RENO — Teachers working with Nevada students can earn certification in Google Workspace tools through a partnership between Google and the Nevada Department of Education. A total of 10,000 Certified Educator Level 1 vouchers will be available for free to eligible educators, with 2,500 in the initial cohort this year and the remaining 7,500 available in 2022 and beyond.
“Our goal is to provide educators with opportunities to develop the digital skills they need in any tech-driven classroom,” said Google’s Kate Franko. “We hope this training will make their work easier, even more impactful, and create ripple effects across Nevada that benefit both teachers and students.”
Each voucher provides access to a fundamentals course and a Level 1 Academy. Once earned, the certification is valid for three years.
The program is aimed at teachers who want to improve their proficiency in the use of technology for both hybrid and virtual classrooms.
“Nevada’s educators are the key to fostering students who are globally prepared and future-ready,” said Jhone Ebert, state superintendent of public instruction. “As the technology of our world continues to rapidly evolve, it is critical to build our educators’ capacity to support our students and I thank Google for providing this opportunity.”
A cohort of educators has already achieved the Google Certified Trainer status, and those individuals will be tapped with assisting certification of some of those 10,000 educators in the Level 1 program.
Applications are now being accepted for the first cohort. The program is open to educators working with students including:
- Licensed Nevada teachers and Alternative Route to Licensure (ARL) teachers.
- Teacher preparation faculty at Nevada universities and ARL programs.
- Contracted educational technology specialist computer teachers.
- Pre-service teachers accepted to a Nevada teacher preparation program.
- School librarians and media specialists.
Applications are online at: https://sites.google.com/friedtechnology.com/l1-nevada/home.
