How To Choose An Audio Visual Solution For Your School

Audio visual products includes projectors, digital visualizers, digital signage and the screens that the signage appears on.

Schools use audio visual technology for three main reasons as explained below.

1. Learning. Learning can be enhanced and made far more interesting and exciting to the children using digital visualizers. The children can see a real product close up, using a digital zoom and displayed on a larger screen, be it a projector or white board. The interactive white board can be used for collaborative learning, as it is able to store information, be virtually written on and have everything stored for future use, this making the next class covering that topic more substantial and improved upon.

2. Home Learning. Using virtual learning platforms including moodle and web 2.0 applications which may or may not be embedded into websites allows for children to do homework online and for the parents to be involved. Some learning programs are so much fun and educational games are very popular.

3. Education marketing. In this era marketing your school has never been so important. It is crucial that compelling messages are communicated to parents, children and even the teaching staff. An innovative but fast growing product portfolio which enables messages to be communicated is using digital signage. The system allows a large screen to be split into zones. Each zone is capable of displaying different multimedia including presentations, TV, atomic clock, and text.

This means that the school can communicate the compelling message constantly, and also show events, work that the pupils have done, news, and anything else that may be of interest.

Whilst the reception and entrance areas have been the most popular installation areas, outdoor screens are becoming increasingly popular. The screens can be installed into tough weatherproof and secure display cabinets and this way more of the target audience will see the display.

Choosing the ultimate audio visual solution for your school can be made easier by finding a good audio visual company. One that is prepared to undertake a site visit and talk through the options. Always find out other schools in the area that they may have worked with and get permission to contact them. Regarding the installers you will find that some are unqualified and some will be trained and experienced electricians, who are able to do any vital wiring into the electrical supply. If you find a company whose installers are CBR checked then depending on your policy you may be able to leave them to do the job without escorting them for the duration of the installation.

When it comes to the kit itself ask about the warranty. Leading brands will have warranties of varying time frames and offering either return to base or on site repairs.

Finally we have a small but valuable tip if you are buying a projector system. Find out before buying how much replacement lamps are and what the typical lamp life is. It can vary hugely and if not chosen wisely can cost a fortune replacing lamps which cost hundreds of pounds on a regular basis. Choose one which has a long lamp life and comes with a minimal price tag. It is impossible of course to be able to do this without having a comparison of at least two models.

Have fun with your new technology.