Google Apps vs. Live@edu

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Wylie on October 12, 2010 at 9:40pm

We are supposed to be doing Live@EDU at our district. Not sure there are any huge advantages over Google Apps, but I guess you could try them and see. If you have a lot of Office based products already then Live may feel like an easier transition, but I think they are much the same. Google has more tools like forms and so forth, but it just depends on what you want to use it for.

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Permalink Reply by George Grachis on October 13, 2010 at 9:27am

I recently read an article in eSchool News where a Kentucky District successfully migrated to Live.Edu
We looked at this a year or so ago and had issues integrating it into our Active Directory. Then you have the issues of monitoring and controlling student use to remain CIPA compliant. How are schools addressing this part? Also Is Google apps compatible with MS word and or Openoffice?

http://redmondmag.com/articles/2010/06/04/kentucky-shifts-education...

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Permalink Reply by Christopher Casal on October 13, 2010 at 10:44am

Google Apps is compatible. You can create a document in Google Apps and save it out as a .doc, PDF, HTML, etc. Very versatile.

I use Google Apps extensively and love it, have never had a problem moving between Google and MS Office.

The NYC Dept. of Ed. signed a deal with ePals and Live@edu which gives all teachers, students, and parents access but they haven't released it to us yet. I'm not a fan of Microsoft in general, but I'm eager to test out the Live@edu platform.

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Permalink Reply by Francine Safdeye on October 13, 2010 at 10:48am

Thanks for your feedback and I hope it keeps on coming. I just trained my administrators on Google Docs for the first time and they love it. It will take time for the staff to get the idea of cloud computing as well as the 'new' interface of Google. I will be testing Live@edu as well.

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Permalink Reply by George Grachis on October 13, 2010 at 10:57am

Just make sure you have redundant internet connections, preferably from different ISP's.
IE: If the internet goes down you are out of business!
Also make sure your policies cover what students can and cant do, educate them, staff and parents on the many benefits as well as the challenges of keeping them safe while online.

Some good resources.....
http://www.athinline.org/facts/digital-disrespect
http://www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/cyberethics.htm
http://www.ikeepsafe.org/
http://www.staysafeonline.org/
http://www.privacyrights.org/
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Permalink Reply by Zach Vander Veen on October 15, 2010 at 7:26am

We're piloting both at the moment...although we've had such a demand (by faculty) for Google Apps that it's being rolled out more extensively. Here are some thoughts/opinions.

Keep in mind how both organizations make money. Google through search - Microsoft through it's software. Live@edu has nice features (it's part of the MS environment...easier to use with Active Direction [although you can use AD with Google Apps]), but it still feels like it's trying to push you towards using their full versions of Office (where they make their money). Google Apps offers considerably more features (though less space), but then you have concerns about privacy, etc. And tech support is far from ideal.

That said, my district is looking for something to replace office on student machines (and, because everything's becoming cloud based, we don't want to replace it with open office) with little or no costs. This leads me to favor Google Apps. Plus, Google docs has an out of the box plugin with Moodle 2.0 (although there is a Live@edu plugin I believe).

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Permalink Reply by George Grachis on October 15, 2010 at 7:36am

I realize Live.Edu and Google apps are well suited for a university setting out of the box!
I also know Gaggle was designed for K-12 and thus has many safety and monitoring measures built in like:

https://www.gaggle.net/home/safety/

CIPA
COPPA
Student Filtering
Settings and Controls
Teacher Access
Human Monitoring Service

Does Google or Live.Edu offer any K-12 features like this yet? If not how are you planning on managing the K-12 issues listed above. Gaggle is also offering Gaggle apps, is anyone familiar with it?

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Permalink Reply by Francine Safdeye on October 15, 2010 at 9:53am

Yes. I know Google offers different levels of security and they are Ad free. As administrators you are also able to place settings and controls as well as to have having access.
I definitely think it is important to study all of these and to keep them in mind when making any decision. thanks for the resources

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Permalink Reply by Christopher Casal on October 19, 2010 at 10:28am

Interesting bit of news, Microsoft has re-branded Live@edu:
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/igeneration/liveedu-rebranded-introducing...

Don't know if this will have any impact on the services offered, but thought I'd share for those interested...

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