result, much of the content found on the site becomes irrelevant. Since it is a major reference tool, students struggle to find answers to their questions about club and class events.

There are many times when the content is not in the expected place, making students go on an extensive search. Or at times the information is simply not posted, leading students to feel discouraged about trying to be involved with the school. By allowing club and class officers to be in charge of posting and updating their own pages, they will be able to help keep information up-to-date and organized.

Although allowing officers to regulate their pages would make it easier for advisers to provide adequate information, Edlineís company policy allows only teachers and administrators to have that ability. Though students cannot post and regulate content on the site directly, officers can still work together with their advisers to share the responsibility.

Clubs like the Mililani Inter-club Council (MICC) have already started working on that solution. At their last meeting, they brought all club officers together to collaborate on how to better organize and update their pages efficiently. So far, each club has agreed to clear outdated information and post club constitutions along with a calendar including meeting dates.

Although this agreement will start to improve Edline, we should take it a step further. All club and class pages should have a folder with every officerís contact information. That way, if students still have questions, they can refer to their officers. Though different clubs have different ways of handling announcements and feel that they may not need to update their page often, it still helps members easily reach their officers to clarify information. Along with their officerís contact information, clubs should have a brief description on their page explaining what they are about and where they meet.

Also, officers can create a page on social media websites such as Facebook and link it to their Edline page. On these sites, officers have the administrative abilities to update and post information. Plus, many students use social media and by having the link on their Edline page, students can easily find and subscribe to their social media page.

Another solution would be for officers to email important updates and event reminders to their members. This way they can make sure everyone sees the updates and keep everybody on the same page.

Other than their officers, advisers should also be working with other adults in charge of events. Class of 2014 adviser Carina Morgan allows other advisers in charge of class events to add information to her page. This way she is able to keep her page more easily organized and current. If other advisers could use this kind of teamwork, updating would not be so time-consuming.

Keeping Edline current and organized is not the only issue when it comes to helping students navigate ìthe heart of the learning community.î They have to be educated on how to find their way through the site. I suggest that one advisory class be set aside to show a video walkthrough of all the main parts of Edline. Then all students will be able to be more independent in answering their own questions. It is important for students to remember to be resourceful when searching for information.

The school has already done a great job of communicating with the student body by providing many mediums for dispensing information, from the morning bulletin to having a schoolwide calendar posted on the schoolís home page. As a result, many students are already actively participating in extracurricular activities. By making these improvements to the system, even more students will be encouraged to get involved.