Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eCampus News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

Emergency notification in jeopardy if students tune out digital signage

Messages should be capable of being conveyed through digital signage in just seven seconds or less, or else students will tune them out.

If a digital sign can’t convey a message in seven seconds, the technology runs the risk of blending into the background, one expert says—and during campus emergencies, that could prove dangerous.

Schools and departments on college campuses are often competing with each other to see which building touts the most advanced digital signage, but in the arms race for fancy graphics on impressive screens, the potential for emergency messages is lost, said Sean Matthews, president of Visix, a developer of software that’s used in digital signage.

Read more about emergency notifications in higher education……Read More

Police look at how Houston kindergartner got gun

Police are trying to determine how a Houston kindergartener got a loaded gun that he brought to an elementary school, where officials say it accidentally fired when it fell from his pocket as he sat down for lunch, wounding himself and two other students, the Associated Press reports. Some parents said the incident has made them think twice about safety at the school and they wonder if additional security measures, including extra officers and even metal detectors, are needed. School district officials said extra security would be in place Wednesday to allay parents’ fears…

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Let cops carry the guns

Police GunOne thing that still surprises me is the number of states willing to allow college and university students to carry concealed weapons on campus. More than 30 years in law enforcement has taught me that any guns on campus…

One thing that still surprises me is the number of states willing to allow college and university students to carry concealed weapons on campus. The laws are changing fast, but as of today, 25 states prohibit guns on campus.

But 23 leave it up to the campus administration to decide. Georgia allows students with a permit to keep a concealed weapon in their cars on campus. And students with a permit in Utah can carry concealed handguns.…Read More