9 Fun Ways to Celebrate Student Achievements with Digital Signage
When people think of the applications of digital signage in education, they likely imagine cutting-edge digital screens for the classroom. While this is a common use case for digital signage in education, there are more creative uses for digital displays that support the educational environment in an entirely different way–celebrating student achievements.
Celebrate Student Achievements
Recognizing and acknowledging the hard work of students is an important part of their development. After all, the role of educators isn’t to only teach–it’s to support their students and encourage their growth by providing encouragement and positive feedback for their progress and accomplishments.
Digital signage in education can be used to support these student-centric goals in numerous ways:
- Showcase academic or extracurricular achievements
- Highlight community service distinctions
- Support scholastic fundraising efforts
- Increase awareness of academic events, groups, and performances
No matter how old we get, we appreciate the recognition of our hard work. As such, digital signage in education can be leveraged to support the success of the student body much in the same way it can improve student safety and communication.
But given how developmentally different these students can be, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for supporting them with digital signage in education. Outreach strategies will take various forms depending on the student’s’ age, interests, and unique activities available at each school.
Signage Applications for K-6
Digital signage in K-6—kindergarten through sixth grade—is an excellent way to display achievements and generate excitement about events.
Children are now growing up with a familiarity with digital technology, such as tablets or smartphones, and they are increasingly attuned to notice messages displayed on digital boards. In fact, strategic digital signage with animations, bright colors, and enticing displays can catch their attention as easily as their favorite TV shows—making it the ideal way for educators to speak to their students and celebrate their achievements.
1. Welcoming New Students
It’s tough to move to a new school and be a stranger among your peers. Administrators can create custom templates for new students that display their photo, name, grade level, and an interesting tidbit about the student’s hobbies. This can help acclimate the student body to the new faces in their midst while also helping transfer students feel at home and build new friendships that make their transition easier.
2. Student Birthdays
Of course, birthdays are always an exciting time for K-6 students. Teachers in each classroom add slides into their digital screen rotations that show birthday schedules, upcoming birthdays, and a highlight for particular students on the big day. This type of engagement can do wonders for getting kids excited about being in class.
3. Academic Excellence
Digital signage is the perfect way to showcase examples of academic excellence in K-6 students. Whether this means highlighting those who score high on tests, praising those who do extra credit, or honoring students with perfect attendance, using digital signage in education settings to promote scholastic achievements can be a huge motivator for students hungry for a chance at the spotlight.
4. Student Activities
The average elementary school curriculum includes numerous activities that kids can take part in. Science fairs, spelling bees, musical performances, and plays are just a few examples. Celebrate the students who participate in these by advertising the date, time, and location of events to parents and school visitors. Encouraging students in these extracurricular endeavors will help reinforce the value of these activities in their minds and will make them more likely to explore other opportunities later on.
5. Fundraisers
Many student groups, such as 4-H or Boys and Girls clubs, have regular fundraisers that students participate in. However, these events aren’t much fun when donations are sparse. Encourage students to take part in these events and display messaging about ongoing fundraising efforts within your digital signage templates. By raising awareness, you’re celebrating these students’ efforts and supporting your school’s extracurricular activities all at the same time.
Digital Signage in Education – Applications for Grades 7-12
Digital signage use cases for grades 7-12 are a bit different than K-6. For example, the average high school student might not appreciate the school broadcasting his/her birthday to the entire student body! The educational needs of older students are different; as such, administrators should use different strategies to celebrate the achievements of this group.
6. Athletic Participation
As students approach middle school and high school, competition becomes a significant motivator of their success, particularly in athletic performance. Encourage hard-working students by featuring various sports teams on digital signage templates. Try not to focus on any specific student unless there’s a reason to do so—the focus should be on the celebrating the efforts of the entire team.
7. Charity/Volunteering – Digital Signage in Education
Opportunities for charity work and volunteering become more available as students get older. Should any students get involved with these causes, they certainly deserve to be acknowledged for their efforts. The best way to showcase these achievements is to gather photos of the students in action—this makes it easy to see their contributions to the organization and may even encourage other students to get involved.
8. Artistic Performances and Productions
While K-6 students have frequent musical productions and stage plays, older students take these productions to the next level. Students participating in theatrical productions, choirs, and musical ensembles spend months preparing for each event—do your part as administrators and celebrate their efforts on your digital screens. Display the date and location of each event and list the availability of tickets. This type of advertising will increase the turnout for each event and guarantees that hard-working students will have the audience they need.
9. Graduation Recognition
Graduation is a highlight for many high school students. In fact, it represents all the hard work they’ve put into their academic careers. Naturally, those who graduate should be celebrated for their accomplishment. As the school year winds down, administrators should take their list of graduating seniors and feature each within their digital signage content, perhaps listing the colleges and universities they will be attending in the fall.
Digital Signage in Education
We all know that digital signage in education can be used to support teaching goals, improve communication, and add an extra layer of emergency preparedness. But just as importantly, use it to publicly support the efforts of students. It promotes a more active and encouraging scholastic environment.
Providing positive feedback and giving tangible recognition to hardworking students helps motivate them. In fact, they continue working harder and get a boost to their self-esteem. Additionally, public recognition can be a powerful motivator for other students—causing them to work harder and get more involved. In these ways, digital signage software for education isn’t just a tool that empowers efficiency—it empowers students to believe in themselves and enjoy recognition for their efforts.
