UConn, Harvard cozy up to Google
The University of Connecticut is now using Google Apps for Education, while Harvard is employing Gmail for student e-mail accounts.
Google is making major inroads in the education sector.
The company announced yesterday that the University of Connecticut has initiated a changeover to Google Apps for Education. According to David Gilbertson, the school's chief information officer, the search giant's platform will be used for the students' "e-mail and calendar platform."
"After contacting other major universities which recently moved students to Google Apps, we are confident that this change will bring significant benefits and cost savings to the university as a whole," Gilbertson recently wrote on the university's Web site.
Harvard is also getting in on the action. The school's official newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, reported earlier this week that undergraduate students at Harvard College with a "college.harvard.edu" address will see their e-mail platform transition to Gmail starting August 15.
According to the Crimson, all students since the class of 2013 have used the "college.harvard.edu" address, but "many" of the students in the class of 2012 are using the old "fas.harvard.edu" address, which is not supported in the changeover.
Google Apps for Education has been growing rapidly. According to the service's Web site, more than 12 million students and teachers are currently using the platform, which delivers e-mail, calendaring, and Google Docs, among other products.
For Harvard, the switch to Gmail shouldn't be too much of a change for students. According to the Crimson, 80 percent of Harvard students are already using Gmail for personal use.