Google Apps is a set of applications that have become the technological backbone for many schools. Google Apps is a set of communication and collaboration tools that have been combined to provide a cohesive learning/collaborating environment. This environment has been created for both the K-12 and postsecondary levels.
Great thing about Google Apps for Education is that it is free. Schools can put a great deal of their IT communication and collaboration tools in The Cloud. This means that Google has to worry about how to keep your system running 24/7.
Presently the tools include:
Presently the tools include:
Communication Tools:
- Gmail
- Google Clendar
- Google Talk
- Google Wave
Collaboration Tools
- Google Docs
- Google Sites
- Google Video for Education
- Google Groups
This is just a quick posting to get the discussion going. Here are some resources you might want to use to learn more about it.
- Google Video on Google Apps (10 min)
- Google Apps opening page
- Improving School Communication with Google (Edutopia)
- Google Apps in Education Webinar (30 min)
- Google Apps for Education Overview (Kathy Schrock Article)
What about you?
Are you using Google Apps? How long have you used it? How has it changed your method of operations? What have been the advantages? What about the disadvantages? What other resources can you recommend?