Iteration is in Google’s DNA, Even the Apps for Education Team’s

Today I received a response to my Google Apps for Education Certification email (see last post) and it reminded me of how new this whole Google Apps Certified Trainer thing is. The certification itself has been available for less than a year and the awesome web site for about the same. By the way, if you haven’t checked out the site yet, you should. Recently I used it as a resource with my students when they created their own how-to podcasts for Google Tools and the resources rock.

Having been out for only a short time and given the rapid pace of updates Google Apps has being going through lately, I get that the Certification process has to keep up. I applaud the Google Apps Education team for growing such a rich ecosystem around Google Apps in such a short time. When we migrated staff 2 years ago, there were no real resources available for Education. We muddled through with the business guides. Now, education specific trainers are available to actually come on site and train staff. The Apps Education team is building a library of videos to help teachers get the most out of the tools in their classrooms and making them available for free on youtube.

While I was not able to convince them that changing the certification requirements post application wasn’t exactly fair, I was able to plead my case and have my voice heard. And they listened. From their point of view, there was a valid reason for making the changes to the certification application that they did. And in the long run I think it was the right thing. They could have handled it better, but if there is anything that Google does well it’s iterate. Feedback is critical to the iterative process so if you ever feel the need,

I encourage you to voice your suggestions and opinions in an effort to make Google Apps for Education and the Google Apps for Education Certified Trainer program even better. I think they’ll listen to you too.