Hewlett Packard(HP) and The Landscape Group have been working on a concept for over a year which overcomes some of the issues schools are facing with implementing enterprise skills based learning and was launched on 6th December to the education market. The product has been branded EduPrint, created by The Landscape Group and is backed up with the technological and printing capabilities of HP. This unique concept incorporates print on demand resources thus enabling schools to bring printing exercises in-house whilst encouraging pupils to flex their entrepreneurial talent throughout the school and local economy! Cleverly students will gain invaluable knowledge about how to run their own businesses and at the same time schools will save on outsourcing print work to local companies as the students can produce all school literature on the premises!
There are key benefits as to why schools should invest in the EduPrint and HP package. Namely that printing costs and lead times are cut as all printing can be achieved in house for a smaller budget. Often many printing jobs don’t even leave the school premises as the quotes received are too costly or the quantity demanded of the school too high in order to minimise the overall order value. With EduPrint the mimimum print order is x 1 copy, a saving already. Typical print jobs that are kept in house and achieved with EduPrint are calendars, newsletters and records of achievement, which can be personalised to each student leaving the school.
The most valuable benefit of the EduPrint is that all levels of learning ability can gain benefit from being a part of a young enterprise team using the software. Pupils can develop enterprise based skills through the software leading to a genuine monetary profit for their businesses and vital skills that can be implemented when entering the work force in later year whether that be after KS4 or as a graduate from university. From a teaching perspective, the EduPrint software enables teaching staff to demonstrate to the Government that a young enterprise environment has been set up within the school, which is an extra benefit given the focus on encouraging this within the 8-18 age bracket within modern day teaching.
“Until recently, harnessing the power of digital images often required a sizeable budget, the services of outside professionals, and significant production time,” said Nancy Janes, business manager, Graphic Arts, HP Imaging and Printing Group, UK. “Now, digital technology has enabled us to bring large format printing to a new market, putting these types of short-run materials within reach of even modest budgets and offering valuable life experiences to students.”
“Working with HP enables us to offer pupils the latest technology to fuel their creativity and give them a head start in understanding real-life marketing.” Said Nat Hart, managing director, The Landscape Group. “This is the first time technology has been used to encourage entrepreneurship in young people in this way and we would encourage all schools and study centres to consider this new approach to teaching.”
