District Rolls Out Wireless Digital Signage to 1,200 Screens

  • By Kristal Kuykendall
  • 05/04/23

Warren County (Kentucky) Public Schools’ recent transition to the Airtame platform has enabled seamless wireless screen-sharing and digital signage capabilities for the district’s 1,200 TVs across 35 buildings, freeing teachers to move around classrooms and simplifying educator control of sharing features, according to a new use study released by Airtame.

The district, Kentucky’s fourth-largest, used federal funds to invest in the new Airtame 2 hardware and accompanying software as leaders “recognized that it could help teachers simplify tech-based classwork and increase student engagement” using Airtame for shared screens, said WCPS Instructional Technology Coordinator Matt Kresslein. 

Central office staff also can access any or all of the connected TVs to display announcements and messages, using Airtame’s digital signage functions. Beyond school-wide messaging, the district has used the digital signage feature to quickly update cafeteria menus, advertise upcoming school events, feature students’ digital projects, and for other administrative uses, school leaders said.

“We have transitioned from interactive whiteboards located at the front of each room to TVs with the Airtame platform, which has freed our teachers to move around the room as they lead digital lessons delivered wirelessly from mobile devices,” Kresslein said. “This has proven to be far more impactful than standing in the front of the room while students use their Chromebooks.” 

With Airtame connections in every room, teachers can walk into any classroom and instantly connect their laptop to the display and begin screen-sharing, he said. Educators can designate a “Favorite Airtame” that keeps the chosen Airtame and TV at the top of their connections list, for quick access each day. In larger rooms with multiple connected TVs, educators can choose to stream their device content to multiple displays simultaneously using Airtame — a feature the district did not have previously with interactive whiteboards.

Airtame also “protects and prioritizes teachers’ wireless connections,” whereas the district’s previous whiteboard solution “allowed any wireless device to override teachers’ connections,” according to the news release. Additionally, staff can schedule hours for Airtame to turn itself on or off, reducing energy usage. 

Airtame works with all modern connected devices and supports the district’s existing functions such as annotation apps teachers use on their Chromebooks. The software mirrors the user’s entire screen without requiring a specific app or device, which means there is no impact on the content or software teachers can use while screen-sharing, Airtame said.

Learn more at Airtame.com.

A Warren County Public Schools teacher in Bowling Green, Kentucky, stands in a classroom with her laptop that is wirelessly shared on a TV using the Airtame platform

 

About the Author

Kristal Kuykendall is editor, 1105 Media Education Group. She can be reached at [email protected].


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