This week Google and Microsoft announced that they are making available to code to support Open ID 2.0. Microsoft will support Open ID for users of Live ID and Google will support Open ID for anyone with a Google account. This changes will not happen overnight, but it is a huge step toward making Open ID an extremely useful option for teachers and students working with multiple online programs.

For people unfamiliar with Open ID, it is an effort to streamline the log-in process for websites across the Internet. Open ID enabled websites allow users to log-in with one user name and password. You can read more about Open ID here.

Applications for Education
Open ID could make teachers’ lives so much easier when students are working with online resources. One of the most frustrating and time consuming experiences for teachers can be trying to get a class working on a project online and having students that can’t remember their log-in names or passwords for a website. Having students create Open ID accounts will hopefully alleviate this stress for teachers.