The Simply Smarter Blog

During a campus emergency, time is of the essence. Communication during a crisis needs to be fast and accurate so that people can react quickly and appropriately. While the advent of text message alerts has increased the ability to reach individuals directly, texts and traditional audio announcements don’t allow for any visual components in mass communications. Unlike text messages and emails – which can take several minutes to show up on a device, and require someone to be checking their phone regularly and/or have the sound turned on – emergency alerts on digital signage appear within seconds. Additionally, our brains process graphics faster than text, and motion catches the eye, so bright messages with moving HD graphics reach more people faster.  In this article, we explore how digital signage’s versatility can service a wide variety of needs on campus, including using it as a central element in emergency communications.

Picture this. You’re a high school administrator trying to figure out how to best help your students in the stretch run of April and May, gearing up for exams, projects and (gulp) final grades. You assume that they each have reliable personal laptops to get all their work done, in between gaming or binge watching their favorite streaming shows, of course. Or so you thought. What if it turns out their laptops aren’t as new or functional as you all believed them to be? You do NOT want to put your students in a position where they need to wait in line for a library computer to study for their chemistry final.

Whether it’s due to an outdated machine, or accidentally losing or breaking it, unexpected laptop mishaps happen. But educators need not despair. Here are a few tips to help you figure out exactly what kind of new laptop your students will need to wrap up the school year with flying colors and cruise into summer.

If we had to select positive outcome from the disruption that schools and students had to face from the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s that there has been a renaissance in classroom technology upgrades. And they’re here to stay! See how these schools were able to implement customized technology to remain flexible, and more importantly, open for our children.

It’s back to school time!  Gone are the days of backpacks being weighed down with multiple, heavy textbooks and folders stuffed with numerous worksheets handed out to students.  Today, since most schoolwork is done online, one of the most important school supplies is a laptop. And, when it’s time for college, the knowledge gained on a laptop that runs on the Windows operating system will be beneficial.  Most professors will use and also require students to use Microsoft Office programs which can only be found on Windows operating systems.  Students may need specialized software, such as Adobe Photoshop, which isn’t available on Chrome-based operating systems.  So why not get high school students prepared early? In this article, we will explore some of the top priorities when considering purchasing a laptop for high school students. 

Today’s government marketplace has changed.  Budgets are constrained and staffing is reduced.  To fill this void, government, education, and nonprofit organizations are turning to cooperative purchasing to obtain the goods and services they need without the hassle and aggravation of sending projects out for bid. 

Whether you’re headed into a job interview, presentation, or a special occasion, it’s important to “look the part.” The same applies to dressing up your learning environment technology. In schools, having a modern space, tools and resources allows students to be informed, stay motivated and communicate with ease. The COVID-19 pandemic has launched educators and students into completely new ways of learning where they rely on technology more than ever. While we know the impact that interactive displays have on the classroom, adding digital signage to school common areas can make a major visual impact while providing a simplified way to communicate to large audiences at once.  

Traditionally associated with retail spaces, fast food and fast casual restaurants, digital signage is seeing increased demand from K-12 to colleges and universities. There are countless locations within a school – some you may not have thought of – where digital signage can make a difference.