Article

Texas college offers degree program in digital signage

Students to learn content management and design, but will it prepare them for work in the industry?  

July 30, 2009

Texas State Technical College West Texas made waves in the digital signage industry last week when it announced that it would offer a degree and several certificates in Digital Signage Technology.

Located in Abilene, Texas, TSTC has a strong background in teaching digital media, and Patricia Golin, program specialist, said it was that experience that spawned the digital signage program.

The flagship degree in the program is an A.A.S. in Digital Signage Technology. The program is 60 credit hours and will take students four semesters to complete. Classes range from learning computer applications to digital signage specific courses such as Digital Signage Systems and Digital Signage Content Management. There are also advertising, internet marketing and mobile components to the program.

 "The course load and descriptions seem pretty comprehensive and it looks like it would give an individual the basics," said Chuck Gose of MediaTile. "But much like other careers, experience in the field will determine if it's successful or not."

TSTC is working to give students that experience through several capstone classes. In one class, students will create, install and manage a digital signage network in the online game Second Life. They will be given a budget, select hardware and software and program content. Another capstone class will require students to design and plan an advertising campaign to run on digital out-of-home screens.

"It is an interesting idea especially with regard to general concepts of content creation," said Aaron Higley, director of Digital Operations at Titan Worldwide. "I think that more design/advertising programs should offer classes in digital content creation. As a media company, I am speaking daily with creative agencies to give them direction on how to create content. Many of them struggle, especially those who are used to static creative."

Classes were set to begin in Fall 2009 but the launch date for the program has been pushed back to Spring 2010. Golin said that the school is still working with the Department of Education to secure financial aid, since most of its target students are in the low-income bracket.

The cost for the A.A.S. degree is about $5,000 for in-state students and $12,000 for those out-of-state, which Golin said is priced low due to the fact that the classes are all completely online and no textbooks are being required.

Who is teaching?

One of the biggest concerns from those in the industry has been who will be teaching these courses.

As Paul Flanigan writes in his Experiate blog:

"Who will teach the digital signage courses? Industry veterans who can provide the real-world background that makes a technical college a valuable place to learn? Or an expert in technology with no real background in the industry? I would feel much more comfortable if I knew that the educators are (or were) in the trenches."

Golin assures that the exisiting faculty of TSTC who currently teach the Digital Imaging & Design curriculum are fully equipped to teach the courses.

It is yet to be determined if the digital signage is ready or looking for graduates with content development and management skills, although according to research from TSTC, the average predicted growth for these fields is 27 percent. There are a total of 29,650 projected positions in Texas by 2016, reflecting an absolute change of 5,350 new positions in Texas in the next five years with an average hourly wage of $20.27.