Free Certifications

Rachael Grillo

AES Chapter Secretary

​Free Certification/Badges for Teachers
 
Are you a teacher looking for some ways to enhance your students’ learning experiences? Maybe you are looking for things that will enhance your resume and assist you in job hunting? Or you just like freebies….. Whichever category you’re in, here’s some training that can better you in the classroom. AND THEY ARE FREE!

Nearpod Certified Educators
As a teacher, I relied on PowerPoint notes and then sometimes did exit tickets or short quizzes to check for understanding. Everybody had to be on the same page. What I love about Nearpod is that you can build the interaction right into the slides. You can do live presentations or do student-paced and allow the students to go through it at their own pace. You can integrate videos, quizzes, open-ended question, matching games, etc right into the slideshow. Nearpod will track not only participation (if they interact with the interactive slides), but also accuracy on things like the matching and quizzes. It’s easy for teachers to pull a report (and save paper).

First, Nearpod recommends you attend a webinar to learn more about what will be expected of you to achieve certification. Next, Nearpod gives you an outline of what your submitted lesson must contain. Finally, you must launch your lesson and have at least 15 students use it. It’s just that easy! I submitted my application and heard back within two weeks that I was now a Nearpod Certified Educator! They also sent me a certificate. There is NO COST.

If you’re interested, the website with all information is found here:
https://nearpod.com/certified-educator
 
Common Sense Educators
Common Sense Media has a certification called “Common Sense Educators”. There is also no cost for this program. Common Sense Media is all about assisting students in the digital age and providing teachers with the skills and tools to achieve that. The Common Sense Educator badge “publicly affirms your commitment to helping students think critically and use technology responsibly to learn, create, and participate” (Common Sense Media website).

Common Sense Media provides three sections to complete to attain the certification. First is “Learn” where you do a series of activities to “level up your teaching practice”. Second is “Do”, where you choose two activities in which you will engage your students. Last is “Reflect”, where you will reflect upon the process. Again, there is no cost.

If you’re interested, the website with all information is found here:
https://www.commonsense.org/education/recognition-educators
 
Microsoft Innovative Educator
The Microsoft Innovative Educator badge is free. The goal is to learn fundamentals to apply technology in education. The website is very personalized because you only have to complete tasks adding up to 1000 points to get the badge and there’s a lot to choose from. I chose one task that was 1500 points to complete the badge, but you can complete several smaller tasks or a larger one. The choice is yours.
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If you’re interested, the website with all information is found here:
https://education.microsoft.com/microsoft-innovative-educator-programs/mie
 
If there are other free badges or certifications you know of, please share in the comments below!