Google Application Education Edition to be Used in Oregon Public Schools

Oregon’s Department of Education recently announced that they will now offer the Google Application Education Edition to all of the public school districts in the state budding from an effort to save the schools $1.5 million dollars annually.
The application allows teachers to access Gmail, Google Docs, and programs for spreadsheets, presentations, calendars, and video hosting remotely, specifically from their classrooms, computer labs, homes, city libraries and other places.
One looming problem however is the potential of server failures or power outages that could potentially result in inaccessible data.
Despite that potential drawback, analyst Melissa Webster says, “the growth in adoption of Google Docs should worry Microsoft. Google’s momentum could indirectly threaten some of Microsoft’s Office 2010 upgrade revenue by providing buyers some negotiating leverage. And in the longer term, the two are on a collision course.”
Recently, the city of Los Angeles also announced that the city’s 30,000 employees will be switching from Novell GroupWise to the Google App as well.
Via PCWorld