Castle Vale School in Birmingham has around 900 pupils in Years 7 to 11. Specialising in Performing Arts (Drama, Dance, Theatre, Music) it also has additional specialist areas for Construction & Building and Hair & Beauty.
The school has many contacts with local businesses and firms who frequently provide work experience opportunities.
ICT is a major tool in the school for teaching, learning and administration and is strongly supported by the Head Teacher.
The School wanted a system to replace their existing, inflexible system, with something that would allow a mixture of text, photos, video and TV to be sent to any screen remotely. The need to easily change what the screens were showing was equally important. The ability to display multiple scrolling texts and RSS Feeds was also required and this needed to be accessible from several office computers as well as the Head's computer.
The requirements were made clear - everybody was already busy and they didn't want a system which would take up a lot of time once it had been set up. The school produces lots of video for teaching and learning, as well as outside trips & visits, and DVDs of their productions have been available for several years. It seemed that a computer based digital signage system would be an ideal way of showing visitors and pupils what they do; additionally it would allow viewers to be kept informed of daily events via text messages. They envisaged one technical member of staff undertaking the initial design and organisation of video & images and one member of the office staff to keep daily messages updated.
About the suggested solution:
DISE software is Scalable yet flexible with built in content design tools. Existing content such as Adobe PDF and Power Point Documents can be incorporated. This allows users to get their screen networks running quickly and easily. The software is centrally managed and has an easy to use feature rich interface.
The Network Manager had evaluated 8 Digital Signage applications, each of which had there own shortfalls and problems, before trialling DISE on a free 30 day basis. It became evident during the trial period that DISE was able to satisfy all the school’s requirements. DISE can have multiple media on any screen; multiple scrolling texts and any design can be sent to any remote screen. Remote screens can be updated at any time and this is a quick and easy process - even a quick re-design for a special purpose is easily achieved. The system is very stable and it is easy to expand in the future.
Installation / Rollout:
One composer module was installed on a computer in the IT Support Office and 3 remote screens, each with their own PC, were installed around the school - one in reception, one in the dining areas (with the signal split to two separate LCD screens) and one in the Staffroom. The staffroom screen displays curriculum, staffing information and briefing notes. The installation was carried out with advice and support during the process
“DISE has met our expectations in all areas. It is not only very flexible, but it’s ability to control remote screens from one location has saved a tremendous amount of work. Screens can be updated very quickly as we recently did when some Finnish visitors arrived at short notice.”
After the initial learning phase, DISE has proved easy to use by all those involved and the end result is exactly what we wanted. Many visitors waiting in Reception have commented on what a good showcase it is for the work done by the school, and gives them a greater insight into what we achieve. Digital Media Systems have been supportive at all stages, including during our trial phase before we even committed ourselves to buying it. They have been extremely helpful with their advice when I got stuck and any problems I had were quickly resolved.”
Steve Lockton, Network Manager, Castle Vale School, Birmingham.
Keywords: DISE, DS, Digital Signage, Composer, Replay
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