Google Accreditation - Week 9 DFI.... survived....

 

Google Accreditation - Week 9 DFI... Survived...

Completely fried! That's how I feel as I sit to complete my final blog post for D.F.I.  Today was 'External Recognition' day and this was an opportunity for the participants of the 9 week Digital Fluency Initiative to complete the Google Level 1 Education Accreditation certificate.   

... I passed!

...Relief

The exam is a mixture of multichoice and scenario (using the Google Suite) based questions. The test was as intense as the course for me (not helped by having a head cold and feeling a bit flat at the end of a long term)!  It starts with the multichoice questions and I had to be careful not to overthink those and to follow good exam technique...

1) Which are the two obvious choices you can rule out

2) Read the question carefully - consider how many choices it is asking you for...

3) Select the 'review question' button and take the opporting to go back and check the answers (if time allows).  

Tip - Ignore the countdown timer for each question.  You have enough time to complete the exam with plenty of time to check and recheck your answers... if you aren't over it by then :-)

Once you are through the multichoice questions you are into the scenario or practical application questions

• Google Docs
• Spreadsheets
• Classroom
• Calendar 
• Sites
• Bookmarks
• Forms 

There were ten scenario questions with a number of requirements to complete in each question.  I felt I made a solid start in the google docs/forms and calendar sections but I did need to take some time in the Bookmark section. I haven't previously set up a bookmark folder and added pages in, so I needed to take my time in this part of the test and step myself through this process logically.  

The trickiest part for me was the spreadsheet and initially I got myself all confused and in a tizzy.  It was the to the point where I had to stop, have a biscuit, a quick break and some very firm self talk that I needed to calm myself down and go slowly.  Once I had my 'head' under control, it was fairly easy to step myself through the requirements. 

I thought there was some interesting 'language' choices in what the questions asked you to do, which I felt could be a bit of a trip up if you weren't reading the questions properly.  Jeremey described the test as a 'logical' exam... and upon reflection I think that's also a good way to describe what it is asking you to demonstrate.

My exam technique clearly is a little rusty and it was good (if painful) to put myself back in a 3 hour test space.  It was a reminder to me about what my own children are going through weekly at College.  I am going to be a lot more supportive and sympathetic when they are complaining about testing week at school!

D.F.I has been an incredible experience for me and I've thoroughly enjoyed the past 9 weeks.  It's certainly taken me outside of my comfort zone as all good PLD does, and I've learnt so much.  A big thank you to Jeremy, Dorothy, Vicki and Jakub for their support along the way.  NWS gave Jeremy/Dorothy a box of chocolates each and explained that each chocolate was for a question asked.  Jeremy cheekily suggested that each chocolate was for one of my tabs that is open!

...maybe when I am feeling brave, I'll give Level 2 Accreditation a whirl :-)  not today though...