Google Certified Educator Level 1

I've passed my exam and I'm now officially a Google Certified Educator Level 1. Next step, Level 2.

GEG UK

My head hurts. It's in a spin. It has nothing to do with alcohol...

Yesterday, I went to Google HQ in London for a meeting with GEG UK (Google Education Group) organised by +Ben Rouse . Firstly, I can confirm, people actually play ping pong at Google HQ.

Why does my head hurt? Basically, it's 10x Thinking and it's now bursting with new ideas. How can we make the world a better place? How can we improve education where the teachers are unshackled from administration and given the time and resources to focus on teaching? How can we massively reduce costs for schools, allowing them to divert funds from waste to things that can make the difference? How can we improve the lives of our students and provide them with efficient working and thinking strategies and skills right now?

Is Google the magic bullet?

... uhm... not sure. However, it does have an amazing set of free products in GAFE. Then there are the people working around the fringes of Google, not employed by Google, but using its products and philosophy to drive through changes.

Okay - for the next bit I'm going to write about Google products etc. If you're still carrying pen drives around your neck or constantly sending Word docs or Excel sheets (or worse still printing them off and handing them out) that others struggle to collaborate with you, then you might want to stop reading now...

Latest Google Products
In 2014, Google 'allowed' access to the cloud and introduced Google Drive. 2015 - the big driving force has been Google Classroom and low cost devices. Now for the future - empowering teachers through CPD programmes and amazing tools - one in particular that looks amazing is Expeditions (think of a more integrated Google Cultural Institute).

Certification and Google Training
Personally, I am at the beginning of this journey. I have completed the fundamentals training for Level 1 Certified Educator and I am hoping to do the exam this week. I know for many colleagues the thought of doing exams can be very daunting, scary etc. I personally haven't done one for years - I sort of did a test when I did my 3 day first aid course, but the last sit down one was in Uni. However, these are low cost exams (not just financially) but their impact if you fail. So, I've decided to just go for it and see where it takes me.

Implementation
Quite simply, Google products can reduce costs significantly by allowing people to collaborate and communicate effectively, Put simply by +Mark House , it's cuts down nonsense. (At this point, I must declare an interest because I've worked with Mark for years at the same school). The focus is on reducing teacher workload by marginal gains (which worked for Clive Woodward's England rugby team in 2003 and the David Brailsford's GB/Sky cycling team) to allow them to focus on the most important part of the job, teaching. Think of all the bits of paper, emails, meetings, you received and responded to over the last couple of weeks. Were any of them nonsense?

Getting SMT to sign up is vital. One of the biggest moves in our school was when the Principal (Headteacher) swapped his computer in his office for a chromebox and went all in - this encouraged and made it necessary for others to follow.

+Oli Trussell talk on BYOD (bring your own device) was very informative. When every student has a device, schools can save time and money by using Google Classroom instead of physical textbooks and printed worksheets. However, there are pitfalls:

Don’t:

• Proxy servers
• Expect it to just work
• 1 person to implement
• Undervalue

Recommendations:

• Get Chromebooks! (if you can…)
• Allow BYOD to support/enhance
• Get ‘Critics’ on board quickly!
• Train often (students and teachers)

I love the idea of Uckfield Community Technical School +Jeanette O'Connor of getting expert students to help with the CPD support and training of not just other students but staff as well. BYOD chromebooks looks the way to go.

Pedagogy and Tools

And very quickly - some excellent ideas shared by +Dean Stokes

• Superquiz by +Oli Trussell 
• Cultural Insitute
• Ngrams
• Google Drawings
• Cite sources in Docs using tools/research
• Mymaps
• Patents
• A Google A Day
• Build with Chrome - my personal favourite (who doesn't like Lego!)

Best slam has to be x-ray goggles - I can now win at everything!

In my opinion, you cannot be an 'Outstanding' teacher if you are surrounded by 'weak' teachers. Who can you inspire?

And that was GEG UK Live 2015. Now you can see why my head hurts. :-)