More educational institutions than ever are welcoming students back to school with digital screens. But why is this? The last year and a half has been a disruptive time for many industries. Education, especially, has gone through many trials and tribulations. Although Coronavirus restrictions are starting to wear off, the following year will still be a challenge to educators all around the world. Whether schools continue to face new restrictions or are able to operate as normal, both students and teachers will have to adapt to a new environment. This may include extra health and safety communications, adjusting to new routines, or improved wayfinding.
The start of the new school year is rapidly approaching. This means it’s a great time for schools to start thinking about ways to improve their operations. This blog highlights 5 ways schools can use digital signage to successfully emerge from the pandemic and welcome students.
1. Welcoming Students Back to School with Digital Screens
For some students, the first day of school is an exciting new beginning, while some would rather avoid it. To improve the start of the new year for everyone, schools should make sure students feel welcomed the second they come in. Things like “welcome back” posters are an excellent way to ensure pupils feel appreciated and taken care of. However, for young people, who are used to constantly looking at digital screens, traditional paper posters can sometimes be difficult to spot.
This is where digital signage comes in. Back to school with digital screens can feature bright displays featuring videos and animation can easily grab attention to engage even the most distracted pupils. Schools can personalise screen content to certain year groups or even to students themselves. You can go a step further with this and integrate with RFID readers. When a student taps their ID card at an entrance, the content on-screen can read a personalised welcome message just for them! This can be a great way for your students to start their day.
Additionally, going digital will give the school a modern touch. The young students expect a level of certain technological advancement and what better time for the school to show that off than on the first day.
2. Health Messaging and Digital Hand Sanitisers
Even though we seem to be approaching the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, health and safety precautions are still a top priority. Furthermore, according to McKinsey & Company, many of the shifts we experienced at the beginning of the pandemic are likely to persist long into the future. Like any public space, schools can be a hotspot for potential Covid-19 outbreaks. Therefore, ensuring everyone takes health and safety seriously is paramount.
To best prepare for welcoming back students, schools can deploy digital screens to enforce the importance of good hygiene. Younger students, especially need a constant reminder to wash their hands and follow social distancing guidelines. Screens can provide a perfect solution. Through digital content, screens can show simple videos featuring the latest hygiene advice and techniques. To maximise effectiveness, this content can be scheduled to play at key times such as before lunch or after PE.
The pandemic has also had an effect on the digital signage industry. To help further improve hygiene digital hand sanitisers have been introduced. This technology combines a hand sanitiser and a digital screen. When a user takes a pump of sanitiser, it triggers content to play on the digital display. This could be any message from hygiene reminders to school announcements. This technology features the benefit of reducing the spread of germs, whilst enhancing your internal communications.
3. Finding Your Way Back to School with Digital Screens
Any large building can be difficult to navigate, especially for new visitors. Schools are no exception. Traditional wayfinding methods like paper maps can be confusing, as people often struggle to visualise the route. Not to mention, they can quickly become outdated and will need to be replaced in case of any changes. This can add an ongoing cost in both time and money.
Digital wayfinding has provided schools with an automated solution with a powerful punch of functionality. Through touchscreen kiosks, a student, teacher, or visitor can enter their destination, or select it on a virtual map. The kiosk will then serve up a custom route, showing them exactly where to go (no more finger tracing!) Additionally, wayfinding systems can be tailored specially for schools with younger students in mind.
Finally, digital wayfinding can make the school more inclusive. With the help of IoT sensors and devices, which can be installed on existing infrastructure, problems with routes can be identified and feed into the wayfinding technology. That then signals the need to provide an alternative route. This is a game-changer for people who require a wheelchair or have a disability that impairs their movement.
By introducing digital wayfinding, schools can not only become easier to navigate, but also set an example of inclusivity and acceptance.
4. Live Calendars And Timetables
After a fun and exciting summer, it can be hard to get back into a routine. Students are not yet used to their new schedule and might need some help adjusting. This is another avenue where schools can employ digital screens. Furthermore, some pandemic requirements such as frequent testing may still remain. This extra time slot will be added to student timetables. As it is not one of their usual lessons, it may slip under the radar and the student could forget.
To help the students get used to the new routine, schools can display live calendars and timetables around their institutions. It’s much more convenient when pupils don’t have to look for paper timetables and then calculate when and where they have to be. Live calendars on digital screens can show event times and locations, while timetables can display information about lessons. Furthermore, thanks to being live, if a change is made to the calendar, the change will also be updated live on screen.
What’s more, digital calendars and timetables are an exciting innovation and will no doubt increase student satisfaction. Visitors will be pleased to see the school keeping up with the latest technology, that insures pupils are being kept up to date and well informed.
5. Promoting After School Activities
For many young people, after school activities bring a lot of joy and teach them valuable skills. What’s more, a hobby or an extracurricular away from school normality can help students maintain good mental health. Some students may not attend extra clubs. This could be due to them not knowing enough about it, or not actually knowing it even exists!
One way schools are increasing attendance and sign-ups for extracurriculars is through digital screens. By promoting these clubs and showing what pupils can learn, have fun with, and do in a welcoming environment, is a great way to spark interest. Through digital display, videos can be shown of the clubs in action, to help capture the imagination of gazing pupils. For example, it could be video highlights from the school’s latest football match. Seeing one of the older students curl a freekick into the top corner could help ignite some inspiration for younger students.
If you have any questions related to digital signage for schools, speak to an expert today. Call our friendly team on 02380 981110 or email info@troudigital.com for a no-obligation consultation. Alternatively, click the button below.
