concerns with this.
However, there are other concerns which should also be
considered when switching to a "free" service like
this.
The online use patterns of people between the ages of
12-25 are of immense interest, as these use patterns
can be mined for trends, which in turn allows for more
effective marketing.
Although Google doesn't display ads on it's
student/educational accounts, they are allowed to
gather the same data on these accounts that they do on
their regular gmail accounts. And when I say the
"regular gmail accounts" I mean the ones that deliver
the targeted ads based on the content of the email you
are reading.
So, while these accounts are "free" to schools, this
is fundamentally inaccurate.
You pay for these services by allowing your students'
online use habits to be mined and analyzed. Looking at
this issue strictly as a bottom line decision misses
some of what is at stake.
Cheers,
Bill
--- Bill Knauer <bknauer@packer.edu> wrote:
> Hi Patt,
>
> I've been involved in a number of on- and off-line
> discussions about this
> topic, including at least one you can probably find
> in the ISED-L
> archives. While a switch to Gmail, MSLive, etc. is
> certainly tempting for
> a number of reasons, the main concern I've heard
> expressed again and again
> is that many schools are reluctant to give up the
> ability to control
> (quotas, groups, access time, send/receive privs,
> etc.) and archive
> e-mail.
>
> As far as Packer is concerned, we are, overall,
> content with FirstClass,
> so we won't be going down that path anytime soon,
> but we will probably
> make some of the other Google Apps available here in
> the near future.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Best,
> Bill
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Bill Knauer
> Director of Technology
> Packer Collegiate Institute
> 170 Joralemon Street
> Brooklyn, NY 11201
> 718.250.0273
> bknauer@packer.edu
>
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