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Turning Game-Day into Curriculum: Creating an educational impact with your video display

If you’ve considered investing in a video display to enhance the game-day experience, the first thought that may come to mind is that it is primarily an investment in athletics. However, the true potential, value and reach of the impact extends far beyond that.

While the display may be highlighting the action and enhancing the game-day or event atmosphere, it cannot operate without the people behind the scenes. This unleashes a vast array of learning opportunities for students interested in a variety of career paths to develop essential skills they’ll need in the future, meaning a video scoring solution is not just an asset for athletics but a great educational tool and resource as well. If you’re wondering how you can turn this into curriculum at your school, we’re providing the blueprint to make this a reality for your students.

GETTING STARTED

Displays can have an immense effect on the enjoyment and engagement of your audience no matter the occasion. From pre-game intro videos to instant replays, fan prompts and more, it takes a united effort to bring these things to fruition in a seamless way and utilize them in an effective manner.

This opens the door for students to gain valuable experience in their field of interest and be better prepared to pursue their passions. Not only can they learn what it takes to excel in their own roles but working together as a team- like those on the field or court of play- can make your students more dependable and desirable for future opportunities in collegiate or professional life. Leading this effort can be a teacher who specializes in media, production, graphic design or a field of your choosing, and the class itself could qualify under the umbrella of Career and Technical Education (CTE) curriculum. Here are some of the roles and career pathways students can pursue to develop their skills:

  • Planning and producing a game-day script (Project Management and Broadcast Journalism)
  • Content creation (Graphic Design and Marketing/Communications)
  • Shooting live video, editing and production (Broadcast Journalism)
  • Live emcee or event host (Broadcast Journalism)
  • Control room operation (Broadcast Journalism, Game-Day Operations and Technology Education)

All of these roles working in unison allow your school to host an event that is fluid and not feeling static or robotic, keeping the audience enthused. Every event or game situation can be planned for, reducing stress or doubt, and the creativity that flows from the classroom to the big screen can be a rewarding experience for the students who put in the work to make it happen. As they start to get accustomed to their assignments and the structure of event or game-day production, it would also be wise to stay on top of the latest trends and allow students to gain experience in producing what is current or in demand in their respective fields.

One school that is successfully taking advantage of the opportunity is Central Community High School in Breese, IL with their recent installation of an outdoor and indoor video display. The organization and attention to detail from individual achievements to sponsors for in-game situations has created an experience the community could get behind, and the enthusiasm from those sponsors is fully funding the displays.

GRAPHIC DESIGN AND MOTION GRAPHICS

The incorporation of graphic designs and motion graphics into a display brings it to life and makes it a vibrant part of the game-day or event experience. Whether showcasing the school and opponent logos, a prompt to get fans on their feet, a sponsor for an in-game play and more, planning and creating them in the classroom is a great way for students interested in graphic design to learn and sharpen their skillset while creating an arsenal of resources for your school to put on a video scoring solution. Creating a design for a sponsor is also a great way for students to build real firsthand professional experience. Even if a student may not particularly envision game or event production in their future, the experience they gain can translate into virtually any field.

Video Display at Highland High School

There are endless ways to make graphic designs and motion graphics part of the action and spark the imagination. Here are some examples of designs students interested in this field can create:

  • Animations for Team Introductions or Events
  • Headshot Templates of Athletes and Statistics
  • Fan Prompts
  • Logo Animations for Teams or Events
  • Interactive Games
  • Interactive Sponsorship Advertisements
  • Upcoming Event Templates

GAME-DAY AND EVENT PRODUCTION FROM THE CONTROL ROOM

The control room can also function as a classroom as students learn not just how to operate a display but do so in a way that creates a polished and engaging experience for the audience on game-day or for any other school event. This is a great responsibility for students interested in production and technology whether they wish to operate a display in the future, run a newsroom broadcast or teach future students how to use the technology among other roles. What they learn here will provide insight into what it takes to succeed in those fields.

First and foremost, the provider that delivers your equipment should be willing to train your staff and students on how to use the technology behind it and leave you feeling confident in operating it. Before you get started, the best way to ensure everything goes smoothly from the control room to the display is to prepare ahead of time and work from a game-day script or plan of action. This helps eliminate confusion and delays and builds confidence in students as they will be ready for every situation from start to finish. Here are a few things students can learn in the control room in order to maximize the potential of the display and the experience:

  • Show live game footage and, instant replays
  • Zoning the display into different sections or sync all displays at once for moments of exclusivity
  • Pushing content to multiple displays (video board, LED scorers table, fascia, etc.)
  • Create playlists for easy navigation
  • Management of media or organization of content
  • Integration of displays with third-party applications

Nevco’s Display Director™ is a clip server and content management software system that is capable of all the above and more, allowing you to simplify game-day and event operations with a touchscreen interface to control all your LED displays. If you’re not sure how to set up a control room, Nevco can help design and integrate one for any of your facilities to create the most optimal working environment for students and staff.

VIDEOGRAPHY AND LIVE STREAMING

A broadcasting course or curriculum may already exist at your school for students interested in videography or journalism, but the opportunity to showcase their work on a big screen or online to a larger audience could provide an exciting new chapter in their education. Different ways they can gain experience in these areas of interest include:

  • Operating cameras for live game/event footage and online streaming
  • Shooting and editing pre-game intro videos and highlight reels
  • Produce feature stories or profiles and more

If your school is looking to enhance live streaming and video production, Nevco’s Portable Video Production Kits are a great tool for increasing your school’s exposure on campus and abroad and keeping your community connected. Students can stream a live event, feature replay on a live stream or display, utilize social media to build and increase engagement, and more as they learn about content creation and video production from ISTE-approved (International Society for Technology in Education) curriculum that can serve as a standard or guide for educators to follow.

EMPOWERING YOUR STUDENTS

It would be easy to hand off these responsibilities to adults and reserve the teaching for the classroom. However, one of the best methods of learning is hands-on experience which not only allows students to channel their passions or interests but also build confidence and be better prepared to pursue their ambitions. It gives your teachers an extended opportunity to connect with their students, and students a real opportunity to navigate their career path and figure out if a particular field is the right choice for them. With more experience comes future opportunities to grow, allowing your students to polish their resumes and potentially gain a significant advantage over their peers. It is truly a win-win that can have a profound impact on the lives of your students when they have an established foundation from which they can build upon to follow their dreams.

If you’re interested in learning more about incorporating this kind of curriculum at your school, you can call 1-800-851-4040 or visit https://nevco.com/contact/ to get in touch with your local scoring and display solution consultant.