How can school digital signage help administrators ensure the safety of teachers and students as they return following COVID-19 lockdowns? Schools have already shown unparalleled flexibility and creativity in helping to make the return to school possible. However, they still face daily challenges. With changing protocols and policies, one of the most important tasks has become the communication between administration, teachers, students, and parents. Fortunately, K-12 digital signage can be the perfect tool to facilitate communication, provide up-to-date information, and help with the safe movement of people through the hallways and across the campus.

K-12 Digital Signage for Communications

With the rapidly changing nature of the response to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, school administrators are using every tool at their disposal to keep students, teachers, and parents up to date with the latest policies and announcements. This is made even more challenging because some of the standard methods of sharing information like assemblies, parent meetings, and one-on-one sessions are not currently feasible.

K-12 institutions can use digital signage to improve communication

With OptiSigns, you can use your existing digital displays or easily connect new ones to keep the information in front of students and teachers in the hallways and even in the classroom. In addition, you can serve up the same content to every screen or program them independently to ensure the right information is in front of the right people.

School Digital Signage to Share Informational Resources with Students

Even before the pandemic, it could be challenging to keep students up to date with the latest informational resources they need to succeed. Even with morning announcements, emails, class portals, and text reminders, it can be difficult to ensure that students get all the necessary information. This is where the flexibility of K-12 digital signage makes it an essential communication tool. Especially in high schools, students walk the halls with a phone in their pocket, if not their hand. With OptiSigns, you can easily add QR codes to your announcements so students can connect to those resources just by scanning the screen with their smartphone.

Digital Signage for COVID-19 Safety Reminders

Trying to get a building full of students to remember basic COVID-19 safety measures can seem impossible. This far into the pandemic, it can be difficult for teachers and other staff as well. As the day goes on, masks slip down, the social distance shrinks, and students may forget to take that extra chance to wash their hands or use hand sanitizer. Using the built-in easy-to-use slide designer, you can create reminders that can be displayed on any or all of your screens. OptiSigns also has a selection of pre-made slides with COVID safety information. Just choose a template, customize it any way you want, and add it to the selected screens.

Display Local News Updates with K-12 Digital Signage

Many older students stay connected to the outside world through their smartphones. However, during this unprecedented time, there is value in helping them keep their heads up and focused on information shaping the world around them. Displaying local news headlines on digital displays is a great way to do this. Even if you don't want to dedicate entire screens to the latest news, with OptiSigns split-screen templates, you can share from as many as five sources on one screen simultaneously. Sharing from multiple sources has the added benefit of keeping the screens in motion with dynamic content. Quickly refreshing screens are more likely to catch the eyes of students and teachers as they walk by.

Interactive and Clear Way-Finding with School Digital Signage

One of the mitigation measures many schools have implemented to reduce the chances of spreading the virus is changing traffic patterns within the halls. Many schools have created one-way routes to minimize crowding and created alternative paths around crowded or sensitive areas. In addition, some take particular care with visitors to ensure they get where they need to be with the least possible amount of student contact.

Signage placed on the floor can help, but it can be overlooked, especially when the hallways become crowded.  Floor signs also cannot be quickly changed. That becomes a problem when these traffic patterns need to change throughout the day. For instance, traffic in a hall may be in one direction in the morning and the opposite in the afternoon. Digital signage can address all these issues. Mounted displays are easier to see than floor signs. Slides and graphics can be designed to bring attention to the way-finding information.

They can also be easily changed throughout the day, with each display showing the appropriate information for that precise area. Even better, with OptiSigns, all of this can be pre-programmed ahead of time. Thus, there is no need for a faculty member to remember to make changes throughout the day.

Digital Signage for Motivation

Don't forget that students may need a little extra motivation to keep moving forward through this strange and trying time. Teachers and school administrators often have collections of the best motivational quotes for students. With OptiSigns, you can use the built-in motivational quotes app to add new selections to your signage playlist in minutes. Whether you make them part of a split-screen display, show them as part of the rotation or keep them up on screens that aren't otherwise in use, you can keep these sources of motivation in front of the students throughout the day.

Make School Digital Signage Easy with OptiSigns

You will be amazed at how easy OptiSigns makes it to get the most of your existing digital displays. If you are looking to add signage, see how fast you can get signs up and running. OptiSigns can recommend hardware that will make setup a breeze, even for non-technical people. Take advantage of OptiSigns' free, fully functional trial. There is no obligation, and you can see how easy it can be to create slide content, schedule multiple screens, and keep your students, parents, and staff safe and up to date.

If you want to start deploying your digital signage solution in your K-12 institution, you can begin by signing up for a free trial here.