Scala, a provider of end-to-end solutions for the digital signage market, has announced school children at College International Marie de France are honing their TV Journalism skills with the company's products.
At the end of 2006, College International Marie de France - an international FrenchSchool located in Montreal, Canada - choose Scala to power their new high-definition internal television network, SCOOP TV. The challenge was to develop a communications solution that provided students and staff information about school news and events. The solution was quickly focused on developing an internal television network using digital signage.
Scala InfoChannel was already integrated into the curricula for computer classes to produce high-quality multimedia presentations, but was never broadcasted throughout the entire school. In early 2007, with the help of Tëlëcinë Multimedia, a Scala Certified Partner in Montreal, a solution was conceived using Scala InfoChannel - SCOOP TV was born!
For the initial deployment, four 37-inch LCD screens were installed in strategic locations throughout the school and two 22-inch LCD screens were placed in areas where the larger screens were not appropriate. All screens were connected to the same Scala InfoChannel player using a CAT5 video broadcast system by Minicom Inc. High-definition video and sound easily travel around the school over the inexpensive network infrastructure. Two of the LCD screens were positioned in the main student room where the majority of the students spend their lunch time talking, playing, and now watching SCOOP TV.
Basic Scala InfoChannel templates were developed by the IT team and members of the school's TV team. Templates were created for all departments throughout the school, which led to the rapid production of relevant content for each department. Students and teachers soon realized the potential of SCOOP TV and started to get very excited about its implementation.
Along with custom templates produced in-house, RSS feed reader scripts taken from www.scala.com were used to display live international news at the bottom of the screen in a CNN style.
The implementation of SCOOP TV allows the staff and students of College International Marie de France to stay informed of the news and events that impact the school. By integrating SCOOP TV with the student's curricula and providing a solution for every department to participate in the success of the project, SCOOP TV creates a community of students and teachers throughout the school.
"It's really easy! It's unbelievable all the things we can do with Scala. We have a lot of fun with all the effects that are built-in and the layout of the different screens is really easy to make," proclaims one of the students.
"As soon as all the pictures and videos are created, it's really easy and fast to produce a quality TV program that is ready to broadcast throughout the school. Scala provided us an insight into what it's like to be a TV journalist," proclaim two other students.
The next phase of this project will consist of adding additional channels dedicated to parents visiting the school or special events like shows or meetings.
For more information on Tëlëcinë Multimedia products/services, visit www.telecine.ca.
For more information on Scala products/services, visit www.scala.com.
