notice board displays

[William Hamilton]

Kia ora, what is everyone using as a noticeboard display in staffroom or reception areas? One of our schools is currently using a Chromecast to display a Google Slide that’s updated each morning in the staffroom, but they’re looking for alternatives.

W

[Dhiraja]

I have chromebooks with broken screens, ports being used with HDMi cables connected to TVs. The CBs r in Kiosk mode and display Google slides which can be edited from anywhere :)

Regards

Dhiraja

Technology Specialist

Fairlands Elementary

Mohr Elementary

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On Mon, Oct 13, 2025 at 2:13 PM William Hamilton <william....@gmail.com> wrote:

Kia ora, what is everyone using as a noticeboard display in staffroom or reception areas? One of our schools is currently using a Chromecast to display a Google Slide that’s updated each morning in the staffroom, but they’re looking for alternatives.

W

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[William Hamilton]

Great idea Dhiraja, schools always have broken chromebooks sitting around

W

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[Barbara Gregan]

Back in 2020 we purchased 3 Samsung Signage displays, one for the staffroom, one for the atrium (student content) and one for the library.  The built in browser points to a presentation slide so that's what is mainly used across all screens manually.  Magic info was trickey to use so as they are in the same block I just set them up daily with the slide that has already been updated .  The staffroom one is just one slide with the current day and what's on for the rest of the week. (it is 85inch)  teachers can also view this from their devices.  SInce then they have wanted a few smaller screens around the school so decided to just use tvs with a firestick as it has a better browser.  I am looking at some digital signage software  to trail.

Thanks

On Tue, Oct 14, 2025 at 10:13 AM William Hamilton <william....@gmail.com> wrote:

Kia ora, what is everyone using as a noticeboard display in staffroom or reception areas? One of our schools is currently using a Chromecast to display a Google Slide that’s updated each morning in the staffroom, but they’re looking for alternatives.

W

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[Peter van der Struys]

Hiya all

Have used this in the past. Web based, free, displays on anything.

https://digitalsignage.com/

Thanks
Peter

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[William Hamilton]

thanks everyone..  I had made a small app in the past which streams images from a Google Shared (Teams) Drive so super easy to manage and display as a gallery card - done via a service account so no need to make it fully public.  I had made a couple of other "card types" which displayed other information on a dashboard...  If there is not an "obvious" answer for display then I could resurrect this and make it look pretty for the school

I will check on the suggestions provided and discuss with the school.  Some options I found were advertising supported which put the school off, but saying that they do not want to pay for anything either.  usual school request :)

cheers for the feedback everyone, this is a great resource to have access to.

W

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[Stephen Caustick]

I have just started trialing Posterbooking. It's a less fancy version of Screenly but you get 10 free screens. You can present the same content on 10 different internet connected tvs at the same time. Some screens could show Senior content and some Junior 

as well.

You can't upload PowerPoint files though. Not sure about Google Slides. I save each slide as a JPG.

Ngā mihi

Stephen Caustick

IT Technician

Hastings Boys' High School

(06) 8730365 ex 847

On Tue, 14 Oct 2025, 10:13 William Hamilton, <william....@gmail.com> wrote:

Kia ora, what is everyone using as a noticeboard display in staffroom or reception areas? One of our schools is currently using a Chromecast to display a Google Slide that’s updated each morning in the staffroom, but they’re looking for alternatives.

W

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[Sue Way]

Hi William

Years ago we set up a WordPress website (Free) with the Xibo app. We use Amazon Firesticks with the Xibo app (licenced about $25ea). https://xibosignage.com/

It costs us about $300 including hardware, and wall mounts to create a digital Signage screen and instance.

We get staff to create PowerPoint slide and save it as a jpg, this can be done in many other ways but all teachers can create a PowerPoint. This gets displayed on the screen. We can also schedule the slides to come on a specific times or days and expire. We also have different signage in different parts of the school controlled by Departments for their specific notices. 

Sue Way | IT Services Director (she, her)

Te Kura Manawaroa o Pipitea | Wellington Girls' College

Pipitea Street, Thorndon, Wellington 6011  

 

[Richard Symon]

Hi Willliam

We use Xibo for our digital signage as free - we use the docker install and run it on an ubuntu server vm here.

on the other end we run the small form factor 7" lenovo thinkcenters attached to old tvs or screens.. and run the client on those.

I have some main people from diff depts and hostel modifying them for use and make some of the displays via jpgs , power points and movies (which you can make flash ones via canva - free to schools also)., so the library has some very nice diplays and youtube videos also.

But we run one in the hostel, library, hall, music dept and science dept, main foyer reception enterance, careers and gym

[Paul Stephen]

If you are looking for a display that only gets update once or twice a day have a look at the Samsung Colour E-Paper Display, while more expensive than a traditional display it doesn’t need to be powered.  Think a large colour E-Reader.

 

The Samsung Colour E-Paper Display is a 32-inch, ultra-low power digital signage solution designed for indoor commercial environments. It uses E Ink technology, which mimics the appearance of ink on paper, offering high visibility even in bright lighting conditions without glare.

Key Features:

• Ultra-Low Power Consumption: Consumes minimal energy, as power is only used when the image changes—ideal for sustainability-focused deployments.
• Full Colour Display: Unlike traditional e-paper, this model supports full colour, making it suitable for vibrant signage applications.
• Lightweight & Slim Design: Easy to install and relocate, perfect for retail, transportation, and corporate environments.
• No Backlight: Reduces eye strain and enhances readability in various lighting conditions.
• Remote Content Management: Compatible with Samsung’s MagicINFO platform for centralized content updates and scheduling.

[lfr...@jameshargest.school.nz]

We use YoDeck

Cost effective, run from Raspberry Pi's. Cloud managed

has a powerful content creation platform which can use live content from web pages, YT, google slides etc. 

User management, roles, SSO

Great documentation and how to

Our different staff from different areas manage their own displays. 

free for one screen if you have a rasp pi already. 

Recommend. https://www.yodeck.com/

[William Hamilton]

Thanks all, a bit of a variety of options which is good.  Time to have a chat with this school and see if they want to spend any money :)

W

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