Communication is Key at Portsmouth College

As a ‘JISC ‘Effective Use of Technology’ award-winning college, Portsmouth College understood the importance of communication to both staff and students. Their students were creating fantastic work digitally but they they needed the ability to share this as Digital Lead, Chris Wood told us,

“We had all these students creating these amazing pieces of work, but they were staying on the iPads. We knew how incredibly important it was to showcase and share all of this amazing digital content. The decision to try TrilbyTV was based on giving the students the ability to share and showcase. It’s so important when a lot of student work is in the digital world. This has given our screens a new purpose and more importantly given students the opportunity to showcase their creative skills.”

Eureka moment during a free trial

Chris took up a TrilbyTV free trial, this was when he realised that he’d hit the nail on the head,

“When we had a 30-day trial installed, to see student content displayed on screens and being able to showcase it around the college was absolutely a eureka moment. TrilbyTV opened doors to us, allowing us to showcase that work on all of the screens throughout the college and then we could share that creativity.”

Chris could see the impact straight away,

“I walked through our canteen and saw some of the student’s work playing. Other students were looking at the screens and saying, wow, that’s an incredible piece of work. It was really, really inspiring to see students respond to that.”

Creating a culture based upon ownership

Once TrilbyTV was installed it was time to build on that, creating a community based around sharing and showcasing,

“We created this culture of sharing and this embracement of technology. It really inspired all of our learners to inspire our teachers, and things have just gone from strength to strength because of that experience.”

Along with Chris, the students are creating content using a variety of apps, then easily adding to TrilbyTV for display along with the college’s social media feeds.

Staff using Adobe Spark to create engaging content

Staff are able to add content directly to TrilbyTV and use it for college-wide messaging and notices. The Safeguarding Officer, Adam Court, uses Adobe Spark and Google Slides to generate great looking and engaging student information which is shown on screens around the whole site in a matter of minutes.

“It was a real breakthrough for the college,” Chris told us. We’ve been using Adobe Spark to generate engaging content and using TrilbyTV to put it up on the screens.”

Rather than having to learn a new tool or yet another interface, Staff can use whatever they are already comfortable with to create signage content. Powerpoint, Keynote, Google Slides can be added to TrilbyTV as a drag-and-drop or as a link. While tools like Canva and Adobe Spark can be used to add movement and interest and are uploaded easily.

Easy screen and player management for IT

From a technology perspective, Brian Chivers, IT Operations Manager, is more than happy with how TrilbyTV keeps him in control. He says that having the ability to hand over the creation of content and management to staff is key.

“TrilbyTV enables us to give control to others, while still giving us the control we need for day-to-day college functions.”

From the TrilbyTV Player Dashboard, Brian can monitor all of the screens around the site seeing which are connected and playing content. With a simple status view he knows that everything is functioning well and if any issues crop up, it’s only a few clicks to reset and get things working again.

Chris’ advice on using digital signage to share and showcase

On summing up his experience with digital signage, Chris had this to say,

“TrilbyTV has really allowed us to develop and expand the way that we are sharing and showcasing our digital content. You just need to take all of that amazing work that students are creating digitally and showcase it around the school. Watch the culture change and realise how both students and teachers are inspired. See the difference that it makes. It’s a no brainer when you think about it, get that trial in, get some training. It’s really simple and really easy to get started.”

TrilbyTV has features that are ideal for schools and colleges as it has been designed for education. This makes it wonderfully simple to Switch On Your Signage. If you’d like to learn more about how you can build your community through digital signage then why not book a free demo session today!