East Penn Has an App for That

It’s an unusual presentation that begins with encouragement from the presenter to pull out cell phones, iPads and other mobile devices.

But, that’s exactly how East Penn Director of Information Technology Michael Mohn began the technology presentation he delivered to the on Monday night.

Among other things, Mohn came before the board to unveil the new East Penn School District mobile web site – hence the call for smart phones and other high-end toys, which were produced by board members and meeting attendees alike.

Mohn did all but say “ta-dah” as various users in the room pulled up the mobile site, with board member Alan Earnshaw declaring that he was able to bring up the site on both his smart phone and his tablet.

“We turned it on this afternoon and we have it working right now,” Mohn said, adding that the district is in the process “packaging the app for iTunes. “It will reformat the web site to the device that you have. It does look good.”

Mohn also showed the board East Penn School District iTunes Channel, emphasizing that East Penn is one of about 100 schools worldwide that are listed. The items the board sees there now are only a first step in building out it out, he explained. “These are basically empty shells to get our iTunes set up,” he said. “We needed something to post to get the site active, and we are pretty excited about that.”

Finally, Mohn shared that East Penn School District is also now posting information on Twitter, under the Twitter ID @EastPennSD.

“It will be a one-way communication as things are happening within the district,” he said, adding that East Penn School District Community Liaison Nicole Bloise’s husband was the district’s first Twitter follower.

Mohn’s entire technology presentation garnered high praise form the board, with School Board President Charles Ballard summing up the sentiment in the room:

“Thank you for bringing East Penn School District into the 21st, or the 22nd Century, I guess,” Ballard said.