Guest Blogger - Maura Rhodes

Digital Bulletin Board 

Maura Rhodes, Teacher Librarian | Fairview High School

Inspiration

How many of you notice digital signage everywhere we go? Many public spaces have them including our public libraries and many of our newly renovated spaces do as well. I wanted to incorporate this into the high school library as a way to publicize events that were happening and also de-clutter the walls from all the flyers. I receive constant requests to have flyers placed all around the space on the walls, windows, etc. I try to keep the signs and flyers to one large bulletin board at the entrance to the library but it can get crowded and it has to be maintained. As a solution, I wanted to a have a digital bulletin board--I envisioned a large TV/monitor, centrally located, placed at the right height so it could be easily seen, and would allow me to update content on the fly. 

Research

I spoke with several people about system set-ups through email and phone calls, did research about the best set-up for digital signage to learn which solution would be the least expensive and the most easily managed. I wanted to be able to update announcements and not have to actually go and plug something into the TV each day or do anything too complicated. After investigating many options and prices I decided on the following solution.

Funding

In September, I wrote a grant for our Parent Organization to fund this project. I originally asked for $1200 dollars and got $800 dollars. I created a full scale mock up of the the TV display with black banner paper and placed it on the wall of where the display would be located. I wrote on the paper in chalk what was going to be there and asked students comments and feedback. Many of them had positive things to say and approved of the idea. Next step, contact the IT department to come and take a look at where I wanted to put the display and to make sure it would be feasible. This required an IT work request ticket. 

Materials:

• Chrome Sign Builder app (free), 
• Electrical outlet 
• Chromebox (about $200) or Chromebit (about $60) BVSD device
• Ethernet jack if you want it wired or can be wireless
• TV/ monitor compatible with device

Implementation

I had the district electrician put in an outlet, IT department ran the CAT 5 cable and plug, and the maintenance department hung the actually TV. Each department charged a fee for their service. If you already have the outlet, then there would be no fee, but the maintenance department should hang the TV, just because of liability issues. I choose to get a 40” TV/monitor (which is really sized 39”) for $329 because of where I was placing it and also at my principal’s request. The smallest TV/monitor the IT department sells is a true 43” Sony model (at $706). The Chromebox needs to be a district device so they can be enrolled by into the Google Administration console. I happened to have an extra Chromebox so it was simple to give IT the info they needed to get the device enrolled. 

Voila, Digital Bulletin Board

I created a Google slide deck/presentation, published it the Web, this creates a URL that opens the slide deck in presentation format.This URL was shared with IT who then added it to the Chrome Sign Builder schedule which is a calendar that allows you to schedule when information will display. When I make changes to the slide deck it automatically updates the presentation on TV display. I also set the transitions to SLOW so, when the screen moves from one slide to the other it does it at a slow pace. I wanted to show flyers, book promotions, OverDrive info, seasonal info, images, etc., throughout the day on our digital bulletin board. I delete things as events pass and keep a few that are persistent. For example, “Keep the Castle Clean” is a general reminder about taking care of the library space. I have about 55 slides showing now on the screen and it just continuously loops all day. All I do is turn the TV on and off each day to get the slideshow going. Students really stop and look at it too! They love seeing pictures of themselves.