Over the summer, I decide to train myself and take the online training modules to become Google Certified.
Just one of the tasks that is recommended to complete before taking the certification exam. I am about half way done with it. They are very time consuming, but definitely worth it! I feel more confident using Google Apps and more confident to share the information with my peers. I am planning to complete the online training modules within the next week or two then off to take the exam!
Another reason I decided to take the training modules is because I will be piloting Google Apps for Education this school year (2013-2014) with 6th grade students. The pilot consists of ten teachers who specialize in Math, Science, Language Arts, Social Studies, Special Education, and Related Arts and about 40 students.
I will provide the teachers with 2 half days of professional development and the students will be introduced to GAFE when I coordinate a date with the classroom teacher. Since I am the Technology Integration Coach, it is my responsibility to introduce GAFE to the students and the teachers during this pilot.
Although the teacher's technology skills vary, I decided to provide them with the basics which include, Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Drive. After that, they will setup their classroom by creating forms, contacts, and groups.
My role in this pilot will be to make sure the teachers are using and implementing Google Apps in their daily classroom routine, and troubleshooting any issues that arise during the pilot. In addition, I will provide them with ongoing professional development in a supportive role. One thing I already did was create a collaborative document that all the pilot teachers, including myself, can share ideas, technical issues and more.
Implementing GAFE will allow the teachers to become a paperless classroom, provide teacher/student collaboration, provide cloud storage and docs, allow students to create digital portfolios, have access to apps that are installed in the domain, allow them to have email accounts, and more!
I am very excited to be a part of this pilot! I look forward to working with my peers, students, and with the administration. Team work is what will make this pilot a success!