Sunday, December 05, 2010

Google Apps Expanding


I have been trying to convince people for a while that education could harness the power of Google Apps.  There is even a branch of the Google Apps Marketplace just for education, called, oddly enough  Google Apps for Education.  Here is an bog post from Google that explains the new offerings in Google Apps, Ten times more applications for Google Apps customers.  I think the embedded video here should quell the fears of most information technology service divisions of educational institutions.  There is also a security white paper in PDF form for those afraid that Google owns their data once they sign up.  They do not and they do not keep you from taking it with you if your institution leaves the service and they do not share it with outside business or advertisers.
With all that said, the real power of these apps is in integration and the collaboration that can occur between colleagues.  I have recently found an affiliate company that runs a web based project management software called Many Moon that sits on top of or works very closely with Google Docs, part of the Google App suite.  Many Moon is extremely useful and an absolute treasure find in a market flooded with productivity tools.  I will be writing a post very shortly on the benefits I found using this service.  I hope you find this information helpful and I look forward to your comments and questions.

3 comments:

patti said...

Hi Kyle, I think you make an interesting case for using Google apps for education. My questions are these: what is the push back from educational institutions? Is it solely in around the area of security and who owns the material? And secondly, are there institutions that are using this feature? Being a pioneer takes a healthy does of 'guts'! Perhaps knowing that 'they are doing that too' can help to sway the others who are curious, progressive yet apprehensive.
Does google apps have a method to address video work submitted by students?
thanks
patti

Unknown said...

I am sorry it took me so long to respond. There are institutions that are using these apps and they can be found here. Also, there are security questions addressed here. It does take some guts to be a pioneer. That is one reason why many bloggers address fears with how to sessions and more. Perhapse I will do just that and alleviate some fears. Thank you for leaving a comment and once again sorry for the delay. TheInstructionalDesignGuy

Unknown said...
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