Google Gives Educators Keys to App Installation

Educators stymied by restrictive IT governance in the past can let out a brief sigh of relief if they're using Google Apps for Education.

Google announced Wednesday that it is granting users the ability to install third-party apps from its marketplace. Previously, only network administrators had that privilege.

Chris Han, product manager of the Google Apps Marketplace, says the change will give its users more flexibility.

"If you work at an organization that uses Google Apps for Work, Google Apps for Education or Google Apps for Government, you now have greater access to apps that help you work faster, more efficiently and collaboratively," Han writes on the Official Google for Work Blog.

However, it won't be a complete free-for-all. Network administrators still can filter which third-party apps will be available to their organizations. And K–12 schools will be defaulted to off for the change. However, network administrators now can open these permissions up to educators.

That could lead to an interesting tug-of-war between educators and IT teams.

Google’s Apps for Education service launched in 2006, and its use has been spreading along with the adoption of the company’s Chromebook notebooks in schools. In August, Google released Classroom, the latest free tool in its Apps for Education lineup. The cloud-based organizer ties together several apps, including Gmail and Drive, to streamline the management of classroom assignments.