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Doing It Cheaper With Technology

By: John K. Waters

1/1/2009

Saving Staff Time and Paper

Not only does web-conferencing software enable a district to not have to pay travel costs of bringing in professionaldevelopment experts, but it can also offer tremendous savings on personnel costs associated with professional development delivery. Julie A. Bohnenkamp, director of technology for Center Grove Community School Corporation in Greenwood, Indiana, says web conferencing software has cut significant PD-related expenses for substitute teachers and/or time after school.

Using web portals for collaboration, information sharing, and services, rather than depending solely on faceto- face interactions with school staff, is widely seen as cost-cutter tech, says Bill Rust, research director at IT industry analyst firm Gartner, Inc. Monte Cassino School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for example, is turning to the web to schedule parent-teacher conferences, asking parents to update their own information online.

"We used to have someone enter that data, and it took several weeks during the summer to update all of it," says Nancy Stutsman, Monte Cassino's director of technology. "Having parents do it has helped us to reduce the costs of paper and time."

The school is using web-based applications "to be as paperless as possible." The school distributes all grade information, most notices, and a range of forms via email, and it publishes its handbook online. The school sends out its weekly newsletter by e-mail. And instead of a printed directory, the school uses a web-based, searchable parent-student directory.

Some districts are even using the new social networking platforms (Face- Book, MySpace, and tons of others) to cut the costs of connecting teachers, students, and parents, Monte Cassino among them. "We are looking at using social networking sites to improve communication (over mailings) with our young alums," Stutsman says.

Saving on Software

With the emergence of free, open-source applications that actually work, teachers and administrators are starting to gravitate toward so-called freeware. Applications such as Open Office or the web-based Google Docs offer so much of the functionality found in Microsoft's large and expensive Office productivity suite that it's difficult to justify the expense of the program, says Bohnenkamp. "We are exploring all types of open source software in lieu of expensive licenses," she says.

The new generation of web-based applications epitomized by Google Docs is part of what is called "cloud computing," because these programs exist online only. The advent of online-only software also helps free schools from platform lock-in. If all you need to run your app is a browser, your operating system is no longer a limitation.