The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) has launched a six-month pilot project with Onestop Media Group Inc. that will install real-time, video-based communications networks in four Toronto high schools.
Eighteen screens will be placed in common areas of Harbord Collegiate, Central Technical School, Central Commerce Collegiate, Haydon Park Secondary and one of the TDSB offices to display internal and externally-sourced content targeted to each school.
“It’s their own channel,” said Michael Girgis, CEO and president of Onestop Media Group, a Toronto-based developer and operator of public networks for transit, retail, education, residential, hotel and corporate environments.
Programming will include automated content, such as news feeds and entertainment, and locally-published content created by the schools. “All of our networks really run on the same platform, but they provide real time news content and location-specific content to the audience,” said Girgis.
The network is positioned as a compliment to the school’s existing communication process, he said. The screens can display, for example, school announcements, student council information, sports scores, countdowns to the next period and polls for the students’ favourite yearbook cover.
The school boards, principals and students are all provided publishing access. “It’s a fantastic opportunity for students to start to understand digital publishing in the high school environment,” said Girgis.
The pilot intends to encourage youth engagement in the schools, said Chris Bolton, vice-chair of the TDSB. The end goal is to help students pay attention to what is happening in their schools and make them feel that they are actually a part of it, he said.