Australia’s Vivi Formally Adds Digital Signage To Its Schools-Focused Screen Mirroring Solution

April 10, 2024 by Dave Haynes

The education-focused Australian screen mirroring hardware and software platform Vivi has picked up on the idea of using its technology for more than just teaching and sharing, adding digital signage as a capability.

The wireless screen mirroring solution, purpose-built for the education market, has been expanded to also work as a communication tool that can reach beyond classroom walls.

Vivi for Teachers is a free, web-based application the company says “makes it simple for teachers to actively engage with their students, using their individual devices and displays.”

With Vivi for Teachers, students can share their content and screens directly to the classroom display in seconds, without wasting valuable class time finding the right cable or dongle to connect. Vivi for Teachers also includes a built-in virtual whiteboard that students can use to work out problems – encouraging more students to participate by reducing the anxiety often accompanying speaking up in front of peers.

“A big pushback on tech post-COVID has been that it can easily turn students into passive learners,” says Juliana Finegan, VP Educator Experience at Vivi. “Schools have made big investments in 1:1 devices, but they need to be used effectively to have the intended result – active engagement in learning. Vivi for Teachers offers a free solution to encourage and enable collaboration, peer feedback, and student-driven learning. With it, students can easily share their thinking, show off their creativity, and give class presentations faster and with less stress.”

Megan Oliva, 2nd grade teacher in Austin, Texas agrees, sharing that her students “love sharing their work and showing their classmates how they got to an answer. They ask me to use Vivi every day now. It is easy to use for me and my students which is key.” 

Vivi, which currently helps over 2,000 schools, has subscription-based offerings for schools and districts with additional instructional tools, digital signage, announcements, and emergency alert capabilities. Vivi for Teachers is its first free offering specifically for teachers to encourage student engagement and classroom interaction through wireless screen sharing. Vivi has found that 86% of teachers saw increased student participation and excitement in sharing their work because of using Vivi for Teachers student screen share in their classroom.

While the application is free, Vivi’s overall software is fee-based, and there are proprietary set-top boxes that need to connect to displays and act as receivers.

The digital signage aspect was formally announced today, but a quick run through the company site and Linkedin posts indicates Vivi has been talking up digital signage as a capability for at least the last few months.

Barco, Squirrels and Airtame have all added digital signage to their screen mirroring tech for workplaces, while familiar video meetings platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams have also added digital signage capabilities directly or via CMS partnerships.