The Benefits of Digital Signage for Schools
Various schools and educational institutions have used digital signage for decades to provide efficient and cost-effective communication to staff, students, and parents.
As digital signage technology has improved, so has its use in the educational sector. This article will discuss what digital signage for education is, its benefits, and how schools can use it.
Why Digital Signage for Schools?
Digital signage can be a great way to digitize your educational environment. There are now many market options available to fit your needs.
Despite the misconception that digital signage for schools is challenging to implement and requires a lot of time, effort, and money, this is no longer the case. It is easier than ever to implement digital signage in schools.
Digital signage is an effective way to communicate important messages to students and staff. This technology is primarily used in retail spaces, but schools can also benefit from its use.
Digital signage will help schools keep students and staff informed of any updates or announcements, which is vital for maintaining the continuous flow of learning. Unlike paper posters on bulletin boards, which can be easily overlooked, digital signage is more likely to catch the attention of anyone passing by.
In fact, research shows that 96% of students notice digital signage immediately and can recall its content. This is likely why nearly 70% of colleges in the US have adopted digital signage.
By using digital signage, schools can ensure that their students are informed and up to date with the latest information, which will help them retain it better than with traditional print media.
With digital signage, schools can communicate more effectively and efficiently with students, staff, and visitors.
Benefits of Using Digital Signage for Your School
Digital signage in educational institutions is an effective way to communicate messages to students and staff. While this technology is commonly used in retail settings, schools, colleges, and universities can also take advantage of its benefits.
Unlike paper posters, which can be easily forgotten or ignored, digital signage is eye-catching and has been proven more effective in conveying its message. Studies have shown that 96% of students notice digital signage and can recall its content. This is likely why nearly 70% of U.S. colleges have installed digital displays.
With digital signage, educational institutions will be able to better inform their students of important school-related information, as digital signage is much more likely to be retained in the minds of the students.
Here are some big educational benefits of using digital signage in schools:
1. Get the Message Through
Children are more fascinated with motion graphics. According to a 2020 Pew Research Center study, most children aged 8-17 in the US have access to a digital device, the most common of which is a smartphone.
The study also found that most children aged 8 to 17 spend an average of 6 hours daily engaging with digital devices, with teenagers spending the most time on screens.
This means that as much as the older generation is attracted to screens, children nowadays are even more fascinated by them. Schools can embrace this truth and use it to the fullest in a good way.
When your message is displayed on a screen, especially in motion graphics, you can rest assured that more students and staff will notice and read it. The opposite is true for paper signage. Children are becoming less likely to notice or care about the message on paper signage.
2. Save Money and the Environment
You want to be an excellent example of an organization that takes climate change seriously. Digital school signage offers immediate cost-saving opportunities because it eliminates paper and printer costs. You no longer have to invest in paper and printing fees.
In the UK, the typical school uses 1 million sheets of paper annually and pays £60,000 for photocopying. An average school in the US spends $3,000–$4,000 a month on paper, ink, and toner. Because a digital display doesn't need paper or ink, you won't have to pay for their ongoing replacement as you create the content for your communications.
You only need to make a single payment to use hardware like video walls or standalone mounts to display any prepared material. You can easily change the displayed information without spending any more on additional printing and photocopying expenses. You'll soon have the money you spent on your digital signage back in your pocket.
If you have digital signage, you will not need to spend more to advertise upcoming events in local newspapers. Your school can save money while still reaching the local target audience.
3. Highlight Student’s Accomplishments
Many schools understand how important it is to reward students for their accomplishments. It improves the school’s brand image and also pushes the students to do more and exert themselves. Schools spend so much on banners and paper to create these kinds of messages for the school gate or other signboards.
Digital signage can be a powerful tool for your school to show off the achievements of its students. Posting artwork from celebrated student artists or a message of congratulations after a successful sporting event are just two ways to use digital signage to honor your students and bring your school and the surrounding community together with relevant, timely content.
Digital signage can be an effective way to promote your school's core values and boost student morale. By showcasing the achievements of students and faculty, you can create a positive image for your school and impress visitors to your campus. Automating the process with digital signage makes it easy to keep everyone up to date with the latest happenings.
4. Ultimate Engagement Tool
As mentioned above, children are more likely to pay attention to screens than paper or tarps. This is why anyone presenting a message on paper is most likely wasting time and resources.
You may have discovered that staff and students ignore printed materials, such as flyers and posters. This is due in large part to changes in media consumption habits. In 2020, the typical person watched digital media for 474 minutes daily. Your students are used to learning from digital sources rather than printed materials.
Your pupils will most likely watch media on their smartphones, so giving them a similar experience can help you reach more people with your messages. This is what a digital screen, video wall, or freestanding kiosk, all of which are effectively simply larger versions of smartphone screens, all offer.
Also, placing a digital screen in a previously unoccupied area will immediately grab the attention of your staff and kids. Your material will stand out and become much more memorable thanks to the brightness of the screen and any movement or animations it contains, both of which digital screens can offer but print mediums cannot.
5. Flexibility
When using paper and tarp, you had to wait for new copies to be printed if something changed or if there was an error in the print. This means you can either keep the incorrect print or delete it.
That gives your students and staff inaccurate information. The other option is to take it down. You would then completely fail to spread your message during this period.
You can respond rapidly with a digital signage solution because there is no need to wait for printing. You can instantly access your signage software and update the material if it has to be modified.
For instance, you would be able to write a message to be flashed on the screen closest to the original classroom to inform students and staff of the unexpected change in location for a session. Your new message will appear on the screen as soon as it is updated.
Another good thing is that you can schedule a display. For instance, if your school assembly is at 11 a.m., you wouldn't want messages about it to appear on your displays after that time. You may schedule when the next piece of content will appear on your screens using the scheduling feature of the digital signage software you've chosen.
The material will change automatically following what you have set, saving you and your admin staff time. In contrast to print media, which locks you in once it has gone to print, you can adjust your schedule at any moment, which allows you to be flexible with the material you have planned.
6. Creating Digital Notice Boards
Notice boards are essential to any school, as they provide a way to share information with students and the wider school community. Schools can use notice boards to communicate events, deadlines, and other important information.
They can also use them to celebrate successes, highlight student achievements, and create a sense of community. Digital notice boards can make this process even easier, as they can be updated quickly and easily, making it easier for schools to keep everyone informed.
Say goodbye to outdated information on school notice boards. With digital signage, you can create dynamic digital notice boards that can be easily updated whenever something new happens. Automating the process makes it even simpler to keep the information on the noticeboard fresh and up to date.
7. Variety of Content
The ability to post different types of content is the best feature of digital signage for your school. The more often you update it, the more likely it is that students and the general public will watch the events at your school.
An announcement on your digital sign will save you money on employment website advertising and draw in quality individuals if you wish to host a job fair at the school.
8. Reconfigure School Communication
When technology is truly effective, it often causes the structures around it to change. Ask anyone who remembers a time before smartphones. Good, efficient digital signage solutions also follow this law.
Communication stops being the responsibility of everyone who needs to inform anyone of anything once your school has one. It ceases to be the responsibility of the IT department to continuously provide technical assistance to a small desktop publishing sector devoted to nagging schoolchildren to finish their homework and show up for soccer practice. The communications department now has responsibility for it.
Teachers then stop hurriedly printing out their posters and instead ask the communications team to include their announcements in the day's schedule. The visibility of the school's social media feeds throughout campus encourages students to follow them and show more interest in what they have to say.
As school communications grow more organized and practical, the communications team has less work to perform because tasks may be completed only once and distributed throughout the building via connected screens.
9. Return on Investment
You save money and get a significant return on your investment by placing digital signage in your school. You'd be astonished at how much attention a sizable LCD sign with flashing colors around your announcement can attract.
As a result, nearby businesses may see an increase in sales. For example, if your establishment is a college campus, outside companies will pay you to advertise a message to your student audience on your digital sign.
10. Add Content Easily
One of the key benefits of using digital signage is the ease of adding content. Unlike traditional static displays, digital signage can be quickly and easily updated, allowing you to keep content fresh and relevant.
This makes it easier to keep your school or business up to date with the latest news, events, and other information. Digital signage can be automated, meaning you can set it up to update automatically, eliminating the need for manual updating.
Digital displays are more engaging for students than static signage, making the messages they share more impactful. With digital signage, schools can close the communication gap with their students and get them more involved in learning.