Scott Tiner

Scott Tiner

A trained educator, graduating from the Boston University School of Education, Scott is interested in the integration of technology and education. He works at Bates College managing the Client Services portions of Information Technology. Scott directs the Service Desk, which is responsible for the support of all classrooms and computers on campus. He also oversees the campus training programs and specifies and purchases computing equipment for the campus. He stays very active in the AV and IT fields, having presented at both regional, national and international conferences. Scott writes columns and blogs regularly for rAVe [Publications]. In order to continue to develop and strengthen his leadership and management skills Scott has attended the Management Institute and the Leading Change Institute, sponsored by EduCause. He earned his MBA form the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics, at the University of New Hampshire. During his time in graduate school Scott developed an interest and expertise in leadership and team building. As an experienced speaker and writer, Scott is always looking for new experiences to share, learn and grow. Scott can be contacted via LinkedIn, on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/stiner or via email at stiner08@gmail.com

Virtual Reality: Opportunities for the Classroom, Part 2

I don’t like writing about the same thing two columns in a row. However, since my last column on virtual reality in the classroom I have heard from several readers with thoughts and questions. While a few of them were along the lines of “this is just like 3D, a passing fad,” but more of […]

Virtual Reality: Opportunities for the Classroom, Part 2

One World Trade: Smart Signage

In November, I visited New York City. It was my first time to the city since One World Trade was completed and opened. My travel companions and I decided that we needed to go to the observatory deck. The $34 ticket was not too bad considering the view we expected and the experience of being […]

One World Trade: Smart Signage

Virtual Reality: Opportunities for the Classroom

As a digital subscriber to the New York Times, I was frustrated when they announced they would be sending Google cardboard to their print subscribers. I was on the verge of dropping the whopping $15 that could have bought one on Amazon, when the Times told me they were sending them to some of their […]

Virtual Reality: Opportunities for the Classroom

A Digital Dining Experience

Several columns ago, I wrote about my experiences with digital signage in a restaurant. This experience included the use of an iPad with a credit card scanner attached. I thought the concept in an airport was very interesting. People are in a rush in airports and may not have time to wait for a waiter […]

A Digital Dining Experience

Interactive Boards — Are We Getting There?

Sara Abrons’ November 23rd post on rAVePubs.com about Nureva’s Span classroom collaboration system struck a chord with me. With all of the talk of collaboration spaces over the past couple of years, I have yet to see a product that truly enables collaboration. To me, collaboration means everybody, interactively working on a work product at […]

Interactive Boards — Are We Getting There?

iOS 9: A Digital Sign

My brother had an odd experience last Saturday evening. He got into his car and before even starting it, his iPhone spoke up and told him that he was 10 minutes from his destination. The funny thing, he had not asked for directions anywhere, or in anyway indicated where he was going. The freaky thing, […]

iOS 9: A Digital Sign

Customer Service: Products That Are Ready

As I sat down to write this column, I hemmed and hawed. I even got the column in a little late as I hesitated as to whether I should submit it or write a new one. I did not want to write something that was overly critical of a company, and yet I have had […]

Customer Service: Products That Are Ready

What is YOUR Strategy?

A couple times in this column, I have written about strategy. In those columns I have focused specifically on the strategy of the companies you are working with, and how to help them develop a strategy for digital signage. As I was clicking through some web pages over the past few weeks, reading up on […]

What is YOUR Strategy?

Sometimes, Appearances Do Matter

We have been using the Crestron Capture HD products at Bates College for several years. However, we have always had various problems with the devices. On occasion, they will stop taking the video input from the camera in the room. Other times, they will stop recording the audio. These are the worst type of problems […]

Sometimes, Appearances Do Matter

Measure Your Success

In my recent rAVe DS column, I wrote about the value of developing a strategy for digital signage and from that strategy developing metrics to measure whether you have achieved your goals. As we prepare for another academic year to begin, I am thinking about how we measure the success of technologies in our classrooms […]

Measure Your Success

Does Your Digital Signage Have a Purpose?

I have written before about how my kids are often embarrassed of me in public because I stop and stare at technology, or, even worse, ask questions and take pictures. So was the case recently on a trip when we stopped in the Big Apple. At the register there are now digital touch screens, with […]

Does Your Digital Signage Have a Purpose?

Kramer Takes A Leap Forward in Collaboration

At InfoComm this year, Kramer Electronics introduced some new products and upgrades to products. We have been using the VIA Connect Pro for a few months and are very excited about the possibilities. Previously, we had been using the Crestron AirMedia product for wireless display. While we were happy with the product, there were several […]

Kramer Takes A Leap Forward in Collaboration

Metrics Count

Last month, I wrote about the need to define a strategy for your digital signage applications. As the integrator, this is as important for you as it is for the business to whom you are selling. If you sell a product and a few months later the company is wondering why they bought that product, […]

Metrics Count

The Video “Easy Button”

Several years ago, Staples developed the marketing campaign of the Easy Button. The concept was that going to Staples was as easy as pressing a single button and getting what you needed. I always thought that this should be the concept for touchpanels and control systems in our classrooms. Yet, there always seems to be […]

The Video “Easy Button”

Strategy Matters

We installed our first digital sign at Bates College over 12 years ago. About seven years ago we installed a server based system and the signs have continued to spring up around campus. Bates is a environmental-friendly institution and one of the questions we get asked is how much power it takes. We also often […]

Strategy Matters

Evolving College Student Population Will Change Education Technology Needs

As I sit down to write this column, one day past my deadline (sorry, Sara) I am in the wonderful district of Washington D.C. With the support of my institution, I have the honor and pleasure of attending the Leading Change Institute, put on by EduCause and CLIR. This institute is an application based institute […]

Evolving College Student Population Will Change Education Technology Needs

Don’t Implement Broken Tech

Last month, I was traveling through Newark and on an early morning flight. I got through the security line a little early, so I decided to sit down for a meal, rather than grab one and run. By chance, I walked into the Vanguard Kitchen. Needless to say, I was fascinated when I realized they […]

Don’t Implement Broken Tech

Privacy Concerns

Data and privacy concerns are the topic of constant news and media coverage. Who is watching you when, who is gathering data on you and what type are questions that are always being asked. Our network security teams are very educated in these areas and work tirelessly to make sure our institutions (and therefore our […]

Privacy Concerns

The Masters: An Experience Like No Other

On Wednesday April 8, 2015 I got to experience something that every person to hold a golf club has dreamed of, walking onto the grounds of August National Golf Course.  Of course, the real dream would be to play on the course, but if you know anything about golf, you realize that is just a […]

The Masters: An Experience Like No Other

Digital Signage Advertising to Captive Audiences

Over the past few months, I have spent a lot of times in hotels. Because of this time in hotels, I have also spent time in elevators and public restrooms. Both of these have begun to strike me as potentially brilliant places for digital signage. I know that the elevator signage is not a brand […]

Digital Signage Advertising to Captive Audiences

Projection Screens in Education Installs: To Skimp or Not to Skimp?

Every year colleges and universities spend millions of dollars on AV for their presentation spaces and their classrooms. We specify HD projectors with lumens rated from 4,000-8,000. Touch panels and control systems make the technology go, while computers, Blu-Ray players and document cameras create the content. In short, we put a lot of time, thought […]

Projection Screens in Education Installs: To Skimp or Not to Skimp?

Digital Signage: Not Always About Technology

Many of you have just returned from Digital Signage Expo in Las Vegas. I have written in past columns about how amazing and exciting it is that the digital signage industry has become its own entity outside of AV. Some fear this, as they see large IT companies moving into the digital signage realm. If […]

Digital Signage: Not Always About Technology

Microsoft Shows Up To ISE

Last summer one of the biggest stories (non-stories) was the large, vacant booth from Microsoft at InfoComm. It was almost as if they planned to release a product, but it was not ready. By the time that ISE rolled around this winter, we had already heard of the Surface Hub, but this show was their […]

Microsoft Shows Up To ISE

Are You Up For a Piece of the Pi?

The Raspberry Pi is a credit card sized computer, developed by a company in the UK. The stated goal of the company is to provide an inexpensive option for kids all over the world to learn to code. The device is amazingly inexpensive, at $25-$35 per device. The Pi runs a custom distribution of Linux, […]

Are You Up For a Piece of the Pi?

Tech Managers: Pay Attention to ISE 2015

In case you have somehow missed it, Integrated Systems Europe begins in Amsterdam on February 10th.  The show is expected to draw a crowd of 50,000 people.  Compare that to the 37,000 that InfoComm attracts in the United States, and you quickly realize that ISE is a HUGE show.  Yet, because it happens on another continent, many […]

Tech Managers: Pay Attention to ISE 2015

Wireless — Are We Getting There?

Back in the fall, I wrote a column about the Microsoft Surface 3. At the end of that column I teased a bit about what I thought was one of the best features of the Surface, but warranted a separate column. Specifically, the built in WiDi or MiraCast. Since that time I have gotten to […]

Wireless — Are We Getting There?

D-Tools: Brings It All Together

Several months ago, I watched a colleague present a webinar on D-Tools, a AV integration software package. I was interested in certain aspects of the software, particularly the integration with Visio and the project quoting, and paid minimal attention to all the other features. After working with my D-Tools rep, we decided to move forward […]

D-Tools: Brings It All Together

The Easy Status Quo, or the More Difficult Option

I recently had a faculty member ask about whether they could present their power point, and use the presenter tools. They had some notes they wanted to be able to read, and see their timing. Unfortunately, they were in a room with a dedicated computer. So, the computer went to a switcher and was distributed […]

The Easy Status Quo, or the More Difficult Option

Make it a Good New Year

As I write this column, we are on the cusp of a new year. Many times, people will write about predictions for the new year, or their resolutions. I am writing to ask you to think about your resolution and make one with me. This request comes from a couple of recent articles that I […]

Make it a Good New Year

Making Hospitals More Human With Digital Signage

When I read Paul Flanigan’s column in the November rAVe DS [Digital Signage], I realized that I too had learned some things this year. Like Paul, I learned that some businesses are more people centered than we treat them. I also learned that technology, oddly enough, may be able to help open up that human […]

Making Hospitals More Human With Digital Signage

A Scattered Mind

I am not sure if it is the holiday season, a busy schedule or something completely different, but my mind has been very scattered over the past few weeks. As such, I thought the only way I could write a column this month is if I embraced that scattered mind, and wrote a column that […]

A Scattered Mind

Shedding Light on a New App

Several weeks ago I had a visit from my Draper rep, David Trapani. We got into a discussion about the products that Draper has for high ambient environment situations. I asked David how can he determine when we should use a special screen product. David took out his light meter and we started taking some […]

Shedding Light on a New App