Google Apps for mit.edu

What is it?

Google Apps for mit.edu is a service provided by Google that allows and encourages sharing and collaboration between members of the MIT community. The definition of MIT community is, in this case, anyone who has registered to be a member of this Google Apps domain. Google provides the ability to create and publish of collaborative sites, spreadsheets, documents, presentations, and calendars, as well as a personalized "Start Page," similar in almost every way to the standard "iGoogle" page.

Where is it?

Unfortunately, Google does not provide any kind of list or search for all of its domains. You must access the mit.edu domain by going directly to http://www.google.com/a/mit.edu/.

How do I sign up?

You can register for the domain simply by going to http://www.google.com/a/mit.edu and clicking "create an account here." Then enter a username, password, and some contact information.

You don't have to (and probably shouldn't) use your Kerberos login and password. The @mit.edu you see after the login box is just for show.

Who is a part of the mit.edu domain on Google?

Approximately 2000 people. You will need to be logged in to view this link:

https://www.google.com/a/cpanel/mit.edu/Users

Why should/shouldn't I use Google Apps for mit.edu?

To begin, I wouldn't say that it should or shouldn't be used. I would simply say that you should keep in mind what you are using. Google is not affiliated with MIT, and they therefore do not have the same guarantees of privacy and security that MIT does. Any information that is stored on or passes through Google automatically becomes part of the Google "cloud." In other words, if you can see a file using Google, Google can see it too. Therefore, any personal or sensitive information should stay within our network. The applications that Google provides, however, can still be very useful for anything you wouldn't mind a third party having the ability to see (not that they'll look at it, but they can).

What are the services that Google Apps for mit.edu provides?

Sites

Create, edit, and publish a collaborative page to the mit.edu domain. You can choose from predefined themes and layouts to make a wiki-style collaborative site.

Docs

A file browser that allows you to view and edit any files created using the Google Docs system that either you have made or are shared with you. Docs provides several analogs of applications that would be found in the Microsoft Office Suite.

Documents: A word processor, like Microsoft Word.

Presentations: A slideshow editor, like Microsoft Powerpoint.

Spreadsheets: A spreadsheet editor, like Microsoft Excel.

Forms: Allows you to create a webform that will feed responses into a spreadsheet.

Calendar

Create and publish a calendar with the option of making it public, private, or shared only with the mit.edu domain. Identical to the normal Google Calendar (but with the option of sharing it with the domain only).

Start

Customize a personal start page, just like iGoogle.