Become a "certified educator"

When I became a computer technician in 1997, MCP and MCSE were the important certificates that everybody wanted. They served as a warranty that you knew stuff and they can be compared with authorizations in the car industry. Today, you can become a certified educator in Microsoft, Google and several other EdTech companies, and they are a great way to get started as an ICT educator.

Certificates for ICT Educators

The first time I heard about the “Microsoft Certified Educator”-program, I honestly thought it sounded a little cute, but not much more than just cute. I thought about the extensive training that is often behind Microsoft’s other certifications and I thought (stupidly enough) that this was some cute mini-version they had created to advertise. Once I started the education program (I mostly wanted the cute badge!) I realized that it was not some light version of a real certificate at all. This was for real.

Since the school I work in uses Google Education Suite instead of Microsoft Teams, I checked if Google had some certificates and they did (of course). I started to read the different modules and even though there was a lot of advertising (it can not be denied!), it also contained a lot of sensible and well-thought-out content. The program covered everything from different digital tools to security levels and recommendations for dealing with spam and cyberbullying. To my great joy (really!) the final exam was not that easy, but I passed it! I was glad that it wasn’t too simple, since it will have more authority if it is a bit harder!

Today, several of the major EdTech companies have taken up the idea and offer different certificates at different levels. Most of them are available with a study guide, others are only given as awards when you have done something really great. I have taken part in some of the education programs and here is a list of the certificates I have gotten. If you know of a great one that is not on the list, please leave a comment below.

Google Certified Educator

Google’s certificates are available in two levels. The education programs are structured as modules that you can take part in at your own pace. The education programs are free, but the exams cost about 10 and 25 dollars. You can take the exams at home with the webcam turned on. When I took them, I needed a couple of hours to finish. The first part of the test was true or false questions where you should not have too many mistakes. The second part had several assignments in Google Workspace that must be solved on time. Some of them were in Google docs, some in Google Drive and others in Google Calendar.

Google Certified Educator, Level 1

The education program covered Google Drive, Google Docs, Slides, Spreadsheets, Calendar and the Google Science Center. There was one part that covered security and sharing options. The last part was about cyberbullying, spam and Google’s recommendations for how to handle those kinds of problems.

Google certified educator level 2

Part of the education at level 2 was the same as the content at level 1. Personally, I think that the most difficult part was all the settings, filters and other things you can do in Google Spreadsheets. I have used Microsoft Excel for many years, but this was like managing an entire database! Worst of all, it did not feel very meaningful. These are features that you use to handle large amounts of data from Google Forms, and I do not do that every day. Apart from that, the education program was quite similar to Level 1.

The education program for “Google Certified Educators” can be found here:
https://teachercenter.withgoogle.com/certification_level1

When I took the certificate I found this Facebook group that helped a lot! Everybody was kind and they really helped when there were questions or you just needed motivation.
www.facebook.com/groups/googleteachers

Microsoft Certified Educator

I never finished the education program for MS Certified Educator because I do not work with Microsoft Teams, but I started looking at it and it seemed good. I covered the part about MS’s new presentation program Microsoft Sway, and it is a really cool development of our old friend PowerPoint.

The education program focuses on MS Teams and I noticed that the program focuses on teaching and not just on cool digital tools. Maybe it’s because the Bill and Melina Gates Foundation has such a strong focus on education all over the world, this education program for teachers really put the kids first.

The education for “Microsoft Certified Educator” can be found here:
https://education.microsoft.com

Smart Digital Educator

Smart (the same Smart that makes the Smartboards!) has their own education program with two different levels. Level 1 is called “Smart digital educator” and level 2 is called “Smart certified educator. Since I’m not a fan of smartboards I have not taken a closer look at their education, but since many schools are switching to smartboards and many teachers need to learn about them, it can probably be a good certificate to invest in. Smartboards are not part of the regular teachers’ education and many teachers need to learn how to use them.

The education program for “Smart Digital Educator” can be found here:
https://training.smarttech.com/en/programs/edu/sde

Nearpod Certified Educator

Nearpod is a fun and stable company that I have written about earlier. Nearpod is a digital tool that can really heat up an old Powerpoint so that they become interactive and offer more interaction. You can add questions, polls or bulletin boards to the presentation for more engagement. This will ensure more activity in the classroom and the students usually find it quite fun.

Nearpod is not a mega-company, but I was impressed by their education program. It covered remote learning and lesson design. How do you design a lesson so that it becomes interesting and so that the students can find it motivating to work with the assignments? Nearpods education program covered several research reports and interesting interviews with different researchers.

I do not know if the certificate from Nearpod will make your CV stand out, but if you are interested in lesson design, it is really worth the time.

The education program for “Nearpod Certified Educator” can be found here:
https://nearpod.com/certified-educator

Adobe Creative Educator

The latest addition that I heard of among available certificates was the “Adobe Creative Educator”. This education program is less about pedagogy and ICT and more about creativity. Adobe focuses on how to engage creativity in the students. Often when the subject of creativity is being brought up in teaching, the focus is on how the teacher can be creative in several different ways. Adobe wants the students to embrace their creative side and start creating in every subject.

The education program was short but sweet, and I liked the content a lot. For example, they provided was a fantastic list of lesson plans in various subjects and they all focuses on creativity in learning. The lesson plans all had a beautiful layout (of course – it’s Adobe!) and they could be copied right to your Google Drive. I got a lot of inspiration from them and I will be proud to hand them out to my students.

The education program for “Adobe Creative Educator” can be found here:
https://edex.adobe.com/adobe-creative-educator