Paying attention is hard. Some of us may find it easier than others, but for most children and young adults in school, it can be difficult. Teachers and professors are constantly looking for new innovative ways to connect with their students, increase engagement, and make the learning experience more enjoyable for everyone. The education sector is using digital signage as a tool for increasing student engagement in the classroom, and even outside of their four walls.
More Quality Student Involvement
Learning is typically a lot more enjoyable for students when they’re able to express their own ideas and individual points of view.
Teachers use digital signage software to aid in student expression. Students create digital content, either in PowerPoint, Google Slides, Adobe Photoshop, or whatever tools they like, and then share the files with their teachers. Teachers easily upload media to digital signage software and schedule the content to play during class, or taking it a step further, they allow students to create and schedule their own digital signage content.
Live events like concerts, graduation ceremonies, and sporting events drive excitement for students, teachers, and parents alike. However, it’s not always possible for everyone to physically attend these events. Digital signage software allows schools and universities to share their live events to anyone with a modern web browser and a stable internet connection. Live streaming events on digital signage is easy with the right software. All you need to do is copy and paste your livestream link into the appropriate field.
Learn more about livestreaming on digital signage.
Keeping Students and Staff Safe
It’s important for school districts, colleges, and universities to have emergency preparedness plans in place. Regular tornado and fire drills are mandatory, along with clearly marked evacuation routes. Digital signage is excellent for displaying emergency messaging, and some software even integrates with alerting programs. Schools are able to deploy emergency messages to all of their screens simultaneously with the press of a button thanks to these integrations.
Learn more about integrating alerts into your digital signage.
Increase Engagement and Student Well-Being
Overall, digital signage software is a vital tool for schools and universities. It helps improve communication, allows for remote viewing of live events, and promotes student engagement in the classroom. In addition, the integration of alerting technologies helps schools keep staff and students safe during emergency situations. Digital signage will continue to become more prominent for the education sector in the near future. Especially as we see more demand for remote learning.
Best Practices for Large Content Driven Presentations
Arreya lets you create presentations without page restrictions or limits on content. However, this freedom can cause unexpected experiences when dealing with large amounts of content. A large presentation gets affected by device limitations, internet speed, storage, and processing power. Yes you can create a presentation with over 200 pages and gigabytes of content but unless optimized, this content will not be easy for devices to deal with. Much like a web site there are best setups and recommendations to create it to be highly performing.
When a presentation gets really large with content, the usability gets complicated and affects both viewing and editing. A 200 page interactive presentation needs a lot of computing power, so it may not load properly, and a computer may lack the processing power to easily edit all 200 pages at once. If your internet speed is slow or lags, the entire presentation will take a long time to load, push live, and edit.
How to Optimize Large Content Driven Presentations
The good news is, with Arreya, you can still design and create a large content driven presentation by best optimizing it for performance. This optimization is achieved in Arreya by splitting up your content into multiple presentations. So now, you can divide one extremely large presentation into many smaller and more manageable sections. This multi presentation feature in Arreya is a game changer. It makes loading and organizing content much faster, and is included with every subscription. Arreya also has no limits on the number of presentations you can add and includes options to link presentations together for a seamless experience.
Taking advantage of this Arreya feature and using our optimization recommendations below will give you the best experience with your large content driven presentation.
Planning For Splitting Up Large Presentations
Splitting up presentations doesn’t have to be complicated or time consuming. Understanding how to best organize your presentations is key at the beginning. The number of pages we recommend is 30 pages per presentation. But don’t be worried about having a lot less, that is even better. We have even set up some presentations with just one page linking to many sub presentations. There is no specific formula or equation to splitting up your content, but thinking about how to best divide up your content before you start will result in less reworking.
Split by Navigation Buttons
One way to split up your interactive content is to create a presentation for each navigation button. If there is navigation on your home page to 5 categories then a simple breakdown would be to create 5 presentations, one for each of those categories. Each button would then link to the corresponding presentation. This also helps you easily organize your content to just those pages, giving you less pages to sort through so you can quickly make edits and navigate.
Split by Categories
If you have lists or menus of content within a page then splitting off the listings into presentations would be best. This is a great solution for a donor listing that divides individuals’ content by an alphabetical list to choose from. So if your donor list had a section of names “A-D” the link would be to a new presentation, not to a page within the same presentation. The navigation on the “A-D” presentation would return back to the alphabetical listing on the previous presentation.
Now all your photos, content, and names can easily be added to the section they belong in. This is especially helpful for long listings, not only for donors, but also products or services can also be handled this way. Then, when you have new content to add, you can open the specific presentation for the category and make the change. This will take less time to navigate, load quicker, and make edits easy.
Split by Locations
If you are setting up wayfinding or directories, then the best practice is to split each area up into its own presentation. For campus mapping, you would split up the presentations to the buildings identified, then have all the details of each building in one presentation. If you have a hospital map you can set up a presentation for each floor or department.
Split by Content
Another best practice for large content driven presentations is to set up presentations based on the amount of content. Videos can have a lot of loading time for rendering. They are the largest content type to work with, so if you have a lot of videos, try to split them evenly onto presentations. 2-3 videos per presentation is a good target. If you have more make, sure to split them up. Images can also add up and need to be planned around. If you are having lots of gallery photos or slideshows, say for a yearbook or history wall, we recommend you split those off into presentations, then create navigation to return to the main presentation. 20 – 30 images per presentation is a good target. If you have more images split them off into additional presentations.
Setting up Multiple Presentations
Start by designing your home page and top level content as a presentation. After you determine your overall design, layout, and navigation, you will want to save out pages and presentations as templates. Now you can begin additional presentations by importing template pages into the layouts. This speeds up layout time so that they will look and feel seamless. When setting your navigation you will then link your presentations together under the widget options. Make sure to change which presentation is selected as the destination, then choose the page in that presentation you want to go to, and finally name the button.
Optimizing Tips In General for Presentations
Naming Pages – When you add a page to your presentation, name it in the settings. Choose the name based on what you would title a button for this page to be called. This way when you select a page as a touch point, it will automatically name the button as the page name. This saves you from typing in a name every time, which adds up over 100+ pages of design.
Video Length – The longer the video, the larger the file size. Can the video be broken up into smaller sections? If possible, we recommend using videos under 30 seconds to keep viewers engaged with your display. Arreya has a file upload limit of 2 gigabytes, and long videos may reach this limit.
Plan for Growth – If you know you will be adding sections or content for new events or areas, set up navigation and additional presentations to leave room for adding future content. This will prevent having to redesign areas or all your pages in the future. Instead you can hide these links in the initial design, and in the future, make these areas visible, and link to a new presentation you can add the new content to.
That covers many of our recommendations for optimizing large content driven presentations in Arreya. We hope you now know some best practices our designers use, and understand how to best approach a large content driven presentation. We are always here to help, and can answer additional questions.
Everytime someone interacts with your business, you want them to have the best experience possible. You want to leave them feeling relieved and thankful that they chose to work with you. That’s why the customer experience needs to be as convenient and stress free as possible. There are simple tactics for improving customer experiences with digital signage.
The COVID 19 pandemic accelerated the need and desire to work or make purchases from home. Businesses have had to adapt to make themselves present digitally. Digital signage has played a huge role in improving customer experiences. Making it more enjoyable to engage with a business whether in person, from home, or anywhere with an internet connection.
Make Waiting Less Painful
We all have to wait in lines, and some of us can tolerate it better than others. As a business owner, whenever you have the opportunity to reduce wait time for your customers, you try your best to seize that opportunity. Digital signage can ease waiting.
One great way to reduce wait times is to get customers the information they need without having to find someone to ask. Frequently asked questions (FAQ) pages are a great way to achieve this goal. You simply compile a list of common questions and answer them on your site. You can use digital signage software to display these answers along with directions, or any other information that might speed things up for you and your customers. Another way you can save time is by displaying current inventory with your signs. This gives customers the ability to see what’s available without having to physically check throughout the store.
For many businesses, wait times are unavoidable, at least to some extent. While business owners and staff have already done everything they can to make processes as efficient as possible, customers will still need to be patient and wait their turns. Why not give them something interesting to look at while they wait? You can add YouTube videos to your displays, news, weather, and live feeds to your social media. The signs can be used to update customers on upcoming sales or events as well. This is an opportunity with a captive audience, so if possible, display something that can strengthen brand reputation. You can show testimonials, past projects, or just some information about your staff to make things more personal and relatable for the customer.
Increase Customer Engagement
Interactive digital signs are an awesome way for customers to interact with businesses, and there are so many different ways to use them. Customers can use touchscreens to navigate through a timeline or a slideshow about company history and values. This is a great method to tell customers your story. It allows them to connect with your brand on a much deeper level. You can display Twitter feeds and customers can see what they tweet using your hashtag, and you can allow them to post reviews from their phone right to your signs in real time.
Digital signage software can also be used to place orders, or hold a customer’s place in line. They can tap the screen to check in, and see an estimated amount of time remaining before it’s their turn. All of these are great options for building value with your customers. These tools are great for managing customer expectations, and they give customers increased control over their experiences.
Intuitive Wayfinding
Being lost is the worst, and many customers will prefer not to find someone to ask where to go. Businesses are using digital signage software to solve this problem, saving customers time, but also saving their employees from constantly directing traffic. Signs can be used to display maps and hours of operation, and when using touchscreen displays, customers can tap on the map to see where they need to go. They can navigate through the maps provided to different buildings or floors, and the maps can be updated as needed. Updates can be pushed out instantaneously, and it’s easy to make the changes. CLICK HERE for more information on how digital signage can be used for wayfinding.
Keeping Everyone Safe
It’s so critical for businesses to have a plan in place to keep everyone safe, especially in the event of an emergency. Of course every business is required to have fire alarms and illuminated exit signs, but some of them have complicated buildings that can be hard to navigate.
Digital signage software can eliminate confusion with clear displays on how to get out of the building, or where to go if there is impending dangerous weather or a security breach. The signs can be used to display weather forecasts and breaking news as well, so if something dangerous happens nearby, everyone can be made aware as soon as possible.
Rebirth of QR Codes
There is a time and place for business cards and brochures, but a lot of customers end up throwing them away as soon as they walk out the door, even if the information is pertinent. Using QR codes allows businesses to share exactly what they want with customers without adding another business card to their overfilled wallets.
Many restaurants have adopted the usage of QR codes instead of paper menus because of the COVID 19 pandemic. This was done to reduce the spread of germs primarily, but it also made things a lot more convenient. Customers simply scan the QR code and get the menu, url, image, video, or whatever content they need right on their phone, no paper needed. Updates are made to menus or other content as needed with no additional cost or waste. LEARN MORE about the impact QR codes are having on commerce globally.
A Vital Part of Business
It’s vital that businesses focus on what their customers are experiencing and what pain points exist. If possible, we want to remove or mitigate those pain points. Digital signage software can save time and headaches, like displaying live inventory, showing customer’s their place in line, and providing them with QR codes so they can get information they need on their own devices.
Digital signage can be used to build brand awareness and entertain customers while they wait. These are all great tools for businesses that want to increase engagement and make the customer experience more enjoyable, convenient, and interactive.
Things have changed a lot in the classroom over the last two decades. Students have gone from hauling around backpacks full of heavy textbooks to reading off of tablets and laptops. The usage of this technology not only provides convenience today, but it prepares students for the utilization of future technologies. Following is over 10 ways to use digital signage for school districts.
Schools need a way to display pertinent information to students and faculty, and it needs to be secure, efficient, and reliable. Digital signage is the technologically advanced solution. Enterprise digital signage solutions provide schools the tools they need to display anything they deem valuable to students and faculty and the ability to remotely manage and communicate.
1. News and Announcements
Digital signage software makes it easy to keep school announcements up to date. It can be used to answer the all important question: what’s for lunch? In fact, with the use of excel spreadsheets or Google sheets, the lunch menu can be fed to the software, automating the process. Someone in the cafeteria simply needs to access a spreadsheet containing the lunch menu, and they can update the menu items for the week or schedule the month.
Students and staff can see the menu on the screen as soon as the content is pushed live. Schools don’t need to spend time announcing news and lunch over intercoms every morning anymore, making more time for learning. READ HOW Oak Lawn Community High School saves time everyday with Arreya Digital Signage.
Many schools have countless events throughout the year, football games, parent teacher conferences, and concerts just to name a few. It can be difficult to keep up with, especially if all the signs are paper or handmade. They often need to be thrown away or replaced after the date of the event has passed. Digital signage not only makes it convenient for events to be updated, but it also reduces waste.
2. Wayfinding and Orientation
Trying to make it to all the new classes on time can be stressful, especially if it’s a student’s first year in a new building. It’s easy to forget where all the classrooms are and when each class starts. Wayfinding can reduce some of this stress. Digital signage can come into play here to direct students to the right classroom from day one. It can also display when each class begins and ends. If the presentation is made public, students can access this information right from their phones or laptops.
Maps of the school can be displayed and updated in real time, so if you have new teachers, classes that need to be added, or renovations that are being done, you don’t need to create a new map altogether and throw out the original. This allows teachers to be more flexible and utilize classrooms that best serve the needs of each individual class, while simultaneously showing students where they need to be throughout the day.
3. Roll Call/Attendance
Trying to keep track of student attendance can be a difficult task, and it’s imperative that staff know where students are at all times. Digital signage can help by allowing students to interact when they come in or out of a class. They could be required to type their name, upload a file, or simply touch the screen to show that they are physically where they need to be.
4. Digital Assignments
The more technical and digital skills students can learn, the better. Some schools are already allowing students to create and upload presentations to their digital signs as assignments. Teachers are able to monitor the content they upload prior to pushing it live to their screens, so there’s no risk of inappropriate content being uploaded. Students get to see the work they did come to life on devices across the school, whether it’s artwork, something they wrote, or just a normal powerpoint presentation. CHECK OUT other ideas on how students can get involved with digital signage software.
5. Alerting Students and Faculty of Danger
While everyone is at school to learn and grow, safety is always the number one priority. In the event that there is ever a lockdown situation, or impending dangerous weather, digital displays have the ability to notify everyone instantaneously. The signs can display instructions to everyone on where to go and what to do, reducing panic, and giving people vital information they need to stay safe. Digital signs can be connected to softwares like ALERTUS , which allow staff members to push alerts to all signs with the tap of a button on a smartphone. A few seconds could make the difference in a dangerous situation. That’s why having a plan in place is so critical.
6. Cancellations or Delays
Every winter, schools in cold-weather states have to deal with snow, ice, and possibly frigid temperatures. Occasionally, the decision needs to be made on whether or not school should be delayed or if a snow day is in order. Administrators can use digital signage software to push out notifications if school or extra curricular activities are delayed, postponed, or canceled. As long as the content is public, anyone can access it from their own device to stay up to date, extending communication beyond students and faculty. CHECK OUT how Franklin Middle school uses Arreya Digital Signage. See how digital signage meets their challenge of engaging with stakeholders outside of their school building and motivating students.
7. Graduation Ceremonies
Graduation is a time for everyone to celebrate. The students’ hard work has paid off, and now it’s time to recognize them. Digital signage can be a great way to do this, not only because it looks great, but because it’s extremely easy to implement. It would work particularly well for a graduation ceremony, because a spreadsheet could be used to feed information about the graduates, similar to the lunch menu we mentioned above. In fact, once the format for the graduation presentation is set, a new spreadsheet could be uploaded each year, and the information on the signs would be updated automatically. This removes the need to print or create new signs each year, reducing waste, and saving time and money.
8. Display Educational Material
Teachers can utilize digital signage software in their classrooms by displaying content relevant to their courses. They can upload previous lectures, notes, videos, deadlines for projects, or the class syllabus. Teachers can even allow students to comment on course related topics, and everyone would be able to see what they wrote on the display.
9. Secure Displays
One of the biggest concerns that come to mind with digital signage in schools is hacking. The last thing parents and faculty want is something inappropriate being displayed on their screens. There are many options in terms of locking things down, but one of the best we have found is Google Chrome’s kiosk mode. Kiosk mode prevents students or anyone else from tampering with or changing the content that is being displayed. It won’t allow them to access the web browser, and it won’t allow them to change any text, images, or any other content that has been scheduled. CLICK HERE and Google explains kiosk mode and how to activate it.
10. Social Media
Schools can use digital signage to display live feeds from their Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram accounts. This is just another way to engage with students and update them on what’s going on. Some schools will have Twitter accounts for each team or club they have, and they will post updates on scores or competitions throughout the year. Digital signs are an excellent way to display all of these social media accounts on one screen at the same time.
Total School District Integration
Digital signage software can play a vital role in keeping both students and faculty up to date and engaged. It’s also a great tool to communicate with stakeholders outside of school. It can be used to keep people safe by integrating alert software, and it can be used to recognize students and faculty for their achievements. Hopefully this post gives you some ideas on how digital signage software can benefit your school, not only saving time, money, and resources, but by enriching the learning experience as well.
