Recently my good friend Mat Pullen from Jamf shared a ‘Designing your own Classroom Learning Spaces’ infographic. When we meet, we often discuss learning spaces and how young people can be inspired anytime and anywhere. I really like the Watering hole analogy and the idea of young people getting together anywhere within a school environment for a learning experience.
This scenario is reliant on creating environments that promote such learning experiences. Historically in schools we have relied on physical notice boards to deliver informative content. But these notice boards become static and take a lot of someone’s time to change them and keep them updated. They are often text heavy and therefore uninspiring to the viewer, if for that matter they are being viewed at all!
Keeping content relevant
Digital Signage screens however are a great way to deliver up to date and engaging content. Centrally managed it’s easy to send images, video, social feeds and web content to an infinite number of screens around a school environment. Content can be changed instantly making reacting to an idea or moment of inspiration easy to share and showcase. But when it comes to inspiring young people in our watering hole scenario what content ideas should we be thinking about? I’ll let my colleague and former primary school teacher Amie Liversidge explore this further,
I remember too many occasions of scrabbling around for backing paper and edging each term and the restrictions imposed upon how much you were allocated per classroom. Just one of the challenges I faced trying to keep traditional display boards up to date, as well as the fact that it can take years to build a collection of reusable display resources – an unnecessary strain on workload for teachers at the beginning of their career.
Much like a ‘Working Wall’ in the classroom, your digital signage content should constantly be evolving, especially in the school corridors. Rather than displaying a stagnant piece of information that can quickly become outdated and irrelevant, why not showcase an active and ever changing hive of informative and inspirational content. By creating this content digitally it can be done quickly and efficiently.
What’s more inspiring than seeing a slideshow of past students sharing their success stories. By showcasing their journeys, challenges and accomplishments in their studies and careers, it can help to guide and encourage present students in their future direction. Digital signage can be used to provide inspirational guidance to set young people up for success in their exam preparation. I recently saw some superb examples of a local secondary school setting up their ‘pre-test, de-stress fest’. Providing innovative, informative displays to support mental health and well-being during interactive exam prep sessions.
The power of creating a slideshow of photos and videos where pupils have identified sculptures and art within their local community brings a whole new perspective compared to simply printing and stapling these to a traditional display in the corridor. Instead, the images and footage spark conversation and dialogue, engaging the students to become active participants in the learning process.
The stunning images in our WWF World Facts resources from our Content Catalogue provide an abundance of ideas for the classroom. From a starting point to ignite discussion and debate to create campaigns for change, to inspiration for art work or research for creating your own non-fiction. My children’s school recently ran a wildlife photography competition and these images could be used to inspire the next budding photographer. Such resources act as a catapult for wider learning opportunities.
It’s important to acknowledge that much like the school curriculum evolves, so does the way our students interact with the displays around them. Today’s students consume content digitally, engulfed in a world of media and technology. A traditional display which might have grabbed your attention in the past has to work a whole lot harder today and with young people’s expectations of video and digital content, digital signage is a must.