I have been looking to get my colleagues involved with web2.0 tools and thought Google apps would be the easiest and most beneficial method of doing it. Your post gives me all the tools I need to get this done. Thanks a million!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m quite pleased with our new system, especially considering what we had in firstclass. There is a false perception that you own the data less when using a cloud based environment like Google…after the experience of transitioning away from Firstclass, I can report that we actually had FAR LESS control of our data in firstclass in comparison to Google even though the firstclass mail server lived on our own network. This is due to the fact that Firstclass is terrible in terms of standards compliance. It was impossible to migrate user mailboxes out of firstclass into google because Firstclass doesn’t use standards communications protocols. If at some point in the future we decided to migrate away from Google, the transition will be much easier as Google is compliant with modern standards and protocols.

If filtering is a big question for you right now, just know that Google currently offers postini filtering to K12 public/non profits for free right now.

I don’t think you want to compare google docs word processor to open office, MS Word, Pages, or other desktop publishing apps. Google Docs is a word processor replacement indeed, but it is definitely NOT a desktop publishing replacement. I definitely believe that schools no longer need to purchase a costly office suite like MS Word when powerful free options like IBM Symphony and Open Offfice exist.

I get your point about perceptions of anything one doesn’t pay for (or pay as much for) being substandard. This year when we rolled out our netbook tablets, I heard from a couple of students that their parents thought we were using “substandard” hardware. These kids, quite happy with the machines they were using, had to defend the hardware to their parents. Really, it was a product of some of our own making. We’d had a laptop program for years and had been using “professional grade” laptops – far more machine (and more expense) than kids needed or than was necessary in the classroom. We’d been told we needed this level of laptop for durability. Now that we finally found hardware that was made SPECIFICALLY for kids and was much more affordable, parents thought it was substandard. Price doesn’t necessarily buy quality or support. It’s the same with software – so many people are tied to expensive tools because of their perception that expensive is better. I doubt we can change the perception overnight, but the concept of “platform agnostic” tools reframes the discussion in a more thoughtful way.

I’m curious how the same parents would react to Moodle (an freely available, opensource and yet high-quality tool) instead of Blackboard or Linux instead of Windows…

For some time I have been pushing toward the use of alternative office apps in schools. Few can argue that Google apps, OpenOffice, or Zoho Office provide students will all the productivity tools they can possibly need without the costs of MSOffice (I know that MSOffice is coming out with a free online versions, so this may jump into the mix).

I thinks the problem with schoolwide implementation of these alternatives is not one of capability, but one of perception. Teachers and parents feel that students are using a substandard product. Use of alternatives also threatens the comfort we have with what we have always used.

Rather than move to one or another alternative, I wish we could develop a “platform agnostic” approach to tools. We don’t prescribe the type of pen a student uses to write a traditional assignment, similarly we need to adopt a common standard for submissions (.doc is fine, .docx must die!) and allow students to get there by their own path.

With Google Apps we finally have a name that most people recognize and respect (when I say Zoho, people cross their eyes). On top of this, the sharing and collaborating tools might finally intrigue some into taking a look outside the microsoft box.

Tear down the walls!