We had the opportunity to sit down with Nik Lasso, the IT Director of Vernon Township School District. Nik shared valuable insights into how his school district has effectively utilized the combined power of Rise Vision and Airtame to enhance communication and engagement within the school community. This case study delves into their journey of adopting these solutions and the ways they've leveraged them.
Vernon Township School District, located in New Jersey, sought to enhance their communication and engagement efforts, recognizing the need for a robust digital signage solution. The journey began with their previous use of Chromeboxes for digital signage. However, they soon discovered Airtame, a powerful wireless streaming solution, and Rise Vision, an easy-to-use digital signage platform, through referrals and conferences.
Student recognition is just one of the many benefits of using digital signage in schools!
Leveraging Rise Vision and Airtame to Address Communication Challenges
Vernon Township School District's (VTSD) unique use case lies in the diverse array of displays they manage. The school district, boasting a mix of BenQ interactive flat panels and traditional Smart boards across their schools, effectively utilizes Rise Vision in conjunction with Airtame in various common spaces.
The intuitive management platform of Airtame and the seamless integration with Rise Vision made this combination a natural choice. Nik Lasso highlighted how this combination simplified deployment and content management for their diverse needs, from classrooms to common areas.
Their use stretches beyond classrooms to encompass hallways, counseling offices, and more. What sets the VTSD apart is their commitment to empowering each school to manage and customize the content independently. This decentralized approach increases user engagement and ensures the content is relevant to each specific school ecosystem.
Informative Digital Signage Throughout the District
Across various locations, VTSD employs Rise Vision-powered digital signage to share information, ranging from student achievements to lunch menus. Digital signage keeps the community informed and engaged, establishing an environment of transparency and communication.
The case of VTSD demonstrates how the synergy between Rise Vision and Airtame can revolutionize communication within schools. By leveraging this powerful combination, schools can achieve:
- Increased Communication: Tailoring content to specific school areas, events, and achievements keeps students engaged and informed, enhancing their overall school experience. At the high school level, they utilize Rise Vision to display rotating schedules, crucial for students to identify their daily rotations between classes. This has significantly improved student navigation and awareness within the school.
Vernon Township uses digital signage to display the daily schedule so all students know where they're supposed to be and when.
- Easy Customization of Digital Signage: Rise Vision's user-friendly interface allows schools to customize content effortlessly, making it accessible to staff members beyond the IT department.
“So the Rise Vision piece has been great and very intuitive for secretaries and some of our other staff to be able to manage, update, add photos where they need to. And the templates are fantastic. It just makes it really easy for us to train other people.”
- Elevated Student Engagement: Wireless screen sharing helps keep students engaged during teaching and elevate their learning experience. Plus, screen sharing gets the teachers away from the front of the classroom, creating a more dynamic learning environment.
Having dynamic and informative digital signage is the new norm at VTSD. Whether it’s sharing the rotating schedule in the high school, promoting community events and sports, or sharing student birthdays, Nik said that “it’s to a point in our community [digital signage is] almost expected.”
Students know which displays will have the information they need, and seek them out when they need answers.
Rise Vision and Airtame are like Peanut Butter & Chocolate: A Perfect Combination
The Good News Network template makes it easy to sprinkle positivity into rotating displays.
Nik Lasso’s predecessor, Matt Shea, said it best, “When Rise Vision and Airtame announced a partnership, it was like peanut butter and chocolate - of course they should partner!” And for good reason. Nik echoed this sentiment and remarked that the combination of Rise Vision and Airtame just makes sense for their school district and makes his job in IT smooth.
“In Vernon Township School District, we were already happily using Rise Vision for our hallway announcements/news and we were using Airtame in many of our conference rooms and classrooms for casting. When Rise Vision and Airtame announced a partnership, it was like peanut butter and chocolate - of course they should partner! We have had a great experience using Airtame on our displays with Rise Vision still showing our announcements when the display is not in use. We are pleased with both products and plan to add more displays in the future.”
- Matt Shea, M.Ed., Chief Technology Officer, Vernon Township School District
Simplifying Management and Delegation of Responsibility
One of the outstanding features of the Rise Vision and Airtame solution for VTSD was the overall ease of system management. Nik revealed, "The IT department spends very limited time in the Rise Vision and Airtame dashboards since the systems have very limited issues."
- Effortless Deployment: The seamless integration of Airtame with Rise Vision facilitates easy deployment, enabling schools to swiftly set up and manage the entire system with minimal technical involvement.
- Delegation of Responsibility: The ease of use and intuitive interface of both Rise Vision and Airtame empowered the IT department to delegate content management responsibility to individual schools. This streamlined the content update process, allowing schools to tailor information according to their specific needs without overburdening the IT department.
- Minimal Time Commitment: Due to the stability and reliability of the systems, the IT department at VTSD spends minimal time managing the Rise Vision and Airtame dashboards.
For these reasons, deploying Rise Vision with Airtame has helped eliminate the burden on the IT department so they can focus on their critical to-do list items instead of managing digital signage.
Rise Vision vs. Ben Q: A Strategic Choice for Digital Signage
One notable aspect of VTSD's implementation is the deliberate choice to use Rise Vision for digital signage, even though their BenQ displays have a built-in digital signage component.
Nik Lasso provided insights into this strategic decision stating that while Ben Q offers a digital signage component, Rise Vision stood out for its superior features and templates. He summarized it simply, “But [BenQ’s platform] doesn't work as clean as Rise Vision.”
Rise Vision and Airtame Make School Communication Easy
In summary, Vernon Township School District's successful implementation of Rise Vision and Airtame showcases the potential of these technologies to create a positive school culture by promoting effective communication and engagement.
By embracing this innovative duo, schools can foster a sense of community and enhance the overall educational experience for students and staff alike.
