Schools have always struggled with the high cost of textbooks and since they constantly need new information and updates, schools have always struggled with the cost of textbooks. Educational technology has come a long way and there has always been a preconception that it costs a lot of money to equip schools with the right educational technology. As an initial investment, educational technology came at a high price, but in the long run it will save schools a lot of money. At the Escambia County School District in Pensacola, Florida, they found that new software called Destiny Textbook Manager has seen significant savings and reduced textbook losses by incorporating this program into their schools.

Destiny Textbook Manager is new software that is a centralized browser-based system that manages all educational textbooks in a web-based system. Not only does this save schools a lot of money, it saves taxpayers a lot of money, which helps everyone. The great thing about this new software is that it manages the textbook order from schools and has everything organized in one system. This eliminates the risk of spending a lot of money on textbooks and taking financial hits to the school. Not only is this great because of the organization and peace of mind it gives schools, but the attrition factor is handled perfectly. If students write in textbooks, highlight them, rip out pages, spill things on them, or damage them in any way, they have Destiny Textbook Manger create an accurate damage assessment so schools don’t lose out financially. .

Since the product came out nearly five years ago, Destiny Textbook Manager has saved districts at least $500,000 per district. This is a huge savings and the schools find that the initial investment in the product was well worth it. A couple of ways this new software saves schools money is that it eliminates over-ordering and book piling. Schools have a problem that they overorder textbooks that are never used and then become obsolete, but with this new system, schools only order the number of books they actually need per student. They can also effectively monitor and track textbook transfers across different school locations. Instead of sending books to other schools, schools can use the textbook manager to avoid confusion and create seamless textbook transfers. The program also ensures that students have the correct textbooks for their classes. School officials can type in the name of the class, and the program compiles a list of the correct and up-to-date materials students need for that class. A news law in Florida has also prevented students or their parents from getting lazy by protecting their textbooks. Because students or their parents don’t pay for textbooks, sometimes liability for items falls short, but with this new law, if a student loses or has his textbooks stolen, he and his parents are responsible for 100% of the cost of the textbook instead of just 50%. Educational technology is amazing and not only helps save schools and taxpayers money in the long run, it helps keep schools running smoothly.