Opened in 2004, Alfriston College in South Auckland was purpose built to provide not just an inspiring learning environment but a practical one, as well. A key part of its overall success has been the introduction of digital signage.

 With more than 1,500 students segmented across five whanau groups, the challenge for Alfriston College is to distribute central messaging and news to all of them in an engaging and interesting manner.

Traditionally, teaching staff were asked to share news and information during form periods in the classroom, however, this did not allow for mass congratulations and celebration of particularly pertinent achievements or successes.

“To create an environment of success you have to create the desire for achievement within your students,” said Deputy Principal Doug Black. “Promoting their accomplishments in a public manner will heighten their sense of pride and drive others to try to emulate that achievement.

“We felt we needed a more public, open and eye-catching medium by which to celebrate our attainments as an entire school family; digital signage seemed an obvious way to go.”

Relevant and specific messages
The College engaged Digital Signage Solutions and decided to implement the server-based Tripleplay digital signage solution, TripleSign. Initially, the plan was for screens to be placed in communal areas, with displays specifically assigned for each wha-nau in the school, ensuring that messaging was both relevant and specific to the audience who would see it most.

Black says TripleSign was chosen for a variety of factors, with the ability to scale the solution a key one. In addition, having a flexible and comprehensive management system was of paramount importance.

“Schools invest in all manner of technologies, some of them prove valuable and some struggle to be integrated into the culture,” he said. “We knew that to get digital signage working it had to be simple to manage, update and maintain. We also needed to have our investment future proofed; Tripleplay offered this.

“We can give access to administration and teaching staff, providing varying degrees of editorial and creative rights to those users, aggregating not only control but responsibility. For example, we can allow a receptionist to access and update a single text box, or a head of year to create layouts and upload a video. We control every aspect of the solution.”

A simple solution
Simplicity also played its part in the school choosing the solution.

“It just worked. Within two hours of setting up the system I was fully confident in my own ability to operate it, and knew that it would be easy to keep up to date.

“Doing the basics was simple, so we could get up and running very quickly. We also know it will be simple to expand the solution, both in terms of screen numbers and additional features as and when we need them.”

Since its implementation, the solution has been utilised to promote events and achievements across the school campus. This included promoting the success of its students at the Rock Quest music competition, where they were voted the top three acts competing.

“It also provided a great way to share photographs of the school prom with the entire faculty, ensuring the technology is inclusive of all students and has become engrained in the everyday culture of life on campus.”

Alfriston College aims to extend the solution further into the gym, staff rooms and other prominent locations, and found that Tripleplay’s server-based system and licensing model offered this functionality very simply.

“We have a great relationship with Digital Signage Solutions,” added Black. “The implementation has been fantastic, matching the look and feel of our very unique and stimulating learning environment.”

Digital Signage Solutions operates nationwide. It provides a range of innovative digital displays to schools, including TripleSign Digital Signage and TripleCMS Content Management. For more information call 027 493 3223 or go towww.digitalss.co.nz

© INTERFACE Magazine, March 2014