Inkjet & Digital Printing
Xerox DocuShare Helps Schools Reduce Spending, Enable Virtual Learning
Friday 18. September 2009 - In an effort to control costs, schools across the globe are turning to Xerox Corporation's (NYSE: XRX) DocuShare Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Platform to move paper-based processes like absence approvals and homework assignments online. The change, educators say, not only saves scarce budget dollars but also encourages better collaboration among students, staff and parents.
Massachusetts-based Chelmsford Public Schools saves up to $150,000 on textbooks and printing using DocuShare’s Web-based folders to host homework assignments online. DocuShare also acts as a virtual discussion board that allows students to collaborate on projects, receive teacher feedback, submit homework assignments, and enables parents to log in and communicate with faculty and staff.
“Xerox helped us uncover significant savings by gaining control of more than 150,000 printouts per day,” said Bruce Forster, executive director, Information and Educational Technology, Chelmsford Public Schools. “DocuShare gives our students the ability to ‘log in and learn’ in an interactive environment beyond the classroom – without sacrificing our budget dollars.”
Other schools using DocuShare to reduce print spend, process documents faster and build resources online include:
Canada’s Niagara Catholic District School Board that uses DocuShare CPX workflow application @Work for School Boards, and saves more than $38,000 on printing costs annually. The 60-building school district now scans and publishes employee and student records, lesson plans, board meeting minutes and monthly newsletters in one online location, and has cut teacher leave of absence approvals from weeks to just minutes and simplified quarterly auditing.
In Peru, DocuShare provides students at Universidad Peruana de Ciencas Aplicadas immediate access to course materials. Prior to implementing the ECM system, students had to check course materials out of the library, make their own copies and return the originals for use by other students. The process proved time consuming and expensive. Now, students can log into DocuShare from anywhere on campus and print course materials on demand at the school’s print center.
California’s Manteca Unified School District shaved $300,000 off its annual operating spend by scanning its archived documents into DocuShare. By storing student files, meeting notes and district news online, the school eliminated 200 filing cabinets, freeing up spaces for new classrooms to be built. Manteca also reduced its carbon footprint by cutting back on the need to ship documents via a courier service.
“The education industry requires a significant amount of data and documentation,” said David Smith, vice president and general manager, DocuShare Business Unit, Xerox Corporation. “DocuShare allows schools of all levels and sizes to focus less on processing paperwork and more on what matters most – meeting their students’ educational needs.”