PRINT.IT
17
Open your mind
In a recent study conducted
by the Economist Intelligence
Unit for Ricoh (
Humans &
Machines
), 90% of education
leaders said that technology
has made them more
imaginative and creative at
work, with 80% saying that
it has also made them more
productive.
It is probably safe to say that
respondents weren’t thinking
of printers and MFPs when
answering the first part of the
question: it is much more likely
that they were referring to
interactive whiteboards, apps,
tablets and perhaps even today’s
incredible shrinking projector
technology (see box).
However, it is possible that
they did glance at the printer
on their desk or the MFP in
the corner when quizzed about
productivity. Clearly, modern print
technology has the potential
to make teachers and school
admin staff more efficient
and productive, whilst also
reducing schools’ print costs,
paper consumption and carbon
footprint.
Printing may not top the list
of school priorities, but it is still a
significant expense and therefore
of interest to school managers.
Its importance is reflected in the
healthy sprinkling of print-related
vendors at this year’s BETT Show,
including Altman Technologies,
BioStore, BITS, Dell, Epson, HP,
ITQ, Kyocera, Ricoh, Samsung,
TA Triumph-Adler and Toshiba.
Lower costs
The education sector has always
been attractive to print suppliers
due to its size and, in recent
years, the huge sums of money
thrown at it. Today, schools and
colleges are having to economise
like everyone else and are
therefore open to the cost-saving
arguments of managed print
service (MPS) providers.
Most organisations will
already have some form of MPS
in place and should already be
enjoying lower print costs as a
result. Typically, these will involve
print management solutions like
Papercut, Pcounter and Equitrac,
which in addition to print rules,
quotas and secure print release
offer sophisticated accounting
capabilities – vital where print is
offered as a chargeable service.
They should also support mobile
printing from smartphones,
tablets, netbooks and notebooks.
All print providers supply print
management solutions alongside
their hardware and any school or
college that is not yet making use
of such solutions should take the
opportunity to talk to exhibitors
about them.
Other important questions
likely to be addressed by vendors
include data security, energy
consumption and CSR. The latter
will be a major focus for Toshiba
TEC. It is famous for supplying
100% carbon neutral MFPs,
but its Carbon Zero scheme
has many other aspects that
can enhance a school’s CSR
messaging. These range from
assistance for individual students
to help with the construction
of school catering facilities in
developing countries.
Scanning paper
Whilst the education sector has
become good at managing hard
copy output, many managers
are concerned that they
are not making the most of
modern technology. A majority
of European educational
professionals surveyed for
a separate Ricoh study (
A
New Perspective – The Ricoh
Document Governance Index
2012
) believe the way they work
is out of date. Almost three
quarters (73%) worry that they
invest in new technologies before
maximising the potential of
existing IT investments.
Multifunction printers (MFPs)
are a case in point. Modern
devices combine productive, user-
friendly scanning capabilities with
software connectors that make
it possible to scan directly into
school management systems,
collaboration systems, archives
and so on. Printer exhibitors will
be showing how the education
sector can make use of these
capabilities to reduce paper
use, speed up processes and
eliminate the errors associated
with manual workflows.
In addition, a number of
vendors, notably Samsung and
Kyocera (see page 14), will be
demonstrating apps that have
been specially developed for
education customers, including
ones that automate the marking
of multiple choice tests.
Customised apps open up all
sorts of possibilities for vendors
and developers and give schools
and colleges more scope to
increase productivity. Who
knows, they might even enable
teachers and school managers
to work in a more imaginative or
creative way.
BETT 2014 Preview
PrintIT
previews BETT 2014, the UK’s leading
learning and technology event, taking place at
Excel, London on January 22-25.
Pocket power
Projectors are an essential
item of classroom equipment.
But why limit yourself to the
classroom.
Philips PicoPix projectors
are small enough to carry in
your hand and use anywhere
on the school campus or even
off-site. You can use them as a
teaching aid, for exhibitions and
displays and even in creative
multimedia art installations.
Despite their small size,
the projectors are extremely
versatile. The palm-sized Philips
PicoPix 3610 weighs just 0.284
kg and can project images
up to 120 inches in size, with
brilliant colour, high contrast
and an image brightness of
up to 100 lumens (55 lumens
when powered by the internal
rechargeable battery).
The WiFi projector works
with laptops, tablets, iPhones,
iPads, digital cameras, SD
cards and USB sticks. It can
also display presentations
stored in its internal 4GB
memory and connect to the
internet and display web
content and presentations
stored in the cloud.
Another exciting new Philips
projector is the Screeneo, an
ultra short-throw LED projector
capable of displaying images
from as close as 10cm from the
projection surface. A business
model is due to be launched
shortly.
