Author: Brian Farrell

Joining the Google Apps for Education Certified Trainer Community

/ Brian Farrell / Leave a comment

ImageI am honoured to have been recently accepted to join the worldwide community of Google Apps for Education Certified Trainers. While this designation allows me to better offer training to my peers and colleagues working to effectively implement Google Apps in their classrooms, it also allows me to personally connect with a fantastic group of like-minded technology educators. This is particularly important, as, as far as I can tell, I am currently the only Google Apps for Education Certified Trainer in Korea!

It always amazes me at the amount that educators are willing to share and collaborate even if it means no obvious immediate benefit to them. Google Apps for Education are a fantastic resource to employ in any classroom, but their dynamic nature means that functionalities and tools are updated and change on a regular basis. Having access to a global community of fellow trainers means that I can help the learners and educators that I work with to stay on top of these developments, and have an overflowing talent pool to tap into should I encounter problems that need solving.

The process for becoming a Google Apps for Education Certified Trainer is a long one, and one that is itself undergoing changes. But if you’re looking to explore Google Apps for Education further, I’d recommend you start by exploring some of the training opportunities online (and keep an eye open for upcoming changes and updates), or even better, by attending a Google Apps for Education Summit in person. These resources will help you connect with passionate Google Apps users and trainers on the way to building your own global learning community!

Researching Google Style

/ Brian Farrell / 2 Comments

I recently was able to present a couple of sessions at the first Korean Google Apps for Education summit, held at Seoul Foreign School. These events are always high energy whirlwinds, and I’m always left impressed by the many innovative things that people are doing with their students.

In one session, I focused on using various Google tools (Google Scholar, News, and Books) and conducting smarter Google searches when undertaking research. While the slides from my presentation are really just an outline, they may help to build an understanding of just how much is possible when you dig deeper with these very helpful free resources.

As with most things Google, the various interfaces, toolbars, and menu options for these tools regularly change as the products are improved. In its attempt to simplify things (which will be appreciated by the majority of users), advanced settings and features can sometimes become hidden away. But these options can be critical to allowing users to explore the full potential of a given tool, and so it’s worth spending some time playing around and finding the settings and filters that can help you to become a more effective researcher.

Today I read a Book to Teenagers…

/ Brian Farrell / Leave a comment

An actual, made out of dead trees, book. With pictures. To 16 and 17 year-old IB Diploma students. And they loved it.

Many, if not all of our students in international schools are stressed and juggling (perhaps too many) commitments as they work towards illusive goals. It’s so important to remind them to stop sometimes and do something different of their own choosing, like reading for pleasure, that they can enjoy.

After my story was done, we all had a blissful twenty minutes together of sitting quietly in the library and reading whatever we felt like.

In case you’re curious, here’s the video version of what I read to them:

A Library Start-up Year in Review

/ Brian Farrell / Leave a comment

As the school year came to a close, I thought it important to reflect on the progress that we have made in developing an effective library facility and in delivering excellent services to our school community thus far. Often working in isolation or only intermittently with various constituencies in a school, the work that we do in libraries can sometimes fly under the radar. The annual report that I’ve drafted (below) is an attempt to highlight some of the work that we have been doing. There are of course still many challenges ahead, some of which I’ve attempted to identify in the report, but I feel that on the whole, we have accomplished a great deal over the past ten months.