Auckland Uni gets Google
The University of Auckland has announced that Google Apps – Google’s online email and office suite – will be made available to the University’s 50,000 students, staff and alumni.
The University of Auckland is the second university in New Zealand to take up the Google Apps service, after Waikato University announced similar plans earlier this year.
Google Apps Education Edition is free for all universities and includes Gmail, Google Calendar and Talk, in addition to Google Docs for spreadsheets, documents and presentations.
University of Auckland Information Technology services director Stephen Whiteside said Google Apps “provides a better service to students as well as a more user-friendly student email address that they can keep when they graduate.”
Google Docs will not replace Microsoft Office, but will instead offer students an alternative to the current programmes. The University said it plans to have Google Docs up and running by the end of the year.
An announcement is expected next month about similar upgrades to Victoria’s computer systems.
