[Video] How to Engage Students with Digital Signage

What do you remember of your school days: do memories of battered school notice boards spring to mind? Torn team lists, scribbled school notices, and passive-aggressive ‘reminders’ written by irate teachers would collect dust as the students went about their day. Today, digitally-native students expect more. They’re used to information being dynamic, engaging, and tailored to them. If schools want to attract and engage the new generations of students, they need to make sure that the environment they create is up-to-date and ready for the new digital age.

How to engage students with digital signage

With digital signage, you can engage your students in completely new and innovative ways. This means you can offer your students a better, more rounded educational experience.

1. Share School Culture

A school should remind its students that they aren’t there solely to go to classes and do homework. It should be a place where a student develops and becomes a well-rounded individual. As a school, you need to show that you support all the things your students do outside of their lessons. Displaying photos of students in sports, in a contest, or playing in the orchestra boosts confidence and makes your students feel valued. Using dynamic photos, slideshows, and videos showcasing your students is one way to build a positive and supportive school culture.

2. Create Discussion

Another way to use digital signage to enhance the education you offer is by using them as a springboard for thought and discussion. There are many ways to do this. You can:

• Show news updates: This may be especially important in the run-up to an important political event like an election or a referendum. Schools should never exist in a bubble, and this is one way to help your students feel connected to the wider society.
• Display speeches, poems, inspirational quotes: Literature is important for everyone’s education. They engage students and encourage them to have a think on the way to their next class.
• Ask questions or request feedback: You may consider asking philosophical questions, with the promise of the best answers being displayed. It’s also a great way to ask students for feedback on their experience.
• Post a ‘fact of the day’: Interesting or unusual facts can be a great way to give the whole school a daily educational talking point. This could be used by teachers as a way to break the ice on an unenthusiastic Monday morning.
• Alert students of new staff: Displaying photos of new staff or teachers is a great way to make sure your students are familiar with the whole faculty.

3. Display directions, dates, and events

This is incredibly helpful for both students and teachers. Instead of plastering notices around the school, you can keep everyone up-to-date about what’s on with digital signage.If there is a change of time or date or cancellation, you can easily edit it and update the screens. You may wish to inform your students and staff of any upcoming:

• game schedules
• special concerts and performances
• conference room schedules for a higher ed campus
• dates and deadlines e.g. for class registration
• special speakers
• any other upcoming special events

When you have an event, you can also make sure that everyone attending knows where to go. This is especially helpful when parents are at school for events of parents evenings. With digital signage, your students and staff will stay informed about what’s going on around your school at all times.

4. Highlight Achievements

Many studies have found that recognizing a student’s achievements is a great way to boost confidence and spur on further achievements. Specifically, digital signage can do this. As an example, by highlighting strong academic, sports, and co-curricular achievements, you can create an environment of positivity and celebration of success.

Photos artwork, clips of acting or messages of good luck, and congratulations to exam takers all add to the rich tapestry of school life.

5. Engage students with interactive quizzes and infotainment

Digital signage is not just about one-way communication. It also helps you to interact and engage with your students in a more informal way.Use it for:

• Quizzes for the students: Educational quizzes, with rewards or prestige for the winners, can be a great way to introduce a sense of friendly competition around the school.
• Get feedback: You can request feedback from your students to improve the school.
• Post infographics: Interesting facts, listicles, or ‘life hacks’ can be very engaging for students who are already used to seeing and engaging with this content online.

These are only our suggestions, and there are countless ways of using digital signage to engage your students. In addition to student engagement, digital signage can also be used for emergency messaging and to display important information e.g. about COVID-19 and the measures the school is taking to keep students safe.Consequently, these are just a few ways that you can use digital signage to engage your students and create a school environment that’s fit for today. Finally, are you considering getting digital signage for your school? We'd love to know how you intend to use it. If you need help, email us at or contact sales.