How often do you print in color? For a long time, color printer ink has been a luxury for many consumers. It was reserved for special events – DIY wedding invitations, business proposals or the occasional digital photo.
But in education, the link between color printouts and comprehension – as well as engagement – has been shown to be strong. A report from Xerox highlighted the following data:
- Fifty-four percent of students are more likely to read a handout that’s printed in color
- Nearly seven in 10 students can better comprehend new information when delivered through a color format
- More than three-quarters of students report having better information recall when they read it on a color page
The Impact of Color in the Classroom
Spiceworks, a business providing IT professionals and technology vendors with products and resources, hosted a video with a printing expert from HP and psychologies whose experiences are unique to the discussion of color printing and education.
“It makes content look that much richer, and it’s more memorable – there are lots of reasons for printing in color,” said Nigel Smith, HP Americas PageWide Product Manager and a 15-year veteran of the printing industry.
In addition, students with special needs or learning disorders benefit from color printing in the classroom.
“One of the most common accommodations that we use for students with dyslexia is colored transparency overlays that go over the text they’re reading,” explained Dr. Han Ren, a licensed clinical and school psychologist from Austin, Texas. “The idea is that this reduces the contrast between the text and the background, and that improves the readability of the text, that reduces the eye strain and that, in turn, improves concentration and reading comprehension.”
In her role, she helps diagnose learning disorders and emotional disturbances to help support teachers and parents in providing students with special needs. She also taught pre-K special education for three years in the Teach for America program.
“So, one of the most common things that we do is provide students with colored overlays in their optimal color – each student has an individualized color that they tend to respond the best to,” Ren said.
As a result, they are better able to focus on the text and reduced the amount of garbled text that appears.
How to Bring More Color to the Classroom
Budgets of school districts and individual schools vary widely across the United States, which can push educators to create ad-hoc solutions.
For instance, a teacher in a low-income district may need to bring his or her own inkjet printer into the classroom to create color materials. According to Smith, this isn’t all that uncommon, but it can expose the school to IT security risks by having a network of non-secure printers. Meanwhile, there’s a lack of consistency between classrooms.
Purchasing color printer ink cartridges at a lower cost is one easy fix. Cartridge World offers consumers high-quality ink and toner cartridges at up to 30 percent off the standard retail cost. We also offer unbiased, individualized printer advice, helping you understand which device will best suit your needs.
To find a local Cartridge World store near you, visit us here.
