Google today unveiled an education-focused section of its Google Apps Marketplace, a directory of Web-based services, which could expand options for colleges and universities that have adopted Google’s free e-mail and application suite.
The marketplace itself is just nine months old, and showcases applications built by other software companies that work with Google’s free applications, such as Gmail and Google Docs.
Early vendors in the marketplace are mostly focused on elementary and secondary education, and include the bibliography generator EasyBib and the social-networking test-prep company Grockit. Google said future apps are anticipated from Blackboard, the leading provider of course-management systems to colleges, and Knewton, a test-preparation software company.
The marketplace, which now features about 250 third-party apps, had previously been more business-focused, says Scott McMullan, partner lead for Google Apps.
Google provides documentation for companies to follow in developing applications and ensures that the applications work with existing Google applications, but the company takes a hands-off approach in other areas, such as pricing and privacy controls.
“It’s a very open market,” Mr. McMullan says.
Applications are available for adoption on a college- or schoolwide level, and Mr. McMullan says the expectation is that administrators for each institution will evaluate whether applications conform to their privacy standards.
Nearly 60 percent of colleges turn to outside companies for their student e-mail, according to Kenneth C. Green’s Campus Computing Survey. Google and Microsoft are the leading providers, with more than half of colleges using Google and slightly more than 40 percent of colleges that outsource choosing Microsoft.
Rafael Corrales, founder of LearnBoost, a new company that makes open-source online grade-book software, says the new marketplace category will be a boon to start-ups like his own. “Before, education start-ups had a big problem with distribution,” he says.
In a statement, Microsoft said it has “the world’s largest partner ecosystem for the cloud, with 16,000 Microsoft partners,” and that it has partnerships with leading education companies such as Blackboard, Pearson, Desire2Learn, and Moodle.
5 Responses to Google Apps Marketplace Adds an Education Aisle
11119787 - May 3, 2011 at 2:03 pm
My university participated in the SNAAP survey this year and I recently received our insitutioal report. Personally, I found the quantitly of data overwhelming, yet inconclusive.
11319762 - May 3, 2011 at 5:27 pm
Art naturally reflects the world and what is important in it. It should not surprise anyone that art students are pleased with their education.
Our university has a consortium agreement with the arts school nearby and I have had the privilege of teaching a number of the arts students in courses that are leadership/management based. (Many are enrolled in a degree program that allows them to earn a minor in Business Administration as part of their BFA.) The arts students have always brought a fresh perspective to my courses and great sene of who they are and what they want to do.
These survey results strike me as very much in line with my own experience. They are strong students who have great insights into the world around them.
davidfalcone - November 4, 2011 at 7:15 am
The story … the numbers don’t really matter but the job when you
remove the numbers becomes harder and people get better and what they
are doing … is an important one.
pflady - November 4, 2011 at 1:23 pm
How do you know whether the “students who didn’t submit test scores” who went on to perform the same at Wake Forest as students who did submit them were all students who performed poorly on the SAT/ACT or who even took the tests?
11182967 - November 4, 2011 at 2:07 pm
It’s a little like going clothing optional: you lose the clues that the cover provides, but what you then focus on is a lot more revealing.