5 years ago it was more than likely you would find me sitting in a school reception waiting for a teacher to come and collect me to deliver iPad training. On a fairly regular basis, I would find myself staring at a TV screen that was turned off.
Alternatively, it would be playing content that had no impact on me as a viewer whatsoever. With a little bit of investigation, I found out that this TV was installed as a school digital signage screen. It was meant to provide information about the school and the community around it.
As an iPad trainer with a focus on creativity this screen was perfect for sharing the rich digital content that I was creating with students and teachers. Perfect for evidencing learning and measuring the impact of technology such as iPads. But when asking about utilising the screen I was always met with blank faces or brick walls.
And the rest is history as we decided to change focus from our successful training business supporting Apple and Google to developing TrilbyTV and becoming the #1 digital signage platform made for education.
Different Digital Signage Content for Different Screens
Being new to the market we were naive to begin with. We thought that sharing and showcasing from iPads was the focus. With strong education backgrounds sharing and showcasing digital content made by students is extremely important to us.
Quickly we started to understand the screen in reception was historically supplied by those from the digital signage industry. They assumed that schools worked in a certain way. We also realised that some schools hadn’t recognised the importance of different content for different screens and keeping this content up to date on a regular basis.
When it comes to your viewers, the screen in the reception is very different from the one in the staff room. The one in the staff room different from those placed in the school corridors. Soon we were running planning sessions. Customers were asked to think about where screens were placed, who was viewing them and for how long. If you can answer these questions then you can start to think about what content is needed on what screens. You can then establish what applications are required to create this content.
Changing Mindset
We’ve also had to change mindsets when it comes to historical digital signage in education which was full of screens containing zonal content such as clocks, logos, ticker tape and weather apps.
For us at TrilbyTV, this content felt lazy and had very little impact on the viewer. The screen was doing something so that’s ok, but actually, it’s far from ok. It is providing little value to those watching and missing out on a great opportunity to evidence the impact technology is having in your school.
It’s been a really interesting journey taking what was just a screen on the wall to making its impact as important as a schools website, Facebook page, Twitter feed or printed prospectus.
Our New Guide for Education
We’ve spent four years developing TrilbyTV. This has been through talking to schools to understand digital signage and the impact it can have if utilised effectively. From what we know we’ve created and released our ‘Guide to effective digital signage in education’ booklet. A resource we are very proud of and one we can’t wait to start sharing with our customers and beyond.
It’s full of useful ideas from the TrilbyTV team and our customers. It also has some awesome tips covering digital content in different areas of a school or college. It also contains a useful planning tool to encourage you to create an effective digital signage strategy. This is something that you should do on a regular basis, we suggest you do it every year.
BETT 2020
As I write this in Jan 2020, next up for TrilbyTV is the world’s largest and busiest education show BETT where we are exhibiting on stand ND63. So if you want to get your hands on our shiny new booklet then come and say hello. If you tweet a picture, you’ll also get the best coaster you’ve ever laid eyes on and a fancy pen! 🙂
If you want to speak to a company who absolutely understands the role digital signage can play in building whole-school communication, boosting community cohesion and enhancing parental engagement then speak to us – TrilbyTV – The #1 Digital Signage Platform MADE for Education.
Here’s 5 things that your school should be doing with their digital signage.