Mobile+Devices+for+Ministry

Antoinette Aversano, Cardinal Newman High School, West Palm Beach, Florida The students at our school all have a IPad that the school has issued to them. Each IPad has the students courses on it, their e-books, and their devices are monitored for content and they have restrictions on them as well. Our students cannot use their phones during classes because the school cannot control or monitor them. The students can download apps to their Ipads and we suggest which ones to choose. We do embrace technology at our school. The main issue is that students will go outside of the parameters of what we advise them. They can access their phones during free time on campus. Our school definitely embraces these tools for our students to use in our learning environment. Students IPads are blocked from certain sites and monitored for student integrity. Mobile Devices for Ministry Homework: Respond to this question: **Is my ministry (or parish) ready to embrace these tools and use these tools in learning environments or ministry? Why or Why not?** Time to complete assignment: 10 minutes

Please respond with the following information: Name, Parish, City, State, and your response.


 * EXAMPLE:**
 * Kathleen Jones, Our Lady Of Victory Parish, Crestview, FL, is using mobile phones with Junior High School students. Several of our catechists have smart phones and they have discovered that their students have access to smart and regular phones. They are using the Reminder app. They are beginning to explore how some of the mobile apps can be used in the classroom. We have a hard time getting some of our youth and parents to turn in paperwork. It would also be a great tool to use when we have to communicate with the whole group, just send out one text.**

**Sr. Caroline Cerveny's Group** Jacqueline Karmol, St. Michael Parish, Cranford, NJ. With regard to the religious education program...the attempts to use technology is elementary to say the least. It is used in the Confirmation Preparation program, mostly Facebook and Twitter, to keep in touch with youth regarding scheduling. Some of my colleagues also use various sites (pictures, movie clips, etc.) to enhance their daily emails during this Lenten Season. Seeing this I sense an eagerness in my staff to do more but without the knowledge or understanding of how it all can come about is stifling us. In addition, some of the volunteer catechists are using their cell phones to play music. (We have bought Bluetooth speakers for this reason.) We are not able at this time to teach them how technology can be used in the classroom. I feel it is time to familiarize ourselves with at least one or two of the tools and put them to use, hence me taking this course (and possibly recommending it to my colleagues). I see technology tools as a great asset in building formation in children, youth and families. It can be a way to bring together families in a common cause - be it relevant Catholic topics for learning or social outreach. And it can show families that technology can be used in a more meaningful way other than or in addition to social interaction.

S. Caroline - Jacqueline, it is great to hear of your current endeavors. I would encourage you to grow slowly and to slowly bring others on board with you so that together you are creating a direction and bringing others on board. Tammy Mansveld, St. Elizabeth Parish, Port Neches, Texas, we are using cell phones and ipads with our high school teens. We actually use an app called Ministry Tracker that allows us to take their picture and input their information and then when they arrive for a small group or activity we create the event in the app and then check them in. It is great! We are also using Flocknotes to send out text and emails to teens and their parents as reminders and updates of events and activities. We have recently started using Kahoot and have been putting together different games/quiz. We love to find apps that we can recommend to the teens to use to help them in their faith journey. Either through the daily readings, or praying the rosary, finding scripture etc. We also use Instagram to post pictures and clip art that we have made to remind them of things or give them challenges when they are not at the parish.

‍ Tammy, wonderful to see that you are engaging your teens with various tools. How do you like "Flocknote"? ‍

S. Caroline - Tammy, Yes, it is good to see that you are using some common tools with your teens. I'm assuming that you are also using FlockNote in your Parish. There are also various suggestions at - [|https://catechesis20.wordpress.com/].

I have used the following apps (and more) on multi-platform devices (laptop, desktop, iPad, chromebook, surface pro) teaching K-8 EdTech in Catholic Schools: flocknote, animoto, nearpod, quizlet, socrative, blogger, google classroom, google apps for education, qr codes, kahoot, book creator, seesaw, goanimate. I have not used cell phones in the classroom. I am most intrigued by the webquests presented: church tour, Vatican Tour. Students are not allowed to use their cell phones during the school day. Every student has a gmail address without gmail activiated. There have been issues when cameras were turned on for middle school surface pros for movie trailers. Middle School teachers are more open to using mobile apps. We now have an App Review Process based largely on Common Sense Media Privacy Ratings. Our apps are managed and must also satisfy a technical review by our offsite Tech Support/Web Filtering Team as well as App Terms of Use. Lastly, Apps are evaluated for curriculum mapping to national and statewide standards. Cost is always a concern when apps offer introductory content. We use google accounts identified by student id number, no names and passwords maintained by school. It is definitely a collaborative learning process. Carol Hartmann

**Kellie De Leo's Group** S ‍ usan Dengler, St.Elizabeth Parish,Port Neches, Texas. I am currently using Flocknotes as a tool to connect with the Religious Ed parents about the events for the week and any updates. We also use Flocknotes to send out a devotional for the middle school kids to encourage them as they start their week. We use Facebook to post pictures of the activities that the kids are doing during the week and any service projects. We will be exploring more opportunities to use all these different tools to be able to expand our possibilities to move forward to be able to teach the kids on a level that they can relate to. We are currently exploring new on line curriculum that will move our parish forward. ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍ Each of our students has a school issued ipad which is monitored for content and of course there are restrictions on sites they can visit. Students are not allowed to use their phones during class time as we are unable to monitor the sites they visit and the texts, which seem to be the main problem. I'm wondering if there is a way to circumvent this problem? It seems the most appropriate use for cell phones would be for assignments outside the class as they always have their phones with them. I can see possibilities for using the camera for taking photos relevant to ministry and sharing. Each student has the Laudate app on their ipad and of course this is available for the phone as well. Donna Sattler, St. Elizabeth Parish, Port Neches, Tx. Our Parish uses Facebook, Flocknotes, Instagram, and Twitter for all of our different ministries. Our Parish is moving forward in the digital times. These tools help the Religious Education and Adult Ministries to keep the parents informed of different activities, church news, and sending out words of encouragement and prayer. We are looking forward to expanding all of our options in this digital world in connecting and reflecting.
 * Ann Frearson, Cardinal Newman High School, W Palm Beach, FL.**

**Ruth Manlandro's Group** Aida Tristan, St. Elizabeth Parish, Port Neches, Texas. Our parish currently has Facebook page, Instagram, Twitter, Flocknotes, Flicker and Pinterest accounts. We like to try and stay connected to our parishioners and keep them informed of what is going on in our parish. We currently use Flocknotes to send out text message/emails to the parishioners about up coming events and/or for any reminders or any parish updates. We use Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to post pictures of parish events or post pictures of flyers for upcoming events. I do believe our parish is ready to move forward with technology and try new applications especially if it keep our prishioners informed and involved. Aida- do you have the wireless in place for this to happen? Do you have good bandwidth that will support the use of mobile devices?

**Andrea Slaven's Group**

Jillian Frost, St. Elizabeth Parish, Port Neches, Texas. Our parish has a Facebook page, Instagram account, Pinterest, and a Twitter. We utilize these apps in an effort to reach our Religious Education parents, and parishioners. When it comes to if our parish is ready to embrace the technology side of our outreach, I feel it is a mixed bag scenario. The majority of our R.E. parents are on social media and use it frequently; however, they seem to just glaze over anything from the parish. Any e-mails, Facebook post, or Flocknotes sent out just go unlooked at. So it is frustrating when the information is there for them, but they do not acknowledge it. More often than not we have parents saying they are unaware of parish activities, and we point out that the information is in 3 or more locations. The trick for us will be how to get them to pay attention to the information laid out for them.

@ Jillian. I know the frustration well! I think people are so bombarded with emails these days. My suggestion would be to have a regular schedule, maybe only once a week. Remember KISS - Keep it short and sweet. You are certainly strong in using all the social network media, now it's just a matter of building the community. Also, perhaps different media should be more purposed. One for discussions, one for personal learning, one for parish information and promotions. You've got a great foundational start though!

Dave Gruber, Director of Religious Education, St Elizabeth Church, Columbus, OH. Our parish has a Facebook page as well as an active website. As we are demographically 60% over the age of 55, that has been where I have focused. In conversations with parishioners, most who have any interest in social media are Facebook users. I will likely establish a parish Twitter page and an Instagram account over the summer. One of the things I have learned over the last ten years, especially in conversations with John Roberto and others, is that a common mistake is jumping into multiple social media platforms but then not keeping them current. Pick one platform (i.e. Facebook) and make it relevant in the life of the parish (or program). With a pastoral change last summer, our previous pastor was somewhat anti-technology and only allowed me to have a Facebook page for the Parish because I pushed it repeatedly. Our new priest administrator is much more tech friendly and open to using technology. We are currently looking at options to have projection capabilities in our worship space as well as installing a camera in order to record our Masses for uploading to the Website. We have Wi-Fi throughout the building, however we need better service coming into the building to support it and other tech initiatives. I also do a weekly e-newsletter (using Mailchimp - free) for our religious education families but is also available to anyone by subscribing. One concern I have is also something Jillian pointed out above; it seems the more we publish information in bulletins, websites, and social media, the less our parishioners seem to pay attention. Close to 50% of daily phone calls to the parish are related to information that is publicly available. There has to be some responsibility of the parishioners to be actively involved as disciples. Sandra Beaugh, Coordinator of Parish Ministries, St. Elizabeth Catholic Church, Port Neches, TX. At the beginning of each RCIA session, we begin with the liturgy of the upcoming Sunday. Until now, we have had Team members print out the liturgy. I am going to propose to the Team that we begin using an app that our participants can follow along. We have a parish app which has a link to the daily readings, also, Laudate, Relevant Radio and many others have links that we can use. We might even use a different one each week because different apps appeal to different people. Also, I was inspired by the scavenger hunt apps. It would be fun to create a scavenger hunt for our young adult group. Our diocese has some unique Stations of the Cross, labyrinths, and chapels This could introduce them to prayer spaces in our diocese that they might not otherwise go to. I am excited to be introduced to these apps and as I research the ways they can be used, I am finding more apps which can be helpful for organizing classes and time.

**Linda Fitzsimmons' Group**

The ministry of the diocesan department of Evangelization and Catechesis, within which I work, is definitely ready to embrace these tools of for the work we do. We have used Facebook and Twitter for our pilgrims attending the National Catholic Youth Conference and have a Facebook page for Young Adult Ministry. We also use Twitter to connect with our catechetical leaders. This DDBC unit is causing me to think of how we might branch out to use other social media platforms in our work. Ministry at the diocesan level is a bit different than at the parish level. We often need to consider the balance between how much "direct" service we give to catechists, parents, volunteers, youth, etc. in the Diocese or to focus on empowering and supporting our professional catechetical ministers. This DDBC unit is also making me think about how we can provide leadership and support for our catechetical leaders to encourage their creative use of these tools. (Sr. Connie Derby)