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7 things you should know about...Google Apps

ScenarioTo support her masters thesis in sociology, Sylvia de-

veloped a project that brought together students rom

a high school in downtown Chicago with students rom

Monroe High School in Monroe, Wisconsin. Despite be-

ing just a two-hour drive away, the schools were worlds

apart culturally, and the projects goal was to investigate

attitudes that students in each school held about those

at the other. The instrument or the project was a ction-

writing exercise in which a group o students at each

school would write a story set in the other schools town.

As the stories developed, the students at each school

would review and make edits to the story rom the other

school. Both schools suered rom outdated computers

with a range o sotware (though all o it was PC-based)

and no prospect o district unding or hardware or sot-

ware improvements. Sylvia was a dyed-in-the-wool Mac

user, which presented another compatibility concern.

They all had Internet connections, however, at least at

school, and most o the students selected to participate

also had Gmail accounts.

Sylvia set up blank documents on Google Docs and

granted access to the participating students. She let

the story ideas and development entirely up to the

students. Once a week, the two groups would trade

papers, seeing how the storyostensibly about them

was progressing and making comments in the le itsel

about how their town and its culture diered rom the

storys portrayal. Sylvia also reviewed the les and made

her own suggestions. Because all o the writing and re-

viewing happened through web browsers, there were

no problems with le compatibility, and Google Docs

kept a record o the many versions o each story. Initially,

Sylvia thought she and the students would keep in touch

using Gmail, but the students soon began using Google

Talk among themselves, so Sylvia did too. Those stu-

dents who had Internet access at home could access

the les and the sotware to work on them, which was

vital because many o the students could not aord tobuy traditional sotware. Sylvia spent spring break vis-

iting her amily in Arizona and, without having to take

her computer, could access and comment on the sto-

ries rom there. The ability to share documentsand

to communicatewith others, regardless o platorm

or sotware, allowed Sylvias project to succeed. Stu-

dents in both groups saw how stereotypes infuenced

their ideas about urban and rural culture, and they came

away with an appreciation or their dierencesand

their similarities.

What is it?Google Apps is a collection o web-based programs and le stor-

age that run in a web browser, without requiring users to buy or

install sotware. Users can simply log in to the service to access

their les and the tools to manipulate them. The oerings include

communication tools (Gmail, Google Talk, and Google Calendar),

productivity tools (Google Docs: text les, spreadsheets, and

presentations), a customizable start page (iGoogle), and Google

Sites (to develop web pages). The tools are ree, or users can pay

or a Premium Edition that adds more storage space and other

eatures. Alternatively, an Education Edition includes most o the

extras in the Premium Edition and is oered at no cost to K12

and higher education. Google Apps allows institutions to use their

own domain name with the service and to customize the interace

to refect the branding o that institution. In this way, a college or

university can oer the unctionality o Google Apps in a package

(and with a URL) that is amiliar and comortable to constituents.

Whos doing it?Since its launch, Gmail has been a popular choice among stu-

dentshigher education as well as K12and many o these

same students are users o Google Apps. For them, being able to

access their documents rom any Internet-connected computer,

without having to worry about sotware versions or compatibility,

ts well with their always-connected, just-in-time liestyles. Many

aculty, however, have been hesitant to store their les on some-

one elses servers, given perceived concerns over security and

the stewardship o their data. Some institutions have adopted

Gmail or student and alumni accounts while maintaining in-

house mail services or aculty and sta. Still, a number o col-

leges and universities have migrated to Google Apps, oten only

or e-mail but increasingly or the entire suite o communication

and productivity tools.

How does it work?All o the applications in Google Apps work through a web browser.

Users must have a Google account and, once logged in, can ac-

cess amiliari scaled-downunctionality or word-processing,

calendaring, chat, and other tools. Google Docs, or example,allows basic ormatting o text documents but without higher-level

unctions (such as style sheets and templates) ound in traditional

sotware. Spreadsheets support ormulas and simple unctions

but not macros or the creation o gures and tables. Each le has

a creator/owner, who determines who is allowed to access the le,

more

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March 2008

Google Apps

either as a viewer (with read-only rights) or a collaborator (who can

change the le). Because Google stores all o the les and content

centrally, collaboration and document management become ar

simpler than when distributing les to multiple people and keeping

track o dierent versions. For a text document, or example, the

application maintains the le, allowing authorized users to see oredit the text while keeping track o all the changes and who makes

them. This version history is available and allows comparing any

two versions o the document. Similarly, the content in a users

calendar can easily be shared with other users, and Google Sites

provides a simple tool or groups to collaborate on developing web

pages or whole websites. When a le is complete, it can be pub-

lished, which gives it a unique URL, or it can be exported. In the

case o a text document, export options include PDF, Word, RTF,

OpenOce, and others. A spreadsheet can be expor ted as a PDF,

a text le, or an .xls le, among others. Much o the Google Apps

unctionality is available on mobile devices.

Why is it signifcant?Particularly or higher education, the notion o providing sotware

to constituents as services rather than as products oers several

key benets. Such an approach transers responsibility or sot-

ware updates and maintenance away rom the institutional IT

department, reeing IT sta rom a considerable amount o sot-

ware support. The resources saved can be directed at making

the IT department more innovative and agile, attributes that are

increasingly important in responding to rising student expecta-

tions o technology on campus. Sharing content is as simple as

granting someone access, which acilitates collaboration without

having to transer les or worry about sotware compatibility. The

limited unctionality available through Google Apps is sucient orthe needs o most users, who have access to their les and related

sotware any place they have a computer and an Internet con-

nection. In addition, Google Apps can work with existing single

sign-on programs, and hardware (and hardware ailures) becomes

less o a concern.

Although Google is not the only provider o web-based applica-

tions, it is in a strong position to make this concept acceptable to

a broader audience, in part because o the cost savings it oers

and in part because o Googles reputation as a good citizen.

Google is seen as responsive to the concerns o its users and as a

company that is not likely to disappear overnight.

What are the downsides? The greatest concern about Google Apps and similar services

is the loss o control. Because access rights are shared across

the service, users relyto some extenton how careully others

protect their login credentials. Even though providing e-mail and

other applications is complex and expensive, many in academia

see this as a core responsibility o the IT department. Given con-

cerns about long-term availability, security, and privacy, storing

les, e-mail, calendar entries, and other content on non-institu-

tional servers is a deal-breaker or some colleges and universities.

From an administrative standpoint, Google doesnt oer as much

granularity in managing user accounts as many institutions want

and need. For users, the menus and tools are not consistent rom

one application to another, and applications running over the web

do not work as smoothly and predictably as those running locally.Users who nd themselves without an Internet connection cannot

access the applications or their les.

Where is it going?Google owns several companies including YouTube and Grand-

Central, and Google Apps may see increased integration across

the amily o Google companies. GrandCentral, or instance, gives

users a single phone number that, when called, will ring on any o

the users phones. All o that persons contacts can use the same

number, even i that person graduates or transers to another insti-

tution, changes jobs, or otherwise changes numbers. Google may

incorporate these and other tools into Google Apps, and we maysee more integration with applications outside the Google amily.

Because each new added eature aects the speed o the service,

however, Google will need to balance complexity with perormance.

In addition, Google is said to be working on ofine unctionality,

which would allow users to access the sotware and their les even

when not connected to the Internet.

What are the implications orteaching and learning?While the nancial incentives to use Google Apps might compel

a university to try it, the benets or building a more collaborative

teaching and learning environment could be the reason to stay.

These benets potentially include peer review o academic work

and the ability to observe and participate in the creation o schol-

arly material. Todays students are generally comortable sharing

content and collectively generating knowledge. The Google Apps

model o application delivery and le storage provides a set o tools

and an inrastructure to make this happen. By leveraging student

interest in and use o such tools, institutions might be able to en-

courage more experimentation with collaborative learning. Google

Apps also acilitates sharing o inormation such as syllabi, and it

oers an easy way to publish student work. Google Apps allows

students and instructors to orget about the tools and ocus on

creative ways to use technology in their disciplines.

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