Post #3...Web 2.0 Tool-Smore

This week I am sharing Smore, a great Web 2.0 tool that I was introduced to at our monthly district school librarians meeting.  This easy-to-use service allows users to create online flyers that can be quite dynamic.  Our chairman uses it to create eye-catching agendas for our meetings.  When I say eye-catching, I mean cute, pretty, neat, organized.  We were all immediately asking...how did you do that?  Students and parents would definitely be attracted to the information you wanted to share.  Below is a brief video overview of Smore.  Notice how quickly a project can come together and how easy it is to modify.

A Cupcake Story from Smore on Vimeo.

Although registration is required, many basic features are offered for free!  The free service allows you to create and save flyers as well as a shareable link so that you can publicize as needed.   Although the service does offer limited backgrounds and templates for free, an upgrade is available to educators for an annual fee of $59, which is a bargain compared to $15/month for personal accounts.  The upgrade allows you unlimited flyers, use of all templates and backgrounds, the ability to use your own backgrounds, and tracking statistics.

My favorite thing about Smore is its ease of use.  Once I was registered, I created a flyer literally in minutes.  Once my background and template were selected, the website led me through each section.  The pictures were on my computer, so adding them to the flyer was as simple as uploading them into each spot.  Any information that I did not want to include on the template, I just left blank.  Serioulsly, this was so easy, I don't know why you wouldn't want to try it.

The possible uses for librarians and teachers include newsletters, web pages, announcements, and even powerful promotions for fundraisers or school events. Really the possibilities are endless, especially if you purchase the upgrade plan.  I was impressed even with the free options of Smore and plan to use this service for my monthly newsletters, announcements for faculty meetings, and I am going to investigate ways to tie it into my school webpage as well.  While I am not sure I will purchase the upgrade package, the shareable nature of the flyers makes them super easy to distribute, and think of the trees we can save!