Bringing school signage up to date

You probably remember from when you were in school: Getting information out to parents and students often involves a lot of pieces of paper taped to doors or pinned on noticeboards. Imagine my surprise when I visited a series of schools recently and realised that, even though the schools do have TV screens on the walls now, nothing has changed about how information is distributed.

There's a few obvious problems with using this approach: Tape leaves marks walls and doors. Hanging up a dozen notices around the school is a pain, and it’s easy to forget a couple of locations. Paper falls down or gets scribbled on. And once the content is no longer relevant, who remembers to take the pieces of paper down again?

Using digital signage in education

To me, the irony is that the solution is literally hanging right there, in front of their noses: The hallways had televisions on them, as did the common rooms. The screens are there to distribute information, so why aren’t they being used for that? The answer is simple: It’s a pain in the ass to get the content up on the screens.

Or rather: It used to be, until ScreenCloud Signage came along.

Schools and colleges have a huge requirement for information distribution: Exam results need to be posted, school trips explained, events around the school need to be sign-posted, and reminders of various types need to be broadcast to the students. Pieces of paper stuck to walls: Sorry, but you’re no longer required.

The right content in the right place

Of course, ScreenCloud Signage is easy and quick to install, but then, so are pieces of paper stuck to walls. The real beauty is in the speed and ease of keeping content completely up to date.

With it, you can group screens together, to make it easy to ensure the correct information is showing in the right place. For example, the screens in the entry hallway can be in one group, showing one type of content - perfect for signposting to events, or for showing particularities about things happening today for example (“Remember, fire alarm test at 10am today”). The screens in the common areas can be in a separate group: Here, you know that students spend a bit more time, so you can show additional content that is still important but less time sensitive - dress code policy reminders, reminders of deadlines for particular types of work, or a quick heads up for when the school nurse has office hours.

The right content at the right time

In addition to grouping the screens, ScreenCloud Signage offers a powerful content scheduler, so you can determine which content is showing when - Create one playlist that shows in the morning, when the students arrive, another that’s showing during lunch time, and yet another playlist that plays in the evening, when the building is being used for events or extracurricular activities. And, of course, a slightly more light-hearted playlist that sends the student off to their weekends on a Friday.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that creating playlists and scheduling different kinds of content is complicated, but that’s where ScreenCloud Signage really excels: It’s by far the easiest to use solution out there.

Oh, and did we mention it’s affordable, too? Check it out for a demonstration, and get started today.