To support her master\u2019s thesis in sociology, Sylvia de- veloped a project that brought together students \ue001rom a high school in downtown Chicago with students \ue001rom Monroe High School in Monroe, Wisconsin. Despite be- ing just a two-hour drive away, the schools were worlds apart culturally, and the project\u2019s goal was to investigate attitudes that students in each school held about those at the other. The instrument \ue001or the project was a \ue000ction- writing exercise in which a group o\ue001 students at each school would write a story set in the other school\u2019s town. As the stories developed, the students at each school would review and make edits to the story \ue001rom the other school. Both schools su\ue001\ue001ered \ue001rom outdated computers with a range o\ue001 so\ue001tware (though all o\ue001 it was PC-based) and no prospect o\ue001 district \ue001unding \ue001or hardware or so\ue001t- 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\ue001 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 le\ue001t the story ideas and development entirely up to the students. Once a week, the two groups would \u201ctrade\u201d papers, seeing how the story\u2014ostensibly aboutthe m\u2014 was progressing and making comments in the \ue000le itsel\ue001 about how their town and its culture di\ue001\ue001ered \ue001rom the story\u2019s portrayal. Sylvia also reviewed the \ue000les and made her own suggestions. Because all o\ue001 the writing and re- viewing happened through web browsers, there were no problems with \ue000le compatibility, and Google Docs kept a record o\ue001 the many versions o\ue001 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 \ue000les and the so\ue001tware to work on them, which was vital because many o\ue001 the students could not a\ue001\ue001ord to buy traditional so\ue001tware. Sylvia spent spring break vis- iting her \ue001amily in Arizona and, without having to take her computer, could access and comment on the sto- ries \ue001rom there. The ability to share documents\u2014and to communicate\u2014with others, regardless o\ue001 plat\ue001orm or so\ue001tware, allowed Sylvia\u2019s 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 \ue001or their di\ue001\ue001erences\u2014and their similarities.

Google Apps is a collection o\ue001 web-based programs and \ue000le stor- age that run in a web browser, without requiring users to buy or install so\ue001tware. Users can simply log in to the service to access their \ue000les and the tools to manipulate them. The o\ue001\ue001erings include communication tools (Gmail, Google Talk, and Google Calendar), productivity tools (Google Docs: text \ue000les, spreadsheets, and presentations), a customizable start page (iGoogle), and Google Sites (to develop web pages). The tools are \ue001ree, or users can pay \ue001or a Premium Edition that adds more storage space and other \ue001eatures. Alternatively, an Education Edition includes most o\ue001 the extras in the Premium Edition and is o\ue001\ue001ered at no cost to K\u201312 and higher education. Google Apps allows institutions to use their own domain name with the service and to customize the inter\ue001ace to refect the branding o\ue001 that institution. In this way, a college or university can o\ue001\ue001er the \ue001unctionality o\ue001 Google Apps in a package (and with a URL) that is \ue001amiliar and com\ue001ortable to constituents.

Since its launch, Gmail has been a popular choice among stu- dents\u2014higher education as well as K\u201312\u2014and many o\ue001 these same students are users o\ue001 Google Apps. For them, being able to access their documents \ue001rom any Internet-connected computer, without having to worry about so\ue001tware versions or compatibility, \ue000ts well with their always-connected, just-in-time li\ue001estyles. Many \ue001aculty, however, have been hesitant to store their \ue000les on some- one else\u2019s servers, given perceived concerns over security and the stewardship o\ue001 their data. Some institutions have adopted Gmail \ue001or student and alumni accounts while maintaining in- house mail services \ue001or \ue001aculty and sta\ue001\ue001. Still, a number o\ue001 col- leges and universities have migrated to Google Apps, o\ue001ten only \ue001or e-mail but increasingly \ue001or the entire suite o\ue001 communication and productivity tools.

All o\ue001 the applications in Google Apps work through a web browser. Users must have a Google account and, once logged in, can ac- cess \ue001amiliar\u2014i\ue001 scaled-down\u2014\ue001unctionality \ue001or word-processing, calendaring, chat, and other tools. Google Docs, \ue001or example, allows basic \ue001ormatting o\ue001 text documents but without higher-level \ue001unctions (such as style sheets and templates) \ue001ound in traditional so\ue001tware. Spreadsheets support \ue001ormulas and simple \ue001unctions but not macros or the creation o\ue001 \ue000gures and tables. Each \ue000le has a creator/owner, who determines who is allowed to access the \ue000le,

\u00a9 EDUCAUSE 2008
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License.