Free Google Apps Training Resources

Google Apps for Education is quickly becoming a significant force in education. Google recently announced that over 10 million students have gone Google. Google is an engineering company that has created some unbelievably useful products. Computer engineering is what they do and they do a great job at it. Training, support, and marketing are not their strongest suites.

Because of an obvious void in the area of training and support Google created the Apps marketplace where third party vendors can offer technical services, training, and add-ons to the Google Apps suite. As a Google Certified Trainer I am listed in the marketplace as are several other educators. We each offer custom training and support for school interested in migrating to Google Apps or wanting to help their students and staff get the most out of Google Apps through professional development opportunities.

If you are looking for custom, hands on, personalized training for your school or business, reach out to one of the certified trainers listed in the Apps Marketplace. I know most of them personally and know that they would all do a great job. We are scattered around the US so it's likely that someone will be close to you!

Because the services of the certified trainers are personal and custom, they are a paid service. However perhaps you are just a teacher looking for some help in leveraging Google Apps more effectively in your classroom. Perhaps your school hasn't Gone Google yet so you are trying out the standard version of Google's Tools. Maybe you are a tech coordinator and are looking to build a list of on-demand resources that you can offer to your staff. There are lots of free resources available, but they have not been well cataloged. So here's my list of free training and support resources for Google Apps for Education:

Getting Started

• Google Apps for Education FAQ (This is a great place to begin learning about Apps for Education. Answers a lot of common misconceptions about Apps.)
• Google in the Classroom iTunesU Course (a free online course I developed featuring short video tutorials and suggestions on integrating Google Apps into your classroom. Full description here). 

On  Demand Video: 

• Google, More than Search [itunes link] (a podcast series on iTunes that I created featuring screencast tutorials on many of Google's products. These videos are also posted on YouTube.)
• Official Google Apps YouTube channel (features tutorials, case studies and product overviews)

Live Webinars:

• Overview of the Google Apps suite (Sponsored and run by Google. Events are scheduled regularly throughout the year.)
• Google Certified Trainer Webinar Series (Sponsored by Google, led by certified trainers around the country, including myself! Many of the trainers are/were classroom teachers and will focus on classroom applications of Google tools)

Support:

• Google Apps Deployment Guide (provides suggestions on the rollout of Apps to an organization)
• Tech Support Forum (not really a forum. Searchable database of instructions and information.)
• Community Forum (forum where users post and answer questions. Most contributions are from end-users with occasional interjection by Google Employees)
• Accessibility information for Google Products.

Interaction and Ideasharing:

• If you are a twitter user, follow the hashtag #gct. This is an ongoing discussion between the Google Certified Teachers. Throw out a question to us and we'll be happy to help!
• Become a Google Certified Teacher by attending the Google Teacher Academy. Held twice annually around the globe. Check out the GTA website and watch for the next application deadline. 
• Google Educators Discussion Group (a place for posting questions, ideas, and sharing resources. This is a very active community!)
• Directory of official Google Twitter accounts (Follow for lots of tips and news on new features)

Lesson Plans:

• Check out this list of lesson plans sortable by grade, subject, and Google Tool. 

Blogs to Follow:

• Directory of official Google blogs. (Add these in your RSS feed to stay up to date on new features and news related to Docs, Blogger, YouTube, etc)
• Google resources blog bundle: I created a "bundle" of blogs that I would recommend. Most of these blogs are maintained by Google Certified Teachers. 

There are undoubtedly other excellent resources that I haven't found. Please contribute to this list by posting relevant resources in a comment. I will periodically add them to the master list for others to use and benefit from. 

iNACOL Virtual School Symposium

This past week I had the opportunity to fly down to Glendale, Arizona (just outside of Phoenix) to attend iNACOL's annual Virtual School Symposium. The conference brought together 1,800 leaders in the field of online and virtual education.

Keynote presenters included Susan Patrick (iNACOL president), a fun panel of students in grades 6-12 who gave their perspective online learning, Deputy Secretary of Education Jim Shelton and former West Virginia Governor Bob Wise who spoke on policy issues related to online learning.

I attended seven different break-out sessions on a range of topics:

• From model to practice: building successful online learning programs 
• Using a digital curriculum to provide a personalized education for diverse learners.
• What we've learned in 10 years that could save your program’s budget: building a thriving online program through effective grassroots marketing. 
• From feasibility to pilot to launch: putting vision into action
• More than technology: preparing teachers for the online environment.
• Supporting Online Instructors and Assessing their Instruction
• Best Practice to Guide Student Responses in Online Discussion Forums: Moodle in the classroom.
• Life after the CMS: the future of the platform
• Engaging a Gaggle of Googlers

Rather than write a summary of each of the above sessions, here are some of the general things that I gleaned from the conference as a whole.

• Online learning is the future of education-- there is no doubt. There is a growing pool of data an anecdotal evidence that shows that there is a great demand for online learning opportunities, and that a growing number of schools are developing online programs.
  
• Those teaching online are on the cutting edge-- this is both good and bad. While it is clear that online learning is the future of education, no standards, best practices, or norms have been established for k-12 virtual instruction. The research that does exists is predominantly from the collegiate setting. Everyone is trying to figure out the best, most efficient, and most effective way to teach K-12 students virtually; Everyone is learning on the fly.
  
• The "factory model" is out-- Online learning was initially seen as a panacea to solve all of K-12's challenges: teacher shortages, aging infrastructure, budget cuts, etc. This was due, in part, to the perception that online schools could be run like a factory-- fewer teachers and more students aided by automated digital technologies. As this segment of the industry matures, it is becoming clear that there are new costs and challenges associated with online learning. Because of this more and more districts are developing hybrid programs that are a mix of online and face to face instruction. It is clear that a significant level of face to face interaction is critical for student success. This can be done virtually (through tools like skype) but does represent a significant level of interaction on the part of the teaching staff. This, in turn, will increase the cost of an online learning. Don't get me wrong, I do think that there can be significant costs savings associated with online learning, but it won't be the goldmine that some hoped it would be. 
• Teacher training and development is key-. Teaching online is NOT the same as teaching in a face to face or blended environment. Successful virtual schools will need dedicated staff who believe in online learning as an effective form of instruction, not just as way to earn money while staying home and working in their pajamas. The level of personal attention and interaction with students that an online teacher must achieve does not make virtual instruction any easier than face to face instruction. Not everyone is cut out to teach online. Here are the minimum requirements for virtual instructors: 
• Blazing fast typing ability
• Impeccable grammar and spelling (this is the "face" of the teacher that the students will see and as such it must be brilliant).
• A deep grasp of their subject matter.
• A working knowledge of digital tools and resources that can enhance learning, collaboration, and communication.

Next year the VSS will be held in Indianapolis, IN. I'll be there once again to hear how education is changing for the 21st century. 

Global Education Conference

I'd like to invite you to participate in the 2010 Global Education Conference November 15-19, 2010. Organized by Steve Hargadon and Lucy Gray, the conference is a "collaborative and world-wide community effort to significantly increase opportunities for globally-connecting education activities and initiatives." Don't worry about arranging flights or hotels, the conference takes place entirely online!

There are hundreds of sessions which you can attend, free of charge at all hours of the day and night. Here is a listing of all of the presentations. All times are Eastern Standard.



Join me on Wednesday, November 18 at 9pm (et) for my presentation on collaborative projects for STEM classrooms. No pre-registration required. All presentations will be conducted in the virtual meeting host Elluminate. Links to each session will be posted here a few days before the event.