Google Apps on Campus?
Arizona State University, in a move designed to assist a project to increase the number of resident students by almost 40%, has hooked up with Google to provide Google Apps to their students. Students will have access to Google Apps such as calendar, instant messaging, and search. The interesting part of this venture is that the university will move from spending a half-million dollars a year on servers, storage, and administration for its current open source email system to a new cost of zero dollars.
By choosing Google Apps standard edition ASU is avoiding the extra cost of $50 per user had they gone with Google's premium edition. Features of the premium edition include phone support, additional storage, administration tools, and integration capabilities.
Many people wonder if Google Apps will actually replace Word, Excel, and other Microsoft applications. Google describes their tools as complementary so far and state that they are interoperable with Microsoft's apps. In the case of ASU, students and faculty will have their choice of using either set of apps, or both together.
Time will tell if CVTC or other colleges will follow in the footsteps of ASU. Our own students have already participated in a "product testing" of the gmail email application as part of an in-class project for Information Architecture.
The Information Technology Club has access to gmail invites for anyone that does not currently have a gmail account. If you are interested in a gmail account please contact us and we will forward an invite to you.
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