BFTP: Things I'm glad I know about - Photoshop capabilities

Original post July 31, 2009

A tale of two e-mail systems

In my first few days on the new job, I heard from several people "Please get rid of our district's two e-mail system!" And they cited the confusion, miscommunications, and time-consuming nature of the dual system. And over the past few days, I've learned to feel their pain.

When Gmail was introduced to the district a few years ago, the decision was made to keep Outlook/Exchange in place for "official communications." The reason I was given was that Gmail was not secure and could not be effectively archived. My hunch is that a lot of Outlook users (this is a PC district) did not want to lose the familiar and powerful desktop client for e-mail and calendaring. And I understand completely the reluctance of overworked people to learn a new system.

We'll do a short poll of staff next week asking if they would prefer one system or two for doing e-mail. Were I a betting man, I'd give odds on the one system preference being overwhelming. The trick will be choosing the system that will best suit the teaching and learning needs of both staff and students, making the transition as pain-free as possible, and assuring everyone of the security and reliablity of the new system.

In my professional opinion based on past experience and gazing into my crystal ball, the choice is clear - shut down Outlook/Exchange and move everyone to Gmail. Here's why:

1. Computing is going cloud-based and Gmail offers a superior, platform neutral web-based e-mail and client system. The web-client for Outlook/Exchange is woefully under-powered. And for e-mail o be used in any location with any type of device, a good cloud-based client is critical. To take full advantage of e-mail or the calendar, staff and students shouldn't need a PC running Office at home, on personal devices, or on a school computer.
2. E-mail and calendaring needs to work in hand with other online productivity tools. Yes, there is Office 365, but last I looked it was expensive, clunky, and not widely adopted by K-12 schools. (When is the last time you saw a "Using Office 365 in Your Classroom" session at a educational tech conference?) 
3. The adoption of GoogleApps by all staff will help create a culture of sharing, collaboration, and cloud-based storage/access/productivity throughout the district. As administrators model the use, teachers will be more likely to adopt the practice in their own work - both collegially and with students.
4. If we want to make our students "career and college ready", we should be using a system, the argument goes, that will be used once they leave K-12. This has been a popular argument with Microsoft proponents, but I think it has two problems. The first is that Gmail is used by a lot of post-secondary institutions and a growing number of businesses. (See quotes below.) Second, by the time any kid below 10th grade graduates, e-mail, calendars, and productivity will probably look very different regardless of program. We need to be teaching transferable skills, not programs. Period.
5. We can lower out operating costs. Yes, we may need to pay for archiving (still looking for state/national laws on this) but by not supporting an in-house e-mail server and back-up, lower tech support time needed to maintain the system, not paying for Office licenses, using GoogleDrive for storage instead of internal servers, and being able to use Chromeboxes/Chromebooks instead of full-blown PCs, the cost savings will be significant, I predict. Less tech funds going to infrastructure and more going to getting kids access to equipment should be a goal of every school.
6. Long-range training on GoogleApps is easier. Google's strategy of making small changes on an ongoing basis instead of doing huge major releases with major changes, helps users adjust and not need re-training when new versions come out.
7. Google offers some powerful tools to aid the transition from Outlook to Gmail. Contacts, saved e-mail, calendar events, and such can be exported and re-imported into Gmail from Outlook.

 Since no one has yet made me tech czar, only tech director, this change will need finessing. If it proves unpopular, the next greeter you see at Wal-mart just might be me. 

If you've made this transformation, please share your experiences. Or tell me why a dual e-mail system should be continued. Thanks.

Image source 

Almost 1 out of 5 companies have deployed Google Apps in some form according to a study conducted by White Stratus. http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/google-in-the-enterprise/a-study-shows-that-almost-20-of-companies-use-google-apps/

66 of the Top 100 schools (according to US News & World Report ) are using Google Apps for Education. http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/landing/top100schools/

... the entire state of Oregon has “gone Google” in K-12. Every school there is replacing traditional Microsoft applications with Google and the state is saving over $1.5 million a year in IT costs (no installations, no fees, no updates, etc…). If that isn’t enough the whole country of Malaysia just decided to do the same

I recently came across this blog post that gives several more interesting stats (and a great infographic) on how rapidly Google Apps for Education are growing in the US and beyond. A few things that stood out:

• Over 25 million (see graph – as of August 2013) students are using Google Apps for Education. This number has doubled in 2 years.
• 72 of the top 100 universities are using Google Apps for Education
• Oregon was the first state to offer GAFE to all K-12 students. More are jumping on board including Wisconsin, Colorado and Iowa. <http://blog.texthelp.com/2013/08/google-apps-for-education-by-the-numbers/>

Hundreds of millions of individuals worldwide are already using Google Apps products like Gmail, Docs and Calendar. Because students and teachers are familiar with the tools outside of school, using them in a school setting comes as second natureto many. This is especially true with email as the majority of students already use Gmail for personal use. This existing familiarity means that for the user, migrating to Google Apps is often not a migration at all. As a result, schools that switch to Google Apps for Education consistently experience a high rate of adoption with students, professors and administrators alike embracing the new tools.

For example, a case study revealed that when the University of Notre Dame in Indiana switched to Google Apps for Education, people increased their use of email, had 20% fewer questions for the Help Desk, and indicated a 36% increase in IT satisfaction since the migration to Google Apps. This high rate of adoption was further complemented by a cost savings of over $1.5 million to the university. http://getedspire.com/top-5-advantages-google-apps-k-12-education/

The long reach of social media

Earlier this week, I received this amazing e-mail right out of the blue...

Dear Doug,

My name is Giulia _____ and I just come back home from my holidays. I've been in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

During my vacation in cambodia, to be more precise in Siem Reap, I met a really kind taxi driver called Vong Hoy. He spoke english and he told me how he was tryng to improve his life to garantee a better life to his wife and daughters.

One night I was in my hotel and browsing on internet I've typed his name (the name I read on the taxi during the days I was there: Vong Hoy) and I found your blog and your article.

http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2009/5/20/cambodia-same-same-only-different.html

I asked to the receptionist to print your article, and the day I left Siem Reap I gave it to Hoy.

He was so happy and grateful that when I was leaving I turn back my head and he was sitting in his car reading the article about him and his country. He remembers you and he told me that before the taxi he drove the tuc tuc and the motorbike.

I don't know if you care about him, but from your article I suppose that he was a good 'friend' in Siem Reap, I also hope that you will appreciate the fact that he is ok.

I don't wont to waste your time. Best regards,

Giulia

Five years ago and 8,000 miles away. And one e-mail closes the gap.

How do we ever justify not giving students practice and skills in using the social media that shrinks our world, positively connects people, and begins conversations that lead to inter-cultural understandings. 

Still blocking Facebook in your school?