What recommendations do you have for other facilitators who are using "Google for Education Level 1 Certification"? Consider sharing additional resources you found helpful, activities that worked particularly well, and some reflections on who this course is best suited for. For more information, see this course on P2PU’s course page.
The Google Educator Level 1 online course is good for anyone who works in K-12 or adult education and would like to take a deeper dive into learning how to use G-suite tools for teaching and learning. For those who know the basics of G-suite tools quite well, they might consider taking the test and if they pass, move on to Google Educator Level 2, which has more emphasis on lesson planning. There is a whole suite of Google courses for educators that might be a next step as well.
Google Educator Level 1 training worked very well as a learning circle because there are ‘stop points’ for reflection and jotting down notes within the course. We took advantage of these moments to pause and share reflections with one another and discuss the topics in greater length. The course content targets K-12 education and the learning circle discussions provided the opportunity for teachers to discuss how they would apply their learning in adult education.
A tool we have used that worked well is a template to collaboratively capture notes. We created a template note-taking document using Google docs for teachers to record ideas and thoughts they had in reference to the course content, their teaching context and relevant tools. The template was simply labeled with the units and provided space for notes and a record of how much time participants spent on the unit (for our own information). The note-taking document was helpful because we had several learning circle cohorts around the state working on the Google Educator course and this allowed them to share their group’s notes with one another, tapping into a larger pool of ideas.
Thumbs Down Comments: The Google course content is formatted like a reading course, especially when it comes to learning how to use the tools. Had I not been familiar with the tools, I would have found it quite tedious to read about them. I’d rather watch a video demonstration. There are videos embedded in the course that are generally vignettes of teachers’ experiences and ideas on using the tools. These were interesting, but to actually learn to use the tools, you have to read about them.
Learning circle comes to the rescue! The learning circle, however, remedied this by allowing teachers who were familiar with the tools to teach other educators. We found this helpful for some of the concepts that were not too straightforward and which educators were struggling to figure out.