The Maricopa County Community College District is implementing Gmail accounts for all students.  Their log-in name will be the same as their Maricopa Student ID.  Students who use other email accounts can easily set up a way to forward the mail to their main email accounts. 

This is great for several reasons – if I need to email a student, I can now do so without having to find their email – their ID is on my roster.  The second, and probably most important – the students will have access to Google applications:  word processing, presentation, spreadsheet, calendar, etc.    I can’t tell you how many students come up to tell me they didn’t do the work because they don’t have a word processing program, or presentation program…  Of course, they tell me this the day the work is due.  No more will this happen because as long as they have a computer with Internet connection, they will have access to their documents.  Our colleges all have computer commons for students to use for free.  Printing is, at most schools, ten cents a page, but that is a bargain for not having to buy your own computer and printer.  Here is a copy of the announcement:

This system gives you the assurance that you have an official address where you can receive communications from your college and will give you access to online tools allowing you to do school work more conveniently. The new system will provide you with an address at “maricopa.edu”, as well as a number of significant benefits, including:

  • Useful collaboration tools such as Google Docs, an online suite of office productivity applications featuring word processing, spreadsheets and presentations. Google Docs allows collaboration with others on the same documents in real time. Documents are saved online, so students always will have access no matter what computer they use.
  • A lifetime email address, a reliable, secure email service, and a powerful anti-spam service;
  • Access to calendaring, tasks and scheduling features;
  • An easy way to forward email to other personal email accounts; and
  • Instant messaging with voice and video.  

Now it will be up to the professors to inform the students of all that they can do.  Cloud computing is here for Maricopa Community Colleges.