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Google Certified Trainer

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Edited by Jonathan Vernon, Monday, 13 Jan 2020, 10:47

Google Certified Trainer Logo

Where I need to be at. 

It should be on the CV of anyone being recruited into the Learning Technologist’s role, someone who in turn needs to be a former PGCE qualified teacher, so will need to be paid a Teacher and Staff Training Consultant levels. Double their salary then!

Ten years after starting (or rebooting) my MA ODE I am earning half what I earned then! Is that progress? It certainly is not the career change I have been trying to make from 'linear and interactive training' 1985-2000 to 'digital and interactive learning'. 

The MA ODE is an add on to an experienced and qualifed educator in HE. It is less applicable to teachers in primary or secondary education. It has little to offer those from Corporate Training either - my background. it is ideal for an academic invovled in reseaching teaching best practice. It is a step towards a PhD in education.

Don't be:

A badge collector. For me it has been another A level, another degree, another course taken. I recall the story of a girl with 5 A grade A Levels not getting into Cambridge to study physics. Easy to see why. They need a specialist at one subject, not a generalist in many. That would have come out in the interview. 

It is what you do with your knowledge that matters most. 

The person who doesn’t finish. Less that 10% of start finish. It requires determination and commitment. 

Wherein lies the problem. I struggle with motivation. I work best with quick reward and feedback. 




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Long ago I realised that my horizontal approach to learning was getting me nowhere. But that is ADHD me. Or just me.

One PhD would be better that three MAs.

Anway, at the opposite extreme, I am failing to gain my Level 1 Google Educator certificate. This reminds me of failing the paper exam for Level 1 Teaching Swimming 18 years ago. The first exam I had failed since my driving test. Give me a degree, course, an essay to write, even an A' level, or a paper for an MA, but don't test me with multiplechoice as my default mode will be to consider all possibilities feasbile!

I have also struggled with skiing, learning French, ballroom dancing, throwing a pot and climbing. My feet are still like lead when it comes to dancing, my hands are not better with clay (though I can draw a likeness and a nude). I cannot overcome the 12ft barrier with climbing - the top of a short ladder is as high as I want to get off the ground. The best part of two seasons working in the Alps and I finally cracked skiing to a standard that satisfies me. Skills take time with me, Like 100s of weeks. Amd after 40+ years of trying I am slowly mastering French (spoken at least), courtesy of regular dosages of LingVist (app) and twice a month meeting up with friends locally to spea in French at Rendez Vous a Lewes. 

So failing Google Certified Educator Level 1 sees me instead going for Google Certified Educator Level 2.

The reality for me is what I am not doing, needing and thinking about, I forget. My brain is more Teflon than Velcro. Chucking stuff at my senses does not work unless I am immersed in it, drowning in it, challenged by and suffering it. 

So wish me luck. Bored to tears by Google's own training I am looking for alternatives. What I really need is scheduled time 1 to 1 or in a class with a Google Certified Educator. There are not many of these in England. And it costs money that the institution I work for would need to pay.

On verra.


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