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While the focus of most of our grants are the high-tech tools like HP Tablet PCs, for the last several funding rounds we've been including HP DesignJet wide-format printers. "What would we do with a wide-format printer at school?" Glad you asked. Here are some ideas - including ways to get the ink to pay for itself...

Poster Presentations instead of PowerPoint

The first time I was introduced to the idea of wide-format printing (24" or wider) in a school setting was from Chris Heumann, a middle school teacher who received an HP DesignJet printer from HP Labs. The experiment was, among other things, an exploration of the instructional uses of wide-format prints. Chris had already been asking students to create PowerPoints to support their science project presentations. With the HP DesignJet in hand, he decided to assign each student the task of creating their presentations in the form of a 2' x 3' poster instead. The posters were all hung around the room, and each student would, in turn, stand by their poster and describe their findings. The teacher immediately saw the following benefits:

• He saved instructional time - Between the "come-up-and-share-your-powerpoint" switch-over time, and students' tendency to NOT be succinct with PowerPoint, the time consumed was much greater than simply "stand-by-your-poster-and-talk". Given that he had multiple sections of the same class, he said he saved 2 days of instruction!
• Student learning artifacts persisted - Because he could leave their projects on the wall, students could continue to revisit and reflect on what they were learning... and it sure made parent visits more impressive. It goes without saying that the battery life of paper is essentially endless.

 Of course other types of "poster presentations" and student projects are possible in many disciplines: 

• Science - Science Fair Posters
• Math - Key geometric ideas; My Favorite Polyhedron
• Engineering Design - Computer-Aided Drafting (CAD) renderings
• Language Arts - Design & display your own print advertisements or magazine covers
• History - Illustrated timelines
• Student Government - even out the playing field for students running for student government
• Photography Club - large prints are a great way to create a stunning photography exhibition

School Fundraising - Sell Custom Banners and Posters

For educators on a tight budget (who isn't?) and concerned about the cost of ink, consider what some schools are doing - selling posters and banners to parents and the community at large. The income from the printed "products" could easily cover the ongoing instructional cost of supplies. Plus, this entrepreneurial approach is a great entrepreneurial experience for students who are interested in learning how to run a small business. The possibilities are endless: 

• Homecoming Highlights - A collage of football and prom stars, perhaps?
• Student Art Reproductions - Invite the community to your next art show - and give them a chance to go home with a reproduction of their favorites (great holiday gifts, too!)
• Custom Banners for local businesses, Chamber of Commerce events, or private parties
• Favorite School Memories - Why should the Yearbook Club wait to the end of the year to share fantastic photos? Why not print and sell selected photos to promote the yearbook?

Tools and Tips

It doesn't have to cost a lot to get started. Here are some tools that may be helpful:

• If you already have PowerPoint, you can do simple poster or banner designs by changing the Page Setup and specifying a larger page size (FYI, standard ANSI paper sizes are A = 8 1/2 x 11"; B = 11 x 17; C = 17 x 22; D = 22 x 34; E = 34 x 44; see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_size for additional paper sizes)
• Chris says, don't put the HP DesignJet printer in the teachers' room or administrative offices - put it in one of the teacher's rooms where it is more likely to get used by the students and other teachers.
• If you have the Adobe Digital School Suite of software, you've got all the tools you need; if not, try GIMP, the free open-source GNU Image Manipulation Program
• HP DesignJet Template Software by Serif makes it VERY easy to create posters and very long banners (which is hard to do in PowerPoint).

If you have a question or tips of your own, please post a comment! I'd love to hear from you...

Jim Vanides, B.S.M.E, M.Ed.
Worldwide Education Programs
HP Global Social Investment
Hewlett-Packard
Twitter @jgvanides

For information about the HP Global Social Investments, visit www.hp.com/hpinfo/grants