Onestop Media Group
Insidetoronto.com - High schools move into digital age
LCD screens to provide students with info, updates
Harbord Collegiate Institute unveiled a new pilot project on Wednesday, Jan. 27 with the goal of delivering valuable information to students and bringing the student body together.
The project will see LCD screens installed in Harbord, as well as Central Technical School, Central Commerce Collegiate and Heydon Park Secondary School. The screens will update students on school events and clubs and provide interactive opportunities as well.
The screens were provided by Onestop Media, the company that brought similar LCD screens to TTC subway stations. Content for the screens will be managed and uploaded by a committee made up of school staff and students.
Harbord Collegiate Grade 12 student Ayesha Johnson said putting students in charge of uploading information was key to the project's success.
"We know what's relevant to us and we know what's important to us," she said.
Johnson said the students have embraced the new technology in the short time since it was officially introduced to the school.
"Everyone's quite excited," she said. "If you have an issue that's important to you and you want to get the news out to the school, you can tell the committee and they'll get it on the screen."
Johnson said the screens have already been well-used, displaying everything from school announcements to Harbord sports updates to student polls. The screens were also instrumental in spreading the word for a school fundraiser for Haiti.
"We raised way more than our goal - we raised $6,900 - and having the screens to get the word out and remind everyone definitely helped," she said.
Toronto District School Board trustee Chris Bolton said the project has been running in select schools for a few weeks and pointed to Central Tech's use of the screens to facilitate a contest for their yearbook cover as one of many uses the screens could have.
He said the eventual goal is to provide comprehensive news and updates on participating schools and perhaps create links to other schools throughout the TDSB.
"The idea is to develop a network and be able to support the initiatives of the board as well as the initiatives of the schools," he said.
While the screens will be invaluable tools in keeping students informed about goings-on at their own school, they can also have other, even more vital uses, said Const. Scott Mills of Toronto Crime Stoppers. He pointed to cases of missing youth, such as last year's much-publicized disappearance of high school student Mariam Makhniashvili.
"We can put images of the missing person up right away," he said, noting that by getting the word out quickly would ideally allow police to receive and follow tips much earlier than they otherwise could.
The Onestop Media screens will remain in schools over the next several months, with the potential for them to be housed on a more permanent and widespread basis throughout the TDSB.