SOAS adopts Google Apps for Education
29 May 2008
SOAS breaks new ground as the first university in the UK to deploy Google Apps for Education—an integrated email, messaging and calendaring solution hosted by Google—for the School’s staff and students.
The advantages of the Google solution, as identified by SOAS technology department and user groups throughout the School are an improved email system; electronic calendaring for the first time at SOAS; shared document creation and editing for staff and students; and eventually Google Chat functionality to provide more accessible tutorial support for students.
Arizona State University is one of the universities in the U.S. already using Google Apps for Education. Technology officer Adrian Sannier commented: “ASU also realized that we’d benefit from Google’s unique approach to software development and deployment, where Google’s perpetual innovation process will bring a steady stream of improvements and new products to the solution, deployed without disrupting the user experience.”
Email and calendaring services will be implemented in the next three months. Once these are in place, SOAS will introduce Google Docs and Google Chat functionality into the SOAS solution, with an estimated implementation timeline of three to six months from September.
SOAS is excited to be on the front line introducing this integrated set of communication and collaboration applications.
For more information, visit Google Apps for Education.
