Google has managed to do one thing no other company has managed to do, and that is persuade educationalists and education authorities that using its apps is the future.
I have to say, creating a whole section devoted to education is quite remarkable. After all, the cloud software is essentially no different from that used by businesses and home users.
So what are the benefits for using Google Apps in Education, particularly Gmail?
One very important reason, I think, why the applications are suitable in schools is that children already use them at home. In fact, when owning an email account became popular it was cloud-based services such as Hotmail and Yahoo! that were the first to be used. It was only later when Google introduced its own service that Gmail took off.
Another valid reason is that by using such apps, it frees up IT activities. In fact, in-house email services for instance can slow everything down especially when large numbers of staff and students are sending and receiving emails at the same time. Using Gmail prevents this.
A major overall reason for using Gmail is cost. It is cheap to use. It also frees up money that would otherwise have to be spent on maintaining an in-house infrastructure; not to mention paying out for licences.
This was the one thing that one USA University found attractive. When asked the reason for switching to Gmail, Eric Hawley, Utah State University Associate Vice President for Technology told google.com: “…Had we not gone with the Google solution, we’d be looking at proposing a significant increase in student fees.”
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