Apps for EducationEverything your school needs
Security and privacy first
Google Apps for Education includes dozens of critical security features specifically designed to keep your data safe, secure and in your control. Your data belongs to you, and Apps tools enable you to control it, including who you share it with and how you share it. Our data center network provides exceptional security and guarantees* reliable access to your data, 24x7x365.25 (that’s right: no rest, even on leap years).
Everything is backed up
All data is automatically backed up on Google servers. So when accidents happen – if a computer crashes or gets stolen – you can be up and running again in seconds.
You own and control your data
Any data you put into Google Apps is yours, and it says just that in our contracts. Your information is safe from other organisations, even though it's all on the same servers. Apps’ powerful, easy-to-use tools help administrators manage things like users, documents and services, and keep track of usage and data via dashboards. And of course you fully own the data, not Google.
Increased security and reliability
Our data centers are designed and built for our applications and don’t include unnecessary hardware or software. This reduces the number of potentially exploitable vulnerabilities. We guarantee 99.9% uptime* and build-in robust disaster recovery, so you don’t even have to worry about natural disasters.
Strong encryption and authentication
Google Apps offers an extra layer of security with two factor authentication, which greatly reduces the risk of hackers stealing usernames and passwords. We also automatically encrypt browser sessions with SSL for Apps users without the need for VPNs or other costly, cumbersome infrastructure. This helps protect your students and teachers’ data as it travels between your browser and our data centers.Learn More
Our team is constantly improving your security
Our large information security team constantly monitors our global network of
data centers. Many have advanced degrees and are thought-leaders who are
defining our industry’s info-security practices. Google Apps and our data
centers are also SSAE 16 / ISAE 3402 Type II SOC 2-audited1 and have
achieved ISO 27001 certification2.
1SSAE 16 / ISAE 3402 is an auditing standard by which a
third-party auditor evaluates the controls in place for physical and logical
security, privacy, incident response, and more.
2ISO 27001 is an industry standard security evaluation
certified by Ernst & Young CertifyPoint.
Your privacy is respected.
Google Apps is governed by a detailed Privacy Policy, which ensures we will not inappropriately share or use personal information placed in our systems. Google complies with applicable US privacy law, and the Google Apps Terms of Service can specifically detail our obligations and compliance with FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) regulations. Google is registered with the US-EU Safe Harbor agreement, which helps ensure that our data protection compliance meets European Union standards for educational institutions
“The scale of Google's operation is that they can afford to spend much more on security than we can. In fact, they can afford to spend more on security than most governments. They use biometrics including retinal scanning and thermographics for access control, their data centre hardware is built by them, and they completely destroy decommissioned discs by overwriting the data, crushing them, shredding them, and then recycling the materials. Their infrastructure is built with failure in mind, they have multiple connections from different providers to the internet, and all of their data centres can run independently to the power grid.”
Dr Christine Sexton, CIO, University of Sheffield
“What advantages might be found? Certainly the cost savings and the added storage are the first ones to find. LPS will save $45,000 annually with this move. And each email box has gone from 1 gigabyte to 25 gigabytes. After that, you start to notice just how powerful a collaborative Google Doc really is. More Smartphones are syncing with our system than before meaning we have more people able to easily stay in touch. And the system works the same way at home as it does at work.”
Dan Maas, CIO, Littleton Public Schools
Stay connected from anywhere
With Google Apps for Education, everything is automatically saved in the cloud - 100% powered by the web. This means that emails, documents, calendar and sites can be accessed - and edited - on almost any mobile device or tablet. Anytime, anywhere.
On your Android
Google applications come pre-installed on most Android devices. Just sign in to
your Android phone with your Google Apps username and password, and your email,
calendar and contacts will automatically be synced on the go, and you can use
Google Talk to IM or video chat from your phone.
Administrators can also choose mobile device management policies designed to
keep your business information secure. These policies include the ability
remotely wipe data from lost or stolen devices, require a device password, set
password strength requirements, and more.
On your iPhone
Google Sync offers two-way synchronization between Google Apps and the Mail,
Calendar and Contacts apps on the iPhone and iPad.
Administrators can also choose mobile device management policies designed to
keep your business information secure. These policies include the ability
remotely wipe data from lost or stolen devices, require a device password, set
password strength requirements, and more.
On your Blackberry
Google Apps supports two-way synchronization between Google Apps and the Email,
Calendar and Contacts applications on BlackBerry devices by integrating with
BlackBerry Enterprise Server. Alternatively, Google Sync offers two-way
synchronization between Google Apps and the Calendar and Contacts applications
on BlackBerry devices.
With Google Apps Connector for BlackBerry Enterprise Server or Google Sync,
administrators can choose mobile device management policies designed to keep
your information secure. These policies include the ability remotely wipe data
from lost or stolen devices, require a device password, set password strength
requirements, and more.
On your Windows Phone
Google Sync offers two-way synchronization between Google Apps and the Mail,
Calendar and Contacts apps on Windows Mobile devices.
Administrators can also choose mobile device management policies designed to
keep your information secure. These policies include the ability remotely wipe
data from lost or stolen devices, require a device password, set password
strength requirements, and more.
On any phone with a browser
Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Docs are available as streamlined mobile web experiences. These web apps were specifically designed to work on devices with smaller screens, like phones and tablets, and to perform well even with slower data connectivity typical of mobile devices. Bookmark google.com/m from your phone's browser and add a shortcut to your homescreen for easy access.
Bring students, teachers and teams together
Fast, easy collaboration is what makes Google Apps unique. Our website and document creation tools offer real-time editing, powerful sharing controls, and seamless compatibility – an ideal environment for learning in the 21st century.
Study together in real time
With Google Docs, just share with a couple of clicks and every student in your class has access to the right version of any document, spreadsheet or presentation. Everyone can jump in and make edits at the same time. No more back-and-forth email attachments and versions that you can’t keep track of.
Study together across distance
Does your institution have more than one campus? Some students studying abroad? Whether near or far, students and staff can arrange impromptu video chats right from your Gmail inbox or jump into the same document and edit it together as if they’re sitting at the same computer.
“The nature of college computing is rapidly changing. Connectivity is the new essential for students. So much of education now relies on students being able to communicate and collaborate effectively. Google Apps will take them one step closer to living and thriving in a virtual world, not just while they are students here, but after they graduate as well.”
Ron Bonig, Executive Director of Technology Operations, George Washington University
“The University of St Andrews chose Google Apps because our students gave us a clear message that's what they wanted. Even though we are an old institution - we are just about to celebrate our 600th anniversary - we want to be cutting-edge and move with the times, and Google Apps gave us that opportunity.”
Heidi Fraser-Krauss, Associate CIO, University of St Andrews
Get stuff done faster
Google Apps for Education can help streamline academic tasks like essay writing and class scheduling. A group of students can work together on a piece of work in Google Docs, seeing changes in real time rather than waiting for versions to be sent via email. Students can see exactly when their professors are available and vice versa with Google Calendar. By removing these time-consuming bottlenecks, Apps frees you up to spend more time on learning and teaching.
Familiar tools that millions already use
Apps products like Gmail, Docs, and Calendar are already used by hundreds of millions of individuals worldwide. Your students and teachers are already familiar with the products - this means less time training your organization, or learning how to use these tools yourself.
Search and share
No time wasted looking for elusive emails, documents, project sites or files. With Google Apps, all your students and teachers’ stuff is in one place, can be quickly found with our powerful search (no more sorting and filing), and shared with anyone within your school or university with just a click.
Free up your IT department
Focus your IT on activities that add value instead of worrying about the uptime of your email services. Any updates? They happen automatically - just hitting refresh will do the trick!
Invisible IT that just works
Spend less time managing your IT infrastructure. Your students, teachers and administrators always have access to the latest software, including the newest features and security updates. You don’t need to buy or maintain servers and everything can be managed from a single interface. And yes, it really is free.
Up and running quickly
Your organization can be up and running on Apps within minutes, with customized email addresses (you@yourschool.edu). If you don’t have a web address yet we can help you get one. And as new students and staff join, you can add new users with just a few clicks.
Save time and money
Not only is Google Apps for Education free, but you don’t need to buy or maintain your own servers or client software, so you’ll save money there, too.
No more patches
Google Apps is updated automatically, so your IT folks can forget about the hassles of downloading and deploying patches or facing the security risks of delayed updates. We make it easy by managing everything, including product updates, via Google servers.
New features, as soon as they're ready
Forget about waiting years for product upgrades. Apps is updated every time you log in, so you get the newest features as soon as they’re ready. And they’re frequently ready; almost every week we’re making updates that can benefit your organization. Learn more
No hardware or client software
All you need to use and keep Apps up to date is an internet browser. That means no more specialized hardware or client software to install and maintain, which saves you time spent on trying to get it all to work.
“Students are so happy to have these powerful tools. I'm excited for the students because these tools are user friendly, require very little support, are easy enough that they can learn on their own, decide what they want to use and what they don't want to use. By shifting utility computing services to Google we can take advantage of Google's Data Centre scale and efficiency to reduce our own environmental footprint while at the same contribute to Google's beyond carbon neutral initiatives to produce more clean energy for the world than it consumes.”
Suh-Pyng Ku, Vice Provost, Executive Director Continuing Education and Summer Programs
Go Green
Moving to Google Apps helps reduce both your organization’s overall expenses and its environmental impact. Apps is powered by Google's energy-efficient data centers, so it’s less energy and carbon-intensive than on-premise servers.
Reduce your costs, and your environmental footprint
Moving to the cloud means you can spend less on on electricity and IT
infrastructure. Take Gmail: moving your email hosting from on-premise to the
cloud could make you up to 80x more energy efficient.
Collaborative tools such as video chat and shared documents help students and
teachers feel like they’re in the same room. You’ll reduce extraneous printing,
travel costs between campuses, and your overall environmental footprint.
Get sustainable with carbon-neutral IT
Google is a carbon neutral company. We’ve achieved this through a combination of energy-efficient data centers, renewable energy purchases and high quality carbon offsets. This means Google Apps (and all the products you use in our cloud) have a “net zero” impact on the environment.
“Google data centres are among the most environmentally efficient in the world they have been carbon neutral since 2007 and are now beyond carbon neutral in producing more renewable energy than they consume. Safeguarding the environment for our learners and future generations should be a fundamental social and ethical responsibility for education.”
Martin King, Head of IT Services, Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College
