Your Google(TM) Certified Professional Development Partner

Thank you for visiting PalmettoLearning.com. Palmetto Learning is an educational consulting and training firm. Whether you’re looking for a dynamic speaker for your next event, help developing a product for the educational market, or training on Google products, I can help.

On this site you will see real life examples of how I have worked with clients. If I can help you in any way, please feel free to contact me using the form or any of the methods on the right.

Hoping to work with you soon! – Dr. Chris Craft

I recently spent a few Saturdays working with teachers in Fairfield County, SC talking about their new Chromebooks! They are piloting Chromebooks and they needed someone to come in and train teachers and administrative staff on how they work and how to administer them. The training was three days, and we talked about:

• Chromebook deployment (challenges and considerations)
• Chromebook management console
• Chromebook administration
• Chrome apps (including how to limit downloadable apps)

and we talked a lot about the possibilities of Chromebooks and the Google Apps for Education system including

• Google Docs
• Google Calendar
• Google Sites
• Google Forms

and much more.

Thanks to the wonderful folks at Fairfield School District for having me, I had a great time!

I am proud to announce that Palmetto Learning, LLC is now a Google Apps Authorized Reseller! I was recently accepted into the program based on the number of clients I’ve helped switch to Google Apps for Business and Google Apps for Education.

Acceptance into this program means that now more than ever, I’m in a great position to help clients switch to Google Apps. Contact me if I can help you with that endeavor!

One of the highlights of my year thus far has been publishing iOS apps with kids. We’ve gotten two apps successfully published in the App Store and are working on several more. As of this writing, we have one in review that we hope will be approved soon.

I often get asked how we publish apps, since this is not something that is typical among school children, especially 11-12 year-old students (grade 6). Our app development process begins with students choosing a topic for their app. We find that informational apps work best, since the software we use is limited in its abilities and we are limited in our knowledge. Once students come up with an idea and talk with me about it, they set to work on the software. The software we use is called MobiOne and it’s developed by a company called Genuitec.

Genuitec has been wonderful to work with. Along the process, I asked for help on their support forum. The folks there were quick to respond and my issues even resulted in newer versions of the software being released. One feature that was recently released was the iOS App Builder. The software creates an .ipa file that you can upload to the App Store. I think that we were one of the first (if not *the* first) to get an app published using MobiOne. Although I cannot verify that.

MobiOne has provided me with a referral code to give to you. If you use this referral code, you will get 50% off the retail price of MobiOne. Normally it costs $99.99 but you’ll get it for $49.98!

The referral code is: CrossRoadsReferral (and is case sensitive) needs to be entered on the Buy page, like so:

There is a 14-day trial version you can download if you’re interested. Let me know how it goes!

Migrating from any system to Google Apps can be complicated. Migrating from First Class to Google Apps is by far one of the most difficult migrations. The complex nature of the way First Class handles (mishandles?) email can make the migration process tough. We have recently developed a system to migrate from FirstClass to Google Apps that preserves existing emails on both sides (including all folders). We are very excited about this new system, and know that it will help our clients looking to migrate from First Class to Google Apps. Need help with this? Contact me today.

Each year The State newspaper chooses 20 local leaders that are younger than 40 years of age. This year I am honored to have been chosen! You can read the entire article in Monday’s (February 20) newspaper or online at www.thestate.com/20under40. I am thrilled to have been nominated by a friend and colleague, and look forward to representing the Midlands of South Carolina well.

This is the picture that appeared in the paper.

Recently, I traveled to Summit, NJ and Kent Place school to work with my colleague Lisa Thumann and a wonderful group of teachers and network administrators. This was a new event for me, as it was a Train-the-Trainer event. The goal of this event was to train educators and IT professionals so that they were ready for the requisite exams for the Google Apps Certified Trainer program.

We spent two days interacting with and learning with teachers from around the Summit area of New Jersey. If you’re curious, here is our agenda. Thanks to everyone at Kent Place school for their hospitality!

Each year I make the trek from South Carolina to Philadelphia for Educon. This is my third (or fourth) year in a row and I thoroughly enjoy this conference. My enthusiasm is partly due to the chance to see people I respect and care for, as well as colleagues from whom I learn much. This year I am not presenting, yet I am on a mission to refine my thinking in a few areas. To that end, I am looking for sessions that are openly skeptical of some of the typically-spouted rhetoric espoused by educational thinkers. There are quite a few sessions that fit the bill, and I am thrilled at the chance to learn. If you’re going to Educon, make sure to say hello! Perhaps get in touch to make sure we get the chance. Here’s to learning! And this year, here’s to no snow!

Columbia, South Carolina is home to the National Advocacy Center. The NAC is the principal training center for the US Department of Justice to train US Attorneys from around the country.

When the Office of Legal Education (inside the NAC) needed an expert to teach US Attorneys about Instructional Design, they called me. I was honored to be brought to the NAC for two days to teach as a part of the inaugural Instructional Design Symposium. I spent time with brilliant US Attorneys working through the existing ways they teach and helping them redesign courses in line with research on instructional design. We talked through such topics as:

• The Fundamentals of Instructional Design
• Human Cognition
• Motivating Learners
• Presentation Design

The sessions were well received and the attorneys were given time immediately following the sessions to apply what they had learned. The courses that emerged and the discussions were thoroughly satisfying. I was glad to have been a part of this important work! Thank you to the US Department of Justice and the Office of Legal Education for inviting me to be a part of the symposium.

On Saturday, November 19 I had the pleasure of teaching a group of educators from around South Carolina how to use Google products with their new iPads. The teachers we a part of a grant program designed to help these teachers incorporate new technologies into their classrooms.

The training was lots of fun to give, and it was a full day of learning. Here is the agenda for the day.

Thanks to the amazing teachers who came to learn on Saturday!