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Education Technology Solutions For anywhere learning happens

Contents

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About This Guide

Starin Town Hall Rewind—Higher Education

The Value of Video Communications in Education

How Zoom Reshapes the Modern Educational Environment

Tips and Tricks for Teachers Educating on Zoom

Supercharge Your Educators With Secure, Best-in-Class Technology and Collaboration Tools

North Ridgeville Ohio City Schools Provide Easy Virtual Classrooms With DTEN and Zoom

Education Is More Than Just Classroom Learning

Elevate Your Zoom Education Experience with Poly X Series

The Huddly IQ Is Like A Camera—Only Smarter

Classroom Sharing With Just One Click

ClickShare Enlivens Learning At School For At-Risk Kids—The Charter School of San Diego

Selecting the Right Projector for Your Auditorium or Classroom

Vivitek Projectors—The Versatile Teaching Partner

The State of Remote Learning

Why Schools Need Digital Signage for Emergency Planning

About This Guide

The education environment has never been more challenging, but cutting-edge technologies can enable us to stay on track. There are so many moving parts—from campuses being open or closed, to students keeping up with lesson plans, to parents having a voice in the entire process. School leaders need the tools to support effective communications for board meetings, status updates, teacher evaluations, and preserving day-to-day business no matter where they are physically working. Audio and video solutions can keep pace with an administrator's hectic day-to-day responsibilities, and they ensure the highest quality voice, video, and content sharing. Inside this comprehensive guide, we have compiled the best ways to enhance any learning environment—whatever the school year may bring.

Starin Town Hall Rewind—Higher Education Meet Joe Way, Director of Learning Environments at University of Southern California and co-founder of HETMA. Joe has been in the Audiovisual field and at the forefront of Higher Education for the last 20 years. Joe is also an author and co-founder of the Higher Education Technology Managers Association (H.E.T.M.A). To kick off our Town Hall, we asked the question "What is HETMA?" HETMA stands for the Higher Education Technology Managers Alliance, a group of AV professionals who work in the Higher Education industry. As Joe stated, the group started as 10 steering committee members and recently opened leadership and general membership with over 700 Higher Education AV Technology Managers actively seeking a voice and influence with manufacturers, integrators, and campus administration. Thus far, they have hosted two virtual conferences as well as a handful of specific focus groups and webinars.

HETMA's mission is to be an advocacy organization focused on the Higher Education AV industry. The goal of HETMA is to raise awareness of technology issues unique to the Higher Education community by communicating with manufacturers, vendors, and Higher Education administrators on the needs and challenges that Technology Managers face. HETMA is also dedicated to providing educational and networking opportunities to their members to empower and grow their influence as an industry. From there our conversation turned to the role of the Technology Manager and how 3 |

Joe Way, PhD, Director of Learning Environments at University of Southern California

the role has evolved. Once thought of as "mailroom" or "telephone" people, the role of Technology Manager has become that of technical specialists with an acumen for customer service. Today's Technology Mangers are responsible not only for the technology, but for the integrator relationship and the shared Service Level Agreements. A big part of the Technology Manager's responsibility is to keep an eye out for the future, while understanding how educators are teaching and what tools they need. Prior to the pandemic sending everyone home, Joe had already started the process of designing and mocking up what the next generation of 200-300 student classrooms and Hyflex spaces look like. Behind the scenes, Joe was strengthening and upgrading their campus network as the foundation for new systems to come. As Joe mentioned "… the true convergence was not AV and IT, the convergence is AV and UC."

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The true convergence was not AV and IT, the convergence is AV and UC. -Joe Way, PhD He based his systems around IT principles and the idea that every system must be bidirectional—intending to bring in faculty from all over the world. The pandemic has become the great equalizer, and the turn to technology in every room is now necessary. The priorities are to continue education while maintaining student safety. With the groundwork already in motion, the lock down gave Joe and his team time to implement and test the systems more thoroughly before going live in the fall semester. The new classrooms are currently designed for educators to teach with minimal interaction. This includes microphones located in the ceiling, wide angle autoframing cameras to track the instructors, confidence monitors mounted on carts, allowing the instructors better interaction. One key point that Joe made was that Zoom powers the video calls and that his entire AV network is entirely IP to make routing and future routes possible using IT principles. The DTEN displays used in the classrooms as confidence monitors also join the call as a participant, which give additional flexibility to the instructors. Those same monitors are also part of a simple classroom design. One goal that Joe's team has aimed for is to simplify controls, based on Zoom's user interface. A key component to the overall design was the experience of the end-users. Allowing the faculty to decide how they wanted to interact with the technology was key. Their needs were met by removing the interaction with the physical technology and allowing the educators to teach and not act as a producer to their own class. Technology used to be viewed as a necessary evil to teach class, but now it is an essential 5 |

tool for success. Technology has finally been accepted as a legitimate method for connecting people. Though Joe and his team have been very hands-on with regard to the specification of the spaces, he encourages all Technology Managers to strengthen their relationships with manufactures, distributors, and integrators. These relationships are key to selecting the right technology, coordinating the project timelines, and getting the work done right.

Listen intently to the end-users, observe their interaction with technology and empathize with their needs to deliver a highquality learning experience free from distractions. As we closed out the Town Hall, Joe's advice to everyone is to listen more and to be vulnerable. Listen intently to the end-users, observe their interaction with technology and empathize with their needs to deliver a high-quality learning experience free from distractions.

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The Value of Video Communications in Education By S. Ann Earon, PhD, IMCCA Founding Chairperson Video communications allow educational institutions to expand their impact across geographies to reach more students and offer new learning opportunities from guest lecturers, to research among institutions, to reaching students off campus. Regardless of whether it is known as eLearning or distance learning, the use of video communications increases productivity, reduces training costs, allows access to subject matter experts (regardless of location), and offers students real-time, immediate access to classes and course materials. The combination of multimedia and instructional design, coupled with practice activities and feedback, results in a learning environment that helps students retain course content. Learners want control of their time and eLearning gives them the opportunity to learn from anywhere at any time. To remain competitive and increase revenue, educational institutions need to use video communications to reach existing and new students, provide access to outside experts, collaborate with other institutions, and virtually communicate with students, faculty and staff.

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Why eLearning Matters

The value of eLearning is being recognized by more organizations, since it is a costeffective way to train large numbers of people. It can produce significant results by not onlxy decreasing training costs, but also improving performance. Students involved in video communications are more motivated and interested in the topic and are reported to have high levels of achievement in critical thinking and problem-solving when compared to students physically in the classroom. Schools are breaking down the invisible walls of learning and are joining geographically distanced learning communities, allowing students to access educators in ways not possible before eLearning can combine several different delivery methods, including web based courses, collaboration software, and video conferencing. eLearning can also mix various event-based activities, including face-toface classrooms, self-paced learning, and live eLearning using video conferencing. eLearning is not about technology, it's about learning, using technology. The use of video communications has the potential to increase productivity and efficiency by reducing unproductive travel time, allowing more students to complete courses in a shorter period of time, reaching more students in a variety of areas, and lowering costs. By increasing access to courses, and allowing students to participate on their own time, educational institutions can quickly see a financial return on investment. Courses can be developed once and shared with students locally and at a distance, whether from the actual school where the course was created or by reaching others at distant locations who have a need for the information being delivered. Think of students needing a foreign language, but not

finding the course they need available locally. Participating at a distance allows these students to complete courses as they need them from any location. There is no longer a need to wait for a course to be available at a given site. Now students have access to a wide variety of courses from any location. This allows schools to hold classes virtually even if only one student is available at each site. The result is better return on investment since classes can be offered more frequently and student reach is expanded outside the normal classroom environment. How eLearning supports the goals of education: Reduce training costs Producing learning content is time consuming, whether for online or classrooms. With eLearning, each time a course is accessed the return on investment improves, since the production costs are divided by the number of users. There is also the cost of building space, utilities, and teacher salaries to consider. Using one teacher and holding a class using video conferencing results in reaching students in classrooms, at distant sites, and at home for a much lower cost. Increase productivity Since eLearning is not bound by time or geography, it is easier to control training's impact on production by training people during down times. Given people are now being asked to do more with less, eLearning is a way to provide tools and skills needed to enhance performance.

How eLearning supports the goals of education ▶ ▶ ▶ ▶ ▶

Reduced training costs Increased productivity Standardization Real-time access to info Ongoing access to resources

Standardization eLearning allows instructors to create a standardized process and consistency in the delivery of content. It can also compress the delivery time by allowing instructors to combine eLearning materials with sessions that are facilitated. Real-time access to information In the past, students had to travel to a specific classroom to take courses. With eLearning, courses can be accessed anytime, anywhere. This means students can access content from a PC or mobile device, complete the coursework, and upload their results on their own time. Ongoing Access to Resources When classes are taken onsite, during a specific time period, students must be in attendance or get notes from other students. If a refresher course is needed, students must sign up for another course. With eLearning, students can access online content and review it as needed. Students learn on their own time at their own pace. The use of eLearning has improved student learning experiences: ▶ Graduation rates are higher because students can take courses on their own time from any location. ▶ Student athletes, who often have difficulty completing courses due to athletic schedules, are now able to learn on their own time.

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88% believe video conferencing will allow more people to complete advanced degrees. ▶ People who commute to attend courses can now get their education online. ▶ Students with disabilities have access to courses without the need to travel.

students and professors, and leveling the playing field between students. Video Breakout Rooms Video breakout rooms allow people to create smaller teams to collaborate with and learn from one another, all within the same meeting or training session. This replicates the common in-person academic practice of breaking the class into small groups. Video Webinar Create online events that include registration, reporting, Q&A, and polling. Video webinars are a valuable tool for admissions, alumni engagement, orientation, MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses), and other large-scale events.

In a recent survey, conducted by TechValidate, educators and administrators in colleges and universities were interviewed. The survey data indicated the following: ▶ 88% believe video conferencing will allow more people to complete advanced degrees. ▶ 73% believe video conferencing will reduce student dropout rates. ▶ 87% plan to increase investment in online collaboration tools in the next 5 years. The respondents identified the top 3 use cases for video collaboration in education. 1. Collaboration with other education professionals 2. Expand reach across geographies 3. Ability to have a guest lecturer join virtually.

Important Features

When thinking about using eLearning video communications in education, there are important features to consider that make the experience easier and more rewarding for the teacher and the students. Two-Way Video and Audio In the past, many eLearning courses have been taught with just audio and a slide deck. Two-way interaction is crucial for increasing engagement between remote and local

Integration LTI (Learning Tools Interoperability) makes it easy to schedule a meeting with any course activity and invite the right students from your learning management system (LMS). Common LMS systems include Blackboard, Moodle, Canvas, and Desire2Learn. This integration makes it easier to learn regardless of platform used, instead of downloading different software packages to be compatible to what others are using. Accessibility Accessibility features enable users with disabilities to schedule, attend, and participate in meetings and webinars. This is a legal requirement for universities and should be a key component of any eLearning tool.

eLearning solution should support the development of software-based videoenabled classrooms that run affordable off-the-shelf hardware. It should also support H.323/SIP systems so that these investments can continue to be utilized.

Use Case Examples

Hybrid and distance learning programs and courses strengthen academic values in the following ways:

Recording Record any session for students to watch at a later date, at a time convenient for them. It is important to find an eLearning tool that uses standard file formats that are easy to edit and share, such as MP4 and M4A formats. Sending Files The Group Messaging features allow participants to send text, images/files or audio files to a contact or to a group. Students can use this for team projects and study groups, and professors can make a new group with their students for each course or section. Simplicity/Ease of Use Connecting to a video call should be easy. Participants should be able to join from their consumer devices with minimal clicks and no special codes to input. Ideally, it should integrate with existing calendaring systems and single-sign on (SSO) providers to maximize convenience and security. Students and professors should be able to join from any device—mobile, desktop, or conference room. The mobile experience should be seamless with true mobile screensharing, mobile start/join, and mobile scheduling. Classroom Support Many classrooms are either not videoenabled, or are equipped with traditional H.323 or SIP conference room systems. It's vital that physical classrooms are brought into virtual environments for true hybrid in-person/virtual learning experiences. The 11 |

▶ Continue to facilitate academic excellence among students, faculty and staff ▶ Extend quality educational opportunities to members of the community who are unable to attend traditional, on-campus courses ▶ Provides flexible learning environments for working professionals ▶ Integrates technology, time management, and life-long learning skills into the curriculum. Fischler School at Nova Southeastern University was sending representatives into the field to visit each student in his/her

We liked that on Zoom it was easy to create recurring meetings so students have just one link that works every week and that there are minimal administrative requirements. We also love that it is easy to use for our students, that they click once and they're in the class. -Michael Griffin Director of Instructional Learning Technology, The University of Arizona

clinical placement at least three times during his/her program. These representatives include faculty members and alumni of the program located in various areas of the country. As the number of students in the program exceeded 800 the review process became more challenging. Zoom's simple, affordable solution perfectly suited these needs. Instead of wasting time traveling, specialists can work more efficiently by just launching a Zoom meeting on their computer or mobile device to check in with a student. Guest Lecture Schools are using video conferencing to access guest speakers from anywhere in the world to share their powerful stories with students who would not have access to these guess lecturers any other way. Topics are brought to life by people with expertise willing to share their knowledge. Using video conferencing to connect students to more experts is useful in more ways than just altering the daily routine. Students are more motivated to learn and work on their studies when they can see the actual connection between what they are learning and the real world. Using video conferencing to bring more experts into the classroom can help motivate students by letting them discuss the real-world applications of their work with people who actually use that knowledge.

The Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (CILC) started out as a statebased organization connecting schools with other schools, museums and zoos in Indiana via video conferencing. Eventually CILC connected schools across the nation with other national and international cultural and educational organizations. CILC decided that Zoom is the best fit for an environment where seamless learning and presentations can and must take place. What sets Zoom apart from other solutions is that it's a oneclick-and-you're-in solution. Virtual Office Hours Video conferencing is now being utilized for virtual office hours. The need to be in a physical office no longer exists with the use of technology. Now students can meet with teachers virtually to ask questions, discuss a project, and obtain immediate responses any time. Video conferencing gives everyone the flexibility to schedule the amount of time needed to meet, thus using everyone's time more efficiently. Since video conferencing is now as simple as making a phone call, virtual office hours can be set up instantly allowing teachers and students to meet on a more regular basis or as needed to respond to a question or solve a problem. Stanford Continuing Studies offers over 100 courses, workshops, and specific events on topics ranging from liberal arts and sciences, to creative writing, and professional and personal development. The courses are

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taught to over 13,000 students each year, with 8% of these students taking online courses. Malena Wantrous, Lead Instructor, uses Zoom for virtual office hours. The "door is open" two hours a week. She appreciates that Zoom is unobtrusive; she can go about her work and forget it's on until a student enters the Zoom session. Research Collaboration Among Institutions Research collaboration is people working together to solve a problem, create a product, or derive meaning from a body of material. With the advent of video communications technologies, research collaboration among institutions is now becoming a reality. Geographically dispersed research and education groups are relying on video communications to achieve their goals of collaboration between educators. Though much has changed in Higher Education, networking and collaboration are more important than ever for bringing people and ideas together. Collaboration is also important on the global stage. Globalization is a reality and collaboration amongst international institutions is a way to learn from other cultures and researchers. Research is being conducted across universities, time zones and countries. Mount Holyoke developed a program to connect teachers to the college without needing to put these teacher-students through the expense of travel and accommodations. They tore down the barriers that forced teachers to restrict themselves in the four walls of the classroom. They use Zoom to connect teachers across the nation using a solution that allowed them to collaborate and really meet in a way

that was similar to in-person meetings. With Zoom they are able to have teachers around the world use the software to interact in real time with Mount Holyoke classrooms.

Zoom has allowed online learning programs to be more successfully deployed when compared to competing products. The video quality of Zoom allows all remote participants to better see the faces of their classmates while easily integrating content sharing, breakouts, and annotation. -Tim O'Neil IT Director, Brandeis University

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How Zoom Reshapes the Modern Educational Environment 1 Virtual tutoring

4 Zoom for staff and administration meetings

7 Interactive distance learning and recording

10 Remote teacher observation, professional development

2 Remote parent-teacher conferences

5 Wireless sharing in the classroom or boardroom

8 Communicating across all classrooms

11 Classroom collaboration across the district or world

3 Digital signage

6 Broadcasting live outside of the classroom or auditorium

9 Virtual field trips and mentors in the classroom

Tips and Tricks for Teachers Educating on Zoom

Starting a Class

If it's your first time using Zoom, visit the Educating Guide: Getting Started on Zoom and complete the steps in advance of your class to get you set up. Schedule your class in the Zoom application for your desired date/time and copy the invitation details to send to your students. *Please note that students will not need to register for an account to join. Join your class a couple minutes early to

Discuss students' online etiquette and expectations. 17 |

ensure a proper connection then follow the below tips for a quality online learning experience.

Tips and Tricks for Virtual Lessons

For your first class, set aside some time to introduce your students to Zoom and ensure that they're able to connect their audio and video. Give an agenda or plan for each class by Screen Sharing a document or slide at the beginning of class. This gives students a clear idea of how the class will progress, what will be covered, and the activities they'll engage in. Discuss online etiquette and expectations of the students in your first virtual class and periodically revisit the topics. Utilize the Whiteboard or Annotate a shared document and let your students engage as well. When sharing a whiteboard, document,

Divide into smaller groups for a discussion on a certain topic with Breakout Rooms. screen, or image, try whiteboarding math problems or have a student use annotation to highlight items such as grammar mistakes in a paper you're sharing. Take time to promote questions, comments, and reactions from your class. Give a minute to allow your students to utilize reactions, write their questions in chat, or be unmuted to ask their questions live.

Look at the camera to create eye contact with your students. This helps to create a more personal connection while teaching over video. Take a second to check chat or your student's video (if on camera) to check-in with your students and get feedback. Speak as if you're face-to-face with the class while ensuring you're at the appropriate distance from the microphone for the best audio experience. When delivering a presentation, sharing images, files or video, give your students a moment to open or take in what you've shared. Embrace the pause. Take a moment after the end of your comments and allow for students to engage before continuing on.

Divide into smaller groups for a discussion on a certain topic. You can use Zoom's Breakout Room feature to either pre-assign or auto-assign students into groups for a short period of time so they may discuss things together. Have students be the presenter and share projects with the class. This allows your students to show what they're working on while practicing their presentation skills. It also allows students to hear from one another.

Teaching Over Video—Delivery Tips and Tricks

Pre-set your meeting to mute participant's microphones upon entry. This helps to avoid background noise and allow your students to focus on your lesson.

Speak as if you're face-to-face with the class.

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Supercharge Your Educators With Secure, Best-in-Class Technology and Collaboration Tools By Nia Celestin, DTEN

Recently, the team at DTEN presented a special learning track session at Zoom Summer Academy all about how to supercharge educators with Zoom and DTEN. The Academy was designed to address the needs of K-12 educators. Numerous sessions were held to help educators prepare for what the new school year brings for their learning environments. The Academy was an incredible opportunity to hear from educators. One of the most pressing concerns was how to configure a hybrid or teacher-only classroom. Educators expressed worry about student engagement

and participation. Teachers were looking for ways to use technology to achieve better student outcomes. IT administrators were looking for technology to enable teaching in the classroom or from home. In the end, what was expressed most often was—"How do we do this? Where do we start?" Working with Zoom and listening to teachers, parents and IT we set out to arm educators with DTEN technology. Our solutions are simple to set up and easy to use with powerful teaching tools that create immersive learning environment for students.

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Today, more than ever, it is essential that students in or out of a classroom have the ability to connect, communicate and engage with teachers, content, and classmates. Key Takeaways from Zoom Academy

DTEN's mission is to make communication and collaboration technology accessible so everyone can be present anywhere. DTEN is so happy to be helpful during these challenging times. Today, more than ever, it is essential that students in or out of a classroom have the ability to connect, communicate and engage with teachers, content, and classmates. We know that our technology has helped public and private schools as well as universities and colleges meet the demands of supporting student outcomes through remote learning. DTEN can help educators navigate this new school year with effective, affordable, and easy-to-master solutions that foster immersive and engaging classroom experiences. Additionally, it's worth stating that we're excited to partner with Zoom—a company that cares so much about improving the current state of distance education that they built a free 2-day event to address it.

Questions and Answers From the Learning Track Session

Q: Can you use DTEN with a basic Zoom account or do you need to have a licensed account? A: This is a great question.

The DTEN D7 and DTEN ON require an active Zoom Rooms license to host meetings, but can join an active meeting, right out of the box. The new Zoom for Home – DTEN ME uses your personal Zoom account or your Zoom edu account. Read more about the Zoom for Home – DTEN ME. Q: Can you screen cast to it, show YouTube videos, etc.? A: It is easy to share content from documents and presentations to videos and live streams by sharing your screen. You can also use whiteboarding and annotation to illustrate ideas and interact with content while in a Zoom meeting. Q: Is this technology supported under the CARES Fund act? A: YES! Under the CARES act, DTEN Solutions are considered educational technology that aids in regular educational interaction between students and their classroom instructors. Q: Is DTEN only available in the United States? A: DTEN solutions are available all over the world.

North Ridgeville Ohio City Schools Provide Easy Virtual Classrooms With DTEN and Zoom by Gwen Villarete, DTEN

Interactive, easy, powerful, unique. These are the words Paul Hieronymus uses to describe DTEN. As Technology Director for the North Ridgeville City Schools, Paul shares how distance learning is expanding—and how Zoom and DTEN are helping to make it happen. "DTEN is rock solid." Paul Hieronymus summarizes his experience with DTEN in that one short sentence. And he possesses the expertise to back-up his assessment, saying "This is my 25th year in educational technology, now as Director of Technology at North Ridgeville City Schools." Even before COVID-19 accelerated interest in teaching via video conference, Paul predicted distance learning was ready to move to the next level. He notes, "When Zoom hit the 23 |

market, you finally had that important piece in place for distance education." He continues, "with Zoom on the scene, and now DTEN coming onto the scene, all the pieces are coming together. Combined you make it easy, you make it successful – and distance learning is just going to continue expanding, continue growing."

DTEN is rock solid. -Paul Hieronymus, Techology Director for North Ridgeville Ohio City Schools

Enhanced Content, New Classes

This growth is exemplified at North Ridgeville City School. Paul continues, "We initially looked at distance education as primarily an enhancement to existing curriculum. We are using it for virtual field trips for instance, bringing in guest speakers from content providers such as museums and zoos." "But, with the success of the program, we are already looking at being able to bring in new courses, to enhance our course delivery options through remote instructors from other locations. We're scheduled to start

with American Sign Language and Chinese instruction, both to be delivered virtually to our classrooms. Utilizing DTEN equipment is part of that plan." When COVID-19 required schools to close, the North Ridge district pivoted to full e-learning—and with notable success. Paul quantifies, "We just recently polled our students and community family members to see how we were doing with virtual delivery of the content. We were happily surprised to see that we got an 87% approval rating from our families."

Easy and Enthusiastic Reception from Staff

Installation wasn't a challenge for us, I mean, it's pretty much plug-and-play right out of the box. -Paul Hieronymus

Paul recalls his reaction to his first DTEN D7 demo, "I saw how easy DTEN was for a classroom teacher. You get in front, teach very similar to the traditional classroom, and then also have the ability to enhance it, through content sharing with the device. Buying that first DTEN became a no-brainer for us." He continues, "Installation wasn't a challenge for us, I mean, it's pretty much plug-and-play right out of the box." Teachers have also easily adapted. Paul shares a story of a high school instructor

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teaching Spanish to students at another location, "The teacher had not done much with distance learning in the past. But she immediately just jumped right in. She loved being able to connect, talk and simultaneously use the online DTEN whiteboard to share and mark-up content. And the students actively joined in with their Chromebooks."

Paul notes other benefits as well, "On the financial end, there definitely is a cost savings with the ability to share instruction. Like with Chinese language instruction, because we're looking at one period. How do you hire somebody for a single period? Normally, if you're talking one period, it would be out the window."

He also notes recent free upgrades to the DTEN D7 firmware—including camera presets, auto framing and expanded camera angle— will appeal to the same teacher. "Our Spanish teacher is going to be so excited to have these. When she teaches, she is all over the place." In fact, enthusiasm among teachers has helped lead to new video conferencing uses—and led to additional DTEN purchases. He explains, "One teacher would do it, be successful and tell her colleagues. Then they come to me and say, "I want to sign up for this as well."

A Win-Win for Teachers and Students

Continuing on with the value to educators and students: "Distance learning really helps in meeting state standards. It's a powerful way for classroom teachers to bring in experts and involve students. One teacher connected to a science museum in Indianapolis for instruction on the planets. The presenter was able to have the planets appear right next to him on the screen. He talked about the characteristics of each planet to help students meet a science standard. That is a win-win for our teachers and students." "We also started doing classroom to classroom connections. Students did a book club, where they went through and talked about their favorite books with a classroom in a very rural area. The kids would introduce themselves, ask questions of each other, share reactions on the books. And it also led to discussions on the differences between our communities. We were enhancing the curriculum in a way that was exciting and also really powerful."

Continued Growth in Distance Learning

In addition to his role as Technology Director, Paul is also the Vice Chair of the Ohio Distance Learning Association. From that vantage point, he provides additional insights on trends in distant learning, "Since working with Zoom and DTEN, we were seeing significantly more growth than over the previous several years. And that was before COVID-19." He continues, "One thing we're really excited about in the State of Ohio is we're actually working on a clearinghouse project where we can have school districts across the State of Ohio list classes that they would like to make available for remote instruction." "And I'm already hearing people say, 'I need a DTEN, I need a D7.'"

Education Is More Than Just Classroom Learning Distance education has been embraced by many organizations globally over the last few years, but it took a pandemic to expose the fact that most schools were not prepared to teach their students remotely at scale. Today, many schools are looking to a "hybrid" or "blended" approach, with educators teaching a mix of students in the classroom and students at home. To be successful, teachers, students and administrators must have the right tools to ensure that these hybrid experiences are engaging and informative for all participants no matter where they are located.

Poly solutions work with mobile phones, computers, and more advanced camera systems to enable the success of distance learning initiatives for both students and educators. Poly solutions empower educators to deliver exceptional, high-impact learning experiences, and many Poly solutions can be managed remotely, even when connected to a home network.

The Right Experience Is Key To Distance Learning

In a classroom a teacher will stand and adjust their voice to make sure all of the students can see and hear them clearly. They will move around, use visual aids and look each student in the eye to make sure they are paying attention. The students will similarly raise their hands and ask questions. Some of key requirements include: ▶ Teachers need to be clearly seen and heard so students can understand the lesson. ▶ Students need to be clearly seen and heard as they engage in discussion and ask questions. ▶ Teachers need to be able to move freely around the virtual classroom (either on campus or at home) without being "stuck" behind a desk. ▶ Teachers also need to be able to move equipment from school to their home and have the same experience in both locations. ▶ IT staff needs to manage the equipment, whether it is being used inside or outside the school. 27 |

Administration

The role of school administrators has never been more important. There are so many moving parts—from campuses being open or closed, to students keeping up with lesson plans, to parents having a voice in the entire process. School leaders need the tools to support effective communications for board meetings, status updates, teacher evaluations, and preserving day-to-day business no matter where they are physically working. Poly audio and video solutions can keep pace with an administrator's hectic day-to-day responsibilities, and they ensure the highest quality voice, video, and content sharing.

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Elevate Your Zoom Education Experience with Poly X Series Educating and Learning in the "New Normal"

Rather than choosing between in-person or remote instruction, innovative educational organizations at every grade level are planning for a hybrid learning model that allows for maximum learning flexibility. Poly offers affordable, scalable video solutions for this new model that will allow your organization to build technologyenhanced classrooms that can serve both in-person attendees and remote attendees. Teachers are looking to have more freedom when teaching from their homes, being able to get up and point to something on a board or a makeshift chalkboard. However, when the teacher does get up, they go out of frame of the camera and their audio quickly degrades. Rather than using a PC or MAC to drive the video interactions, a dedicated video system may be a better solution. The Studio X family is an all-in-one video appliance that can connect to any video platform and has direct integration with leading service providers like Zoom. Incredible audio, video and content sharing await the instructor starting with an intuitive touch screen interface. Poly offers this cost-effective solution that provides the independence a teacher

Presenter Mode automatically and naturally follows the teacher around their space, from a sitting position to walking 29 |

needs to move around their home office classroom while still having great audio and video quality. One of the teacher-friendly features of the Poly Studio X is Presenter Mode camera tracking. When this mode is activated, the camera automatically and naturally follows the teacher around their home office, from a sitting position to walking about or anywhere in between.

Optimize your Zoom Experience with Poly Studio X Video Bar ▶ Poly Studio X for Zoom Rooms are easy to install, easy to manage, and easy to use. ▶ Speaker framing and speaker tracking naturally follows the teacher whether sitting or walking ▶ HD cameras provide clearer image quality, more vibrant and accurate colors, and better auto-adjustment than a standard laptop camera. ▶ Poly Acoustic Fence advanced noise cancellation technology reduces distracting background noise Countless organizations have relied on Zoom to boost employee collaboration, productivity, and innovation. Continue to get value from your Zoom investment through Poly Studio X Video Bars, optimized for Zoom and empowering educators everywhere.

EDUCATION SOLUTIONS Next-generation learning for the road ahead. Poly video, voice and content sharing solutions empower educators to deliver exceptional, high-impact learning experiences. Learn More

The Huddly IQ Is Like A Camera— Only Smarter Huddly is transforming education with their IQ camera. Huddly's "Genius Framing" removes the need to control the camera manually. With Genius Framing, Huddly IQ makes remote and hybrid learning feel natural by smoothly zooming in and framing perfectly in the center. Also, Huddly has a desktop app to change the camera's default settings to zoom in even closer if needed. Huddly IQ is the first of its kind— an AI-powered collaboration device that delivers a great video experience like no other with: ▶ 150° wide-angle field of view ▶ 1080p, 30 frames per second, 4k sensor ▶ Studio quality embedded microphone ▶ Small form factor, portable or fixed mounting options Huddly IQ is USB-powered and compatible with any video platform like Zoom. Huddly IQ is perfect for small rooms, medium-size

rooms, and open collaboration spaces with the ability to mount the camera on a tripod if needed.

IQ is designed to get even smarter over time Huddly cameras fit perfectly with flexible learning spaces, allowing teams to collaborate regardless of location, connecting with remote study groups to capture and share activities, or with off-site teachers and other subject matter experts outside the classroom.

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Huddly Canvas

Do your best work together.

With the right tools, teams don’t need to be in the same room to get things done. That’s why we made Canvas, an AI camera that makes it easy to use whiteboards in video meetings. Learn More

Classroom Sharing With Just One Click by Chase Bernhardt, CTS

future. We are prepping the future workforce to be tech-ready, because of the experiences they gained during a time that called for education innovation.

The new educational landscape has brought about many technology advancements at a rapid pace. Educators need efficient tools which will enhance communication between faculty and students, help deliver lessons easily and keep students on track all while enriching the learning environment. The new classroom empowers educators to enrich their lessons with various types of content—videos, streaming, guides, reports, charts, graphs, webinars, podcasts and games. Students are already absorbing this type of content at home, they can relate to it when applied to learning. With the advent of video communications, sharing ideas becomes more approachable—especially for students that are normally reluctant to speak up or raise their hand—through annotation, polling, etc. By using technology to collaborate, students draw experience in skill-sets that aren't available in a traditional classroom. These competencies can then give students an advantage when looking for work in the 33 |

ClickShare Conference is a solution that makes sharing and collaborating easier with the click of a button. It's a standalone tool that gives educators freedom from complicated installations or software. ClickShare Conference is simple and effective for in-class or remote content sharing and collaboration, which enables students to engage in the lesson with the instructor but also communicate with their peers. Whether the school has adopted a hybrid approach, or students are all on campus, the technology provides ways to interact in groups without hovering over each other's shoulders or crowding around a table. The versatility of ClickShare Conference solutions fit various room types and sizes from huddle spaces to large classrooms. The technology is useful regardless of the conferencing platform used. Educators may instantly connect to technology peripherals such as speakers, microphones, and cameras. The setup and installation is simple and clean, yet has high security standards and network integration capabilities.

We are prepping the future workforce to be tech-ready, because of the experiences they gained during a time that called for education innovation.

Great things happen when great companies come together. Learn More

ClickShare Enlivens Learning At School For At-Risk Kids—The Charter School of San Diego "Daring to make a difference" is the motto of The Charter School of San Diego (CSSD), whose goal is to place each student on a pathway to success. Utilizing a combination of live instruction, independent study and online learning, CSSD creates a personalized, high-quality education program that meets the unique needs of each student. One tool that's proven to be highly effective for both teachers and students is ClickShare, which enhances the learning experience with real-time visuals to reinforce lessons and encourage student participation.

"ClickShare not only enhances instruction and idea-sharing in the classroom, it furthers our mission of preparing students with technology skills for the real working world. -Tiffany Yandell, Operations Coordinator for The Charter School of San Diego with many several grade levels behind in basic math and language skills. It is critical that we find new ways to engage them with different tools than they were exposed to at their traditional schools," said Tiffany Yandell, Operations Coordinator for CSSD. In addition to maintaining a top-notch teaching staff, CSSD's curriculum is infused with appropriate technology-based activities and assignments that facilitate learning. With 22 workstations, including dozens of computers, iPads, and other devices, CSSD needed a way to bring all of the technologies together in a cohesive, collaborative way to facilitate instruction and communication.

Unlocking Human Potential

The Charter School of San Diego has been working to change the way students learn for more than 20 years, employing innovative teaching techniques and resources to meet the individualized needs of at-risk children. "Our students come from all walks of life, 35 |

Connecting Students, Teachers And Ideas

"ClickShare came to our attention when we were exploring options for screensharing solutions to create a more inclusive educational experience," Yandell said. "ClickSharehas brought a new dimension to our workshops, encouraging teachers

and students to engage in a lively dialog to enrich the lessons." Instructors can integrate PowerPoint with notes, annotate a picture, and pull in a web browser all at once to reinforce concepts. "ClickShare makes learning ‘live' and more interactive, so teachers can immediately address questions or students can help each other. Our students really love it, too. It allows them to share ideas and to collaborate in new ways, which helps a lot of our students embrace learning."

Robust, Yet Easy To Use

Because teachers move around the campus, quick set-up and transitions between classes are a must. "Teachers can simply grab a Button and connect their content…it makes teaching truly portable and compact! ClickShare offers different possibilities when compared to a lot of the electronic whiteboard technologies out there. It's also

so simple to integrate into our classrooms, with no training needed since they aren't learning a new platform and already know the applications."

"Kids love being able to see their work on the big screen! With ClickShare, they are instantly engaged and absorb so much more from the lessons. -Tiffany Yandell, Operations Coordinator for The Charter School of San Diego

Selecting the Right Projector for Your Auditorium or Classroom By Clay Stahlka, CTS-D

When we consider any video projection system the most important order of business is to determine the image brightness that is required in the space. In an auditorium, we are usually working in what we call a "controlled lighting" environment. This means that the ambient light in that space can be fully controlled. There are seldom windows that let in sunshine, and there are usually dimmable overhead and stage lights. This makes our job easy.

required, so bear with me. If your reading is in foot candles, multiply that number by 3.14 (pi) to get foot lamberts. Then, multiply that number by the area of the screen in feet. FL x screen area (sq feet) = lumens required. Let's say I measured 28 FC in the classroom. I multiply that by 3.14 to get roughly 88 FL. If they don't already have a screen, measure the distance from the farthest student to the screen location and multiply that distance by 0.166. This gives you the required height of your screen. Let's say the distance from the screen location to the farthest student is 30-feet. 30 x 0.166 = 5 feet. If I am specifying a 16:9 screen, that means I need about a 120" diagonal screen. A 16:10 format screen in that room needs to be about 115" diagonal. There are plenty of online calculators to use for screen size calculations.

In classrooms, the ambient lighting is almost never controlled. There are almost always plenty of exterior windows to let the sunshine in, and there are bright overhead lights that cannot be dimmed, although they can sometimes be partially turned off in banks. This makes our job much more difficult. The key to getting this right is to take an actual measurement of the ambient light in a room. You do not need a professional light meter to do this anymore. Today, we can use our smart phone and an app to get a reasonable reading. You'll want to get a reading in foot candles (FC) or better yet, foot lamberts (FL). I use an app called "Light Meter". Once we have that reading, we can easily determine what the proper projector brightness needs to be. There is a little math 37 |

Next, we'll calculate the area of this screen by multiplying the height by the width in feet. Our 16:9 screen in the example would be roughly 5-feet by 9-feet. 5 x 9 = 45 square feet. Go back to the formula FL x screen area (sq feet) = lumens required. In our case, we found the room was 88 FL which we'll multiply by the area of 45 sq ft. 88 x 45 = 3960 lumens. Now you know that for best viewing in this classroom, you'll need a 4000 lumens projector. In the auditorium, or any theater-type environment with controlled lighting you typically plan on using 17 FL as your ideal lighting conditions. However, it's always a good idea to take a measurement in the normally operating conditions to be sure.

Visual Learning At Its Best

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A critical breakthrough in education technology, Vivitek's interactive projectors enable educators to easily interact with students, using pen or finger-touch interactive capabilities, to enhance their learning and retention. Learn More

Vivitek Projectors—The Versatile Teaching Partner Enhance the learning experience with a Vivitek projector and effectively share information on the big screen. In addition to projectors, Vivitek has developed presentation and collaborative solutions, allowing teachers and students to interact for a better learning experience.

presentation. The Ultra-Short Throw series of projectors is capable of projecting a large image from an ultra-short distance, meaning you are free to stand in front of the projector without blocking the image, casting a shadow on the screen, or having light shine directly into your eyes.

Display a Large Image in Limited Space Vivitek's Ultra-Short Throw projectors can display a large 100" (2 meters) wide diagonal image from an extremely short distance of 16" (42cm) from the screen.

Flexible Mounting The Ultra-Short Throw projectors are a perfect fit for classrooms. These projectors can be wall-mounted directly above the projection surface or placed on a desktop, almost up against the wall. Simply choose the display method that works best for the environment.

Comfort for Presenters You don't have to worry about finding a suitable place for yourself during your

Ultra-short throw

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Short throw

Stand anywhere

Wallmounted

Ceilingmounted

Desktop placement

HuddleCamHD SimplTrack 2 Simplifies your lecture capture or class recording.With a PTZ 20x zoom and improved performance, the SimplTrack 2 is the industry’s most advanced and reliable auto-tracking camera on the market.

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The State of Remote Learning By Paul Richards, Marketing Director at PTZ Optics Secondary schools, colleges, and universities are doing their best to adapt to remote learning. Educational professionals are following the stay-at-home orders mandated by governments throughout the world for the safety of students and educators. While some have executed this mission more fluidly than others, now is the time for all schools to assess their technology needs and plan for the future. The State of Remote Learning With remote learning likely here to stay in some form, adapting learning environments today will be critical to education. School administrators have been tasked with satisfying students and instructors with a better experience in the Fall semester of 2020. Online offerings should continue to enable equity of experience, regardless of a student’s location. Rounding out that experience is the on-demand aspect that is at the forefront of today’s learning environments. Everyone knows that Covid19 completely shifted in-person education to fully remote. This had massive, worldwide implications for Higher Education and K-12. The changes have new implications for both students and teachers. Challenge: Being ready for remote learning, access to technology, planning Advantage: On-demand access without fear of exposure to people during a pandemic What’s Working With Online Learning? Hybrid learning is giving students more opportunities to learn in many ways says Christine Hagedorn a professor at Rosemont College in Pennsylvania. Hagedorn says that she can tell her students are engaged with the online lectures, activities, and assignments by watching the amount of time they are spending interacting with the online learning content. Yet, with so much change going on in Higher Education Hagedorn 41 |

noticed that every teacher was handling their online learning time with students differently. In fact, The Chronicle of Higher Education study finds that 70% of school administrators are investing in education for teachers specifically about online education. Another teacher, Drake Finney from Lake Havasu High School who shared his insights

during the “State of Remote Education 2020” live panel, said students are learning. There was a moment Drake shared with us about a mother who asked her son to stop watching his phone at the dinner table only to find that he was watching an online course. Drake has been using a green screen and virtual background setup for his Zoom calls with his high school students. Drake says the background is more than just fun to look at, it keeps the students engaged. Drake is also using the Google Classroom online setup to organize his courses. Drake says the online learning system from Google keeps everything organized for students. New Study on the State of Remote Education The Chronicle of Higher Education surveyed instructors on some of the challenges they faced shifting to a remote model. The statistics below help to illustrate some of the changes happening in higher education. ▶ More than 60% of instructors said students’

lack of access to technology or wifi was a challenge to their remote teaching ▶ Roughly 37% of instructors said they were challenged with technical obstacles, including being unfamiliar with learning platforms ▶ More than 50% of instructors said they were challenged juggling work and personal needs An Example Look at Fall 2020 As an example, you can check out West Chester Universities latest announcement about the Fall 2020 return to class announcement. West Chester University is a state school in Pennsylvania. West Chester University has announced that it will resume classes in the fall starting early and transition to remote learning. ▶ All students and employees must wear face masks. ▶ On-campus fall classes will feature both inperson and remote components. ▶ Transition to remote learning beginning Monday, November 30th ▶ Planning on transitioning all faculty office hours and student advising to remote interaction (i.e. Zoom meetings). ▶ All non-instructional meetings among faculty, staff, and students will be conducted remotely (i.e. Zoom meetings). Conclusion In the presentation and live video recording available on this page, we look at the current state of remote education, including survey results from a recent Chronicle of Higher Education study. We’ll discuss some of these trending topics and what schools will need to

consider for the fall. Of the most important, enabling lectures to be both recorded and live-streamed will be key for students’ accessibility on their own time frame. Robotic tracking cameras such as HuddleCamHD’s SimplTrack2 will allow instructors to focus on curriculum, while camera operation can be automatic. Similarly, PTZOptics cameras can allow lectures to be recorded and live-streamed with just one operator controlling the cameras via IR remote or joystick. With both camera brands being ready for network connectivity, schools’ IT departments will find the workflow efficient and practical. Just a few schools we’re working with include the College of Education & Communications at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Case Western Reserve University. IUP is using the HuddleCamHD SimplTrack2 as part of an advanced lecture capture audiovisual system. The University is using Zoom Video Conferencing software to connect their classrooms to the world allowing professors the ability to bring in remote guests and classroom participants.

Why Schools Need Digital Signage for Emergency Planning Effective Digital Signage

Digital signage is an effective way to communicate with staff, students, and visitors. It can be more effective than static signage in ordinary times, bridging the communication gap and keeping everyone in the know. But in emergencies its ability to rapidly transmit information in real-time to a specific audience and shown on selected screens means it can help implement your fire drill or disaster plan, improve compliance and help save lives.

whole school population, though, we can generalize about the types of situations where schools need emergency notifications. Fires and floods: disaster management Sometimes, unpredictable or short-notice changes mean everyone in the school needs to know what's happening, and what to do, immediately. This can happen in the event of a fire or flood; it can be when a storm or hurricane changes course. It doesn't have to be a scenario where every second counts and only minutes of warning time are available — when parents have to reschedule pick up for their kids and emergency services have to be deployed, a day's notice doesn't feel like much. Intruders Dangerous intruders rarely enter school grounds and when they do, the issue can often be dealt with behind the scenes, without involving the school body as a whole. But sometimes the whole school needs to get involved in safety drills.

Why Schools Need Emergency Notifications

Schools have a duty of care to their students and a similar duty to their employees. A school might contain a thousand teenagers or 200 elementary schoolers, all with sharply differing needs. A sign that makes instant sense to a seventeen-year-old might not even register to a seven-year-old. And it's also important to take into account the school's faculty and non-teaching staff. Regardless of strong differences in comprehension and attention across the 43 |

COVID-19 Reopening Whether your school is already in the process of reopening or you have no clear reopening date in sight yet, eventually there will be a return to in-person classroom education. However, managing reopening will require much more communication from school authorities. If it occurs before there is a treatment or a vaccine for COVID-19 then protective measures will still need to be enforced. Bad weather: Snow day drills and heatwaves Canceling school, arranging transportation for everyone who's already there, and managing students, staff, and visitors amid worsening weather and shortening tempers is an ideal use case for digital signage, with its proven ability to communicate quickly and clearly.

Illness and injury When key staff aren't able to perform their roles due to illness, injury, or for some other unforeseen reason, the students they're supposed to be leading need to know about the change of plan quickly. A specific contingent of the student body needs clear information immediately, and digital signage is ideally placed to provide this targeted communication.

Shelter in Place Shelter in place means remain where you are, stay safe, and wait for further instructions. It usually also interrupts schedules that rely on moving from place to place, like students switching classrooms. It's what we do when the main threat is something like smoke from a nearby fire or certain types of floods or storms. It may also be familiar to some from active shooter drills.

How Are Emergencies Dealt With?

How does digital signage help? Digital signage lets you quickly communicate with multiple groups of people, including staff and students who need to stay where they are and others who now need to be rerouted or redirected to take account of stillfull classrooms or off-limits corridors.

Whatever the nature of the emergency, the range of responses is often similar. It includes: Evacuation All students and staff move from the school building to a pre-designated safe location until the cause has been dealt with and they can return. This is what schools practice doing during fire drills. How does digital signage help? However many times you practice evacuation drills, getting a complex mix of groups like a school population to go where they're meant to is tough. Under stress, people get lost or panicked; a clear line of escape marked by signed instructions can help, as can reiteration of general evacuation procedures and instructions. Relocation Evacuate, but don't then return to the school buildings. Instead, go to another predetermined safe location. This might mean students go home early or to another school-owned site. How does digital signage help? Directing students to specific locations once they leave school grounds might be best done while they're still inside the school. Where it's not, students' mobile devices can be used to direct them; ideally, an overarching communications system that both manages digital signs and communicates with mobile devices will be used for this.

Lockdown/Lockout Lockdown means everyone stays in the room they're in, doors and windows are closed and locked if possible, and everyone stays away from the doors and windows. It's used when there are certain types of threats inside the building, usually when law enforcement is on the way. Lockout means access to the building is restricted, though there may be movement inside the building. How does digital signage help? Digital signage lets you communicate the status of an evolving situation to lockeddown or locked-in students and staff in realtime, offering reassurance, and increasing compliance with simple protocols that help save lives.

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All these benefits are available through CAP programs, but they're also available through well-designed digital signage solutions. The major advantage of a solid digital signage system for emergency alerts is that you can build emergency alerts ahead of time, target them by location around the school building, and then deploy them instantly from the dashboard.

Creating Emergency Digital Signage

Using Digital Signage For Emergency Alerts

Digital signage has been proven to be more effective than static signage — the statistics are drawn from business rather than education, but the trend toward increased attention, recall, and behavior change is significant and solid.

Building your own emergency digital signage isn't that difficult. It's largely a matter of planning so that your emergency notifications are ready when there's an emergency. The last thing you want is to be in a position where you're rushing to create notifications while the clock ticks. Plan out which types of events are most likely

For emergencies, a fundamental attribute of digital signage is even more relevant: you can change the information displayed, quickly and from a single dashboard.

CAP Alerts

FEMA uses a system called Common Alerting Protocols, or CAP alerts, letting the same emergency broadcast be made to digital signs across multiple affected locations simultaneously, and says there are several benefits to CAP alerts, including: ▶ Add multimedia such as maps and photographs, or streaming video and audio ▶ Geographically target emergency alerts to specific, predefined areas ▶ Serve the needs of people who are hard of hearing, have reduced vision or mobility, or who have different cognitive requirements ▶ Send alerts in multiple languages, especially useful for schools whose student body is bilingual or contains a high proportion of students for whom English is not their first language.

to happen in your area. If you're in Kansas, you probably want tornado warnings. If you're in Boston you can probably skip those and concentrate on snow. Once you've identified likely troubles, you now need to figure out who needs to know what. First-graders don't need to know details of driving conditions, they need to know that there's going to be a shorter school day or a longer wait at the end of it. Teachers need both. Parents already know the roads are mired in slush, but they need information on what the school is doing so they can plan. Prepare adequate signage for each group, letting them know what they need to know. At each point, this process is much easier if you've chosen a digital signage system that

gives you things like templates for events, network management, integration with emergency notification systems, as well as easy setup, media, and display options. Templates speak for themselves. If you don't want to add a Graphic Designer to the list of things you need to be an expert in to work in education, you need adaptable, easy-to-use templates that let you get the message out. Network management means you can run the whole system from one place. If you want to show one set of signs in one part of the building and another in another area, you can manage that straight from your laptop. You don't want to be walking around the school doing this by hand. Systems that offer this are often hardly more expensive, but it will save you hours of wasted time. Integration with other alert systems lets you communicate with students and staff by onsite digital signage and with parents offsite 47 |

You can manage the system straight from your laptop by email, weblinks, or SMS, making sure you can get information to everyone who needs to know.

Conclusion

Digital signage answers the need for a versatile, effective way to communicate vital information quickly to specific audiences during an emergency. It can be connected with emergency notification systems so people on and off campus can be alerted simultaneously. And it has the potential to improve compliance with emergency protocols and help keep order, reassure students, staff, parents, and visitors, and help keep everyone safe.

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