Prepress

EFI PrintMe Mobile Adds Support for Mobile Technology Use in the Classroom

Thursday 13. March 2014 - Latest Release of Mobile Printing Solution Features Industry-first Chromebook Support and Eases Device Administration

EFI today announced PrintMe Mobile 3.0. The latest version of EFI’s mobile printing solution offers a collection of new features specifically designed for educational institutions, including Chromebook support and easy to deploy mobile printing on shared devices in the classroom. The rapid adoption of mobile devices in schools has fuelled an increased demand for mobile solutions across campuses. PrintMe Mobile 3.0 addresses this need by simplifying the printing process for in-school mobile device use.
“Shorecrest Preparatory School is known for its use of technology in the classroom,” said Anna Baralt, director of technology for Shorecrest Preparatory School in St. Petersburg, Fla. “A few years ago, we introduced tablets into the classroom, allowing each student to work hands-on with mobile devices in an educational setting. We realised early on that we would need to accommodate a variety of mobile demands, including printing, to support this program for our students. With the cost-effective PrintMe Mobile solution, students can easily and independently print documents, from homework assignments to class notes, straight from their mobile devices. EFI’s updates to PrintMe Mobile not only underscore why we rolled out the solution campus-wide – ease of use on both the administrative and student side – but to accommodate additional device support, allowing for more flexibility in the program.”
Eliminating administrative bottlenecks in Chromebook mobile printing
According to FutureSource Consulting, Chromebooks accounted for 19 percent of the United States K-12 market for mobile computers in 2013. As these inexpensive laptops grow in popularity among educational institutions, EFI is meeting the demand by providing schools with the unique ability for students to easily print files created with Chromebook to a PrintMe Mobile-enabled printer.With PrintMe Mobile 3.0, administrators avoid the hassle of associating individual user accounts with each registered printer to enable Google Cloud Print. Instead, administrators only need to instruct students to install the PrintMe Mobile extension from the Chrome Web Store and enter the name of their local PrintMe Mobile server. Files can then be printed from Google Drive directly to any network-attached printer configured in PrintMe Mobile.
“The use of mobile devices in educational institutions continues to grow, and EFI is placing a greater emphasis on continuing to build out PrintMe Mobile to support both the new demands of mobile device users and the growing variety of mobile devices in schools,” said John Henze, vice president of Fiery marketing for EFI. “With the increasing popularity of Chromebook laptops in the classroom, we are thrilled to be the first to offer mobile printing support for these devices that encourage active and engaged learning within the classroom and beyond.”
Secure personal email account support
Another unique feature offered in the latest version of PrintMe Mobile enables users to print documents from their personal email accounts using print via email workflow.Administrators are now guaranteed secure email printing by optionally requiring users to authenticate their use of a personal email account through the company’s Active Directory. No other mobile printing solution offers this convenient feature, providing additional security and ease-of-use for users and administrators while setting PrintMe Mobile ahead in the industry.
“PrintMe Mobile has given Liberty Center Schools an additional way to simplify managing our mobile program,” said Jeff Kirkendall, director of technology for Liberty Center Schools in Liberty Center, Ohio. “These include multiple mobile labs, classroom iPads and a BYOD (bring your own device) policy. Before we installed PrintMe Mobile, printing from our devices was an inconvenient and painstaking process. Students and teachers had to email documents to themselves from their mobile devices in order access and print them from a computer. With PrintMe Mobile, not only is printing much quicker and easier, but our administrators appreciate how simple the solution is to manage, as well.”