Monday, October 24, 2011

October's Session

In this well attended session, panelists Sarah Bearbower, Joe Dulak, and Mat Klosky discussed the University's embrace of Google Apps--why did we make the transition, what applications are part of the package, and how can we benefit from them? Sarah noted that campus wide dissatisfaction with the old email system coupled with Office Logic's  failure to bring new features to the program prompted IT to look for alternatives.  The switch to Google Apps not only offered the University a dynamic email system but also  included many other features--Google calendar, docs, blogs,etc.

Sarah talked about the transition timetable. Expectations are for the entire community to be migrated by the end of Christmas break. A survey of the participants  in the session revealed that most had made the transition to Google Apps and all were happy with the change. Sarah then highlighted some of the new features in the g-mail system and took comments and questions.

The session concluded with panelists demonstrating the collaborative features found in Google Apps.  Mat was a hit when he demonstrated how his meat pie recipe could be improved upon online by his wife Tricia  with help from Joe and Sarah using the apps.

If you missed the session you can  view it on Tegrity