At the end of last year, myself and 7 other student Digital Leaders at Sheffield High School became Level 1 Google Certified Educators. This is an exam for teachers, not students, but we studied, revised and practised (a lot) to become part of this elite global team. This is my journey:
How did I prepare?
I used some practice tasks on the official Google website, but it quickly became clear that would have taken a long time to finish everything. Mr Wiles (TECHNOPOLIS editor-in-chief) helpfully created a checklist for the Digital Leader team and we checked off what we could do. Based on our responses got set tasks with different skills we needed for the exam. We practised making Google Forms, Google Sites and even Google products unfamiliar to use like Groups or Classroom. The Digital Leader team shared their collective knowledge and we could help each other with tools that we were less familiar with. Mr Wiles also produced short videos (see example on this page) which we could watch to help us quickly understand a task.
Did I find the exam easy?
It was quite hard because you had to think about how teachers would think in certain situations. The first section was multiple choice. The questions sometimes had obvious answers, however, the wording was sometimes complicated (or used American educational terminology). The second section was full of tasks which used the skills we had learnt. I think this section was easier because I knew how to apply the skills.
If someone else were to take the exam, I would tell them to consider how various Google products can be applied in a classroom situation. Don’t overthink your answers.
Taking this exam, I learnt about Google Sites and Google Classroom for the first time. I also learnt that Google Forms can be used as quizzes as well as surveys. Teachers can also ‘force’ these quizzes so that they appear on Chromebook screens immediately.
How did I feel when I passed?
My initial reaction was that I was surprised. Then I felt very happy because I was able to apply skills in a way that I hadn’t learnt before.
What happens next?
We are planning on teaching and helping our teachers take the Google Certified Educator Level 1 exam. We want to make sure that as many teachers as possible have access to all the Google tools that they can use with their classes. It will be a good way to pass on our new knowledge and develop our communication and teaching skills. I’m also hopeful that I can move on to level 2. I expect this will be very demanding but none of the Digital Leaders are afraid of a tech-challenge!
Have you got any experience of the Google Certified Educator levels? What has your experience been of Google tools in the classroom? We’d love to hear your thoughts; why not leave a comment below?
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What a great achievement Adithi. Really impressive that you and the other digital leaders have achieved this accreditation. I love the google suite but I am sure you would be able to teach me a thing or two about how to use it more effectively, and you are welcome to do so if you have the time! You have always been fantastic in supporting me and other members of the class with the chromebooks and OneNote so thank you and keep up the good work.
Congratulations Adithi! Great article 🙂
I found your article very interesting and the fact that you have passed the exam is great. You could probably teach all of us in Y9 a thing or two about using computers
Wow Adithi – what an achievement. I loved reading this article and finding out a little bit more about what can be done using the different Google tools. I am embarrassed to say the Digital Leaders are all far better than I am at applying the tools in the classroom, I think I need a few lessons.
I’m sure with a little bit of determination and hard work you will successfully become a Level 2 Google Certified Educator. Can I book a lesson or two?
Congratulations Adithi on your amazing achievement. Your article has has inspired too, so well done on many accounts. Please pop to see me and show me around what you have learnt and share this great knowledge.
Great article Adithi, and well done on becoming a Google certified educator. I’m sure you’ll be able to help lots of your teachers learn to use new Google tools in their classrooms. I’d like to know more about how we can ‘force’ a google form quiz onto the student chromebooks – I think that would be very useful for me. I’ll chat to you about it next time I see you. Keep up the good work 🙂
Congratulations on passing your exam! Your article makes me more engaged in computing and I’m sure you will be able to help many other students in the future. Maybe this will even inspire younger years to take on tasks of a digital leader – it’s really impressive!
This is a fantastic achievement Adithi! You should be super proud of yourself (and the other Digital Leaders)!
I’d like to volunteer some of our Maths lessons for use with the Google Suite. Maybe we could sit down and plan something together and you can help me to deliver it to our class?! You’ll have loads of ideas I’m sure from the training you’ve done so far. Come and see me to arrange this.
Congratulations Adithi on passing your Google exam, it is a big achievement. It is informative about your processes and skill areas. It will be useful for the future. You will be able to pass your knowledge onto the younger children in the school if they want to become a digital leader and also to the other girls in our year. Very well done, I am sure you will reach level 2.
Well done Adithi. Really looking forward to having a chat about this with you. I hope you are proud of your achievements. A very inspiring article!!!!! Excellent.