ASU students are feeling lucky—with Google’s help.

The Internet giant parked its 1978 retrofitted, eco-friendly bus outside the Memorial Union Thursday on the second of 10 stops in its cross-country "App-to-School" tour. The tour seeks feedback from students and demonstrates the abilities of Google applications available to the University.

Jaime Casap, business development manager of the Google Apps for Education team, said the tour is about celebrating the schools that have adopted Google platforms for students. He said ASU was the first school to do so in 2006.

“ASU is very near and dear to our hearts,” Casap said. “What we want [students] to know about is the power of collaboration.”

He said many students use the Gmail and Google Calendar applications, most but are not familiar with tools like Google Docs, which allows users to share and edit documents with others. Through the tour, Casap said Google hopes to educate students about the tools they have but may not be using.

Marketing Manager Andrew Chang demonstrated Google Sites, the new feature that allows users to quickly develop Web sites that can be edited and viewed by multiple users.

Chang said anyone can create a site without having to know HTML code. He said Google Sites easily integrates with other Google Apps, like form or spreadsheet, allowing students to compile information to put online.

“It’s like building a shared Web site or a Wiki,” Chang said. “It’s a great way to organize.”

Business management senior Celso Mireles said he likes Google Apps because they simplify group work for class.

He uses Google Groups for a business class where he can collaborate with group members on a project.

Mireles said Google Apps allow his group members to work even when scheduling conflicts prevent them from meeting.

Electrical engineering freshman Di He said he learned about several Google Apps on Thursday he thinks will be useful. He said he frequently uses Google and Gmail but was not previously very familiar Google Docs. He said the free and collaborative applications are his favorite aspects of Google Apps.

“Google has a very good concept,” he said. “It’s a very strong platform.”

Casap said about 1,000 to 1,200 students visited the Google station outside the MU.

The Google bus is making its first cross-country trip, traveling about 5,000 miles more than three weeks.

The 30-year-old bus runs on biofuel and has solar panels mounted on top that power a television, Nintendo Wii, and wireless Internet, but the bus does not have air conditioning.

Casap said the trip to Tempe was a warm but enjoyable experience.

“Sometimes it feels like 1978 when we’re riding in it,” he said.

Reach the reporter at adam.sneed@asu.edu.