Last year, a generous donor gave our school five high-definition flat screen televisions to use as display monitors for promoting school activities, events and news around our campus. But, when we researched companies that produce signage software, we discovered that the cost was more than we could afford. What to do?
We decided to look at our existing resources and see what could integrate with the TV units to provide a similar display experience. Turns out, we had a handful of AppleTVs that were not in use. We had purchased the units for faculty to use with iPads for displaying content in their classrooms.
It worked! We created announcements using Keynote, Apple’s presentation software, and incorporated video and graphic elements. Keynote lets you export presentations as QuickTime videos. After converting the presentation to video, we created a free Vimeo account and uploaded the daily announcement videos. AppleTV comes with the Vimeo app and supports “looping” playback. The announcements run throughout the day without interruption. The best part? No additional cost to the school!
Jon Baffico is the principal of Saint Patrick High School in Chicago, Ill. He is an experienced educator with 20 years of teaching and administrative experience. During his time he has implemented the Danielson evaluation system, implemented professional learning communities, directed and produced the school’s first strategic plan and created the mentoring programming for all first-year teachers. He is a member of the High School Leadership Council for the Archdiocese of Chicago.
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