As teachers we’re continually looking to improve on our practice, two great self paced certifications that can help you improve and explore the various features of educational tech tools are the Microsoft Innovative Educator ( MIE ) certification and the Apple Teacher certification.
Many may be familiar with these programs through our Saturday Certificate Sessions that we’re hosted earlier this school year and at the end of 2019 school year. As we move into week 5 of online learning I found myself looking over some of the MIE courses that I’ve taken and it’s been helpful reminder of the tools at our disposal.
If you find yourself wanting to acquire more in depth knowledge of tools like Teams, OneNote and the Office 365 interface, the Microsoft Innovative Educator is a great certification. It will allow you to gain further fundamentals of these tools allowing for integration into both online learning and in a traditional classroom setting. Best part is it’s FREE.
To start your journey visit: Microsoft Innovative Educator
A couple tips:
- Sign in with a Microsoft account. ( You can use your school account but the badge and certification will be tied to that e-mail/account ) Feel free to create your own Microsoft or Live account before signing in.
- You’ll need to take a quiz to complete each badge. The questions can be tricky but you can take the quiz multiple times if you get tripped up.
- You can complete badges for various topics but to complete the certification you only need 1,000 points. You can accrue far more with all the various topics.
- To get to this 1,000 point landmark you’ll need about 2 – 3 hours.
For those interested in learning new skills about Apple products ( iPad and Mac ) as well built – in Apple tools like Pages, Keynote, and Numbers as well iMovie and GarageBand should check out the Apple Teacher certification.
To start your journey visit: Apple Teacher Program
A few tips:
- You’ll need to log in your Apple ID. Create one if you don’t have one.
- You’ll need to complete 8 badges to get the certification.
- Apple estimates that the certification would take about 16 hours but many people have finished the Apple Teacher Certification in a 3 -4 hour period. It depends on how quickly you go through the material and quizzes.
If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me at ytewolde@ncpachina.org