Why Schools Need Bigger Copier Budgets
In this video, Dr. Justin Baeder discusses why schools should spend more on paper and copying as instruction shifts away from devices.
Key Takeaways
- Budget For Paper - If students are doing more learning with pencil and paper, schools need copier and paper budgets that match instructional reality.
- Learning Comes First - Saving money on paper should not take priority over using the materials that help students learn better.
- Devices Aren’t Equivalent - Dr. Baeder argues that technology does not work as well for most student work, especially in the younger grades.
- Stop Policing Copies - Restricting teachers to tiny paper allotments or requiring permission to copy creates unnecessary barriers to learning.
- Use Paper Responsibly - Schools should avoid waste, but not at the expense of effective instruction.
Transcript
We're gonna have to increase copier budgets. This is a year when parents are opting out of technology. Schools are putting away the technology. They might not get rid of it completely. But for the most part, we are going to see a big shift away from learning on devices and back to learning with pencil and paper. And that means more paper.
That means more copies. That means a bigger copier budget. And, like, yes, that's gonna be a little bit hard for people to accept because we're used to the idea of saving money on paper. We're trying to conserve paper. That actually was not that great a goal. Conserving paper should not have been our primary goal.
Paper, like, yes, is not super cheap. It does cost money. But it is worth it. We know now that it is worth the expense to have paper and pencil learning. Because on devices, it does not work as well. Technology does not work as well.
Students need to be doing most of their work, especially in the younger grades, on paper. So we got a budget for that paper. And I think the concerns that we had about, you know, the environment and the cost and everything... We have to weigh that against learning, right?
Paper is a renewable resource. Trees grow on trees. Paper grows on trees. Uh, it is a renewable resource. You know, we're not cutting down rainforests to grow paper. These are all sustainably harvested, you know, for the most part.
Sustainably managed forests. The paper companies know that they need to not run out of trees. So I think we're going to be okay on that. Growing trees is a good thing. And not that we should waste paper, but school is for learning. School is not for promoting technology or conserving paper.
So if it takes a lot of paper to learn, I'm okay with that. And I especially think the policing of copier use has gone way overboard. Like, the idea that, oh, you can only have one ream of paper per month, or you have to get special permission to make copies. Like, let teachers use the copier. Let them have as much paper as they need, Budget for it, and let's remove that from the equation so it's not a barrier to learning. Let me know what you think.