← AI for Educators Daily with Dan Fitzpatrick
AI for Educators Daily with Dan Fitzpatrick
Google Classroom Just Changed - 10 Huge AI Updates
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Google just announced a set of updates that could change what Google Classroom actually is. This feels like it's going beyond just sticking Google Gemini into Google Classroom and kind of feels like Google are building out their ecosystem of what Google Classroom, NotebookLM, Gemini and Chromebooks could actually be as an integrated piece. So the question is simple. Does this actually help teachers lead learning, or does it just add another layer of tech that teachers have to manage? Now, if you watched my coverage live from Google IE at the shoreline Theater in Mountain View, you will know that I was a little bit skeptical because it kind of feels like Google are just throwing AI tools at the wall to see what sticks. We already know from my time in Google IO last year that only about half of the products that they announced actually survived to 12 months on. So is this what they're doing with Google Classroom? Is this what they're doing with their learning ecosystem, just throwing AI tools and seeing what sticks? Well, let's get into it, because they've announced a new wave of AI that integrates into Google Classroom, into Google Gemini and into Chromebooks. The pitch seems to be very clear from Google and it's made up of three parts. How do they help to keep the teacher in control of the learning? That's number one. Number two is how do they help personalize learning? And number three, how much more insight can they give the teacher into learning? That seems to be the triad of what Google trying to achieve with this set of updates. Google Classroom seems to be rapidly moving from a place where work is just set by the teacher, it is handed back in by the student, into a place where there is AI assisted learning taking place on the platform where that work is designed, delivered and monitored, all within Google Classroom. With the support of Google Gemini, they heavily rely on some research that they've just published from Sierra Leone, where 1800 math students used Google Gemini to support their learning and they saw between a 1.2 and 1.7 years of progress. But announcements are easy. The real test is going to be in how this changes your experience as a teacher and the learning experience of your students. So let's jump in. Here are the 10 updates that matter for you as a teacher and for your students. And we'll delve into why they matter as we go. So let's start with number one, and we're not actually going to start within Google Classroom. We're going to start within the Gemini app, because on education accounts rolling out today, you're going to be able to access a Google Classroom app within Google Gemini, which is going to give you context of your Google classrooms. It means you can ask Gemini to work using the context of your classroom, the assignments, the materials and the grades from within that all within the Gemini app. So you as a teacher could do something, for example, like ask Gemini to look for the common misconceptions over the last three assignments set for this specific class and it will be able to use the context and do that for you. It could also use the context of the last few assignments to write a upcoming cover lesson for you. Or simply do something like write several announcements to several Google classrooms at the same time picking up some of that admin load. The real test for how useful this feature is going to be is not actually going to be on the tool. I think it's going to be on you as the teacher. Are your Google classrooms organized well? Is the context there for Gemini to use well? Are all of your assignments in there? Is everything in there that is gonna make sure that Gemini has all it needs? So if you're not somebody who organizes your Google classrooms particularly well, this might be a reason to do that. Number two, Google are expanding their teacher AI activities that you can create within Google Classroom. These activities can use guided learning study notebooks, which we'll come on to in just a second. That's a brand new tool and NoteBookLM and the key detail is that the teacher chooses which materials the AI is allowed to use in those activities. My verdict on this is that this is gonna be really useful because it's gonna context of your curriculum and everything you have on your Google classroom to create these activities. However, for many of us teachers, it is going to be a layer of the tech stack on top. So will we get the time from our schools, from our districts to be able to delve into them, learn how to use them well. Thirdly, Gemini is getting study notebooks and this is the clearest student facing change of all in these updates. Using study notebooks, a student types a learning goal or uploads their notes and then Gemiini gives them a diagnostic quiz to find gaps in their learning and then builds short interactive lessons and practice aimed at exactly what that student needs most. Based on the diagnostics and as they take more quizzes, the notebook rewrites itself. You get something wrong, you see more of it. It also syncs with NotebookLM for flashcards and more of those features that we love from NotebookLM. My quick verdict here is that revision becomes adaptive. The clever bit is the diagnostic first so students face the gap instead of revising or what Might already feel comfortable with them. There are some downsides I think, and I've passed this on to Google themselves when they asked for my feedback. I think sometimes it just feels like a textbook and so the student is still going to have to bring a lot of their own motivation and a lot of study resources with them. The fourth one is not going to be relevant to all educators around the world just yet, but Google is moving into test prep and the headline here is that it is free. It's partnering with the Princeton Review to bring full length, no cost practice, ACT and GRE tests into Gemini. There will also be an ENEM practice test for students in Brazil. So this is not just a US thing, but also still just quite limited for viewers who are in the uk, Europe, Australia and beyond. After a test, students get a breakdown by topic from which can flow straight back into that study notebook that they've created for targeted prep. My verdict on this is that the feedback that comes from this is the feature, not the test itself. It's also free full length topic level feedback and could be a real equalizer for those students out there who cannot afford private prep. Number five is that Gemini is finally coming to all students in all Google classrooms, regardless of their age. And that would allow those students to create study guides, quiz themselves, use guided learning, all grounded in their own course materials that you as the educator have uploaded into that classroom. Again, a real need for the teacher here to organize the context of the Google classroom well and make sure that the students got all of the resources to use these AI tools really, really well. This is a very different experience from a student opening a general chatbot and just hoping for the best. So if you're worried this might help to quell your fears, Google is positioning it as vetted with pedagogy and safety experts. My verdict is that it is safer, more structured way into using these tools and benefiting from them as a student. The risk do students use it to build understanding or just get through the task faster? And I think that's going to come down to the educator and how we guide our students jumping into number six and we're going back to study notebooks here. I think this is a fantastic feature and this allows teachers to assign study notebooks right in Google classroom. So you as the educator, you build the notebook on the materials your class is already studying and set students to work in it before, let's say a quiz or an exam or an assignment. The important part here is that you can see progress and patterns so you spot the Gaps before the assessment, not only after it. So those diagnostic tools that the student can use, you get insights on that? I think that is going to be fantastic and really, really helpful. My verdict is that here revision can become visible for the educator and this turns private study into something a teacher can actually guide. Building on the analytics is number seven and Google across Google Classroom are building out more learning analytics for educators. So you will be able to see how students are interacting with all materials across Google Classroom and see the common misconceptions across the class. That is going to help you find who needs more support and and where reteaching is going to be needed. Really valuable tools. And this is where AI stops being a content generator and becomes a visibility tool. My verdict here is that this will be a great visibility tool, not just a generator. The risk, however, teachers do not need more dashboards, they need better decisions. So is this going to be another layer on top of that tech stack to take up our cognitive loaders educators? Let's hope not and hopefully it can be useful for us going forward. Number eight is Google NotebookLM insights coming very, very soon. NotebookLM is getting more connected to classroom. Teachers already use it to turn class materials into study guides, into flashcards and audio files. Now you will be able to get insights into how students have actually used those resources that can show where students are confused or where they need more practice. So NotebookLM feels less like a separate tool just tagged on as it has in the past, and more like part of the workflow within Google Classroom. My verdict on this is NotebookLM is growing up for learning. The update is not the content, it's the visibility. You catch the misconception before the test. Okay. Number nine is that Google is taking some of this beyond Google Classroom entirely. And we're talking about something here called lti. Now, the technical side might go above your head, certainly does with me in all these cases. But what it means is the plug that lets one education tool slot into it another is now activated for these tools. So these activities and the insights will be able to reach other platforms like Canvas, PowerSchool, Schoolology, starting with Teacher Guided Notebook. LM coming very soon. This matters because schools do not all live inside one platform or one ecosystem as we know. And this is Google meeting you on other people's turf, which will be a great extension to the usability of these tools. My verdict is that this will be useful whatever platform you run, not just nice if you are a Google school. And the test here will really come from it being genuinely seamless. Or one more integration and therefore cognitive load for the teacher to manage. Number 10 is we're going out of the software altogether to look at the hardware and that is a chromebook focus. Number 10 is Google is linking AI support with Classroom control using class tools, that great set of tools that Google released last year. Teachers can now lock student screens to specific resources, keep them inside notebooklm for a research task or inside one of the new study notebooks for revision. And a new guided learning toggle gives real time support while cutting destruction at the same time. AI in schools is not only a learning issue, it's a focus issue too. But it's worth noting that that this will be only available in managed Chromebooks. So what is the big picture here? Let's strip all 10 back and they collapse into three main things. Number one, context. Google is making AI work with your class materials, your assignments and your goals better, not just the general topic. It's going to be specifically based on the context of your classroom. Number two, control. Google acknowledged that the teacher is the designer and the reviewer of learning within schools. So every single feature keeps a human in the lead, not just in the loop in the lead that teacher. Number three, Google are going big here on insights. These will not just be separate tools that you can just give to your students anymore. They will be integrated into that classroom ecosystem so that the teacher can see into them, see the insights that they need. Student AI use becomes something teachers can actually see and respond to. A lot of this is coming in months ahead, not today. And right now all you really have is number one, the classroom app in Gemini and study notebooks on personal accounts. No personal accounts right now, not education accounts. The rest of this is a roadmap. My take on this. Google Classroom is becoming the control center for teacher guided AI learning. And if that happens, the biggest change is not the technology. AI is not about the technology. It goes far beyond. It goes beyond to behavior, to culture. In this instance, it's how teachers design, it's how they guide, it's how they measure learning in an AI enabled classroom. The real question is not whether the features are impressive, it's whether schools are ready to use them. Well, if this video has helped, let me know and I will do a follow up for leaders on how we can start to implement technology like this in the classroom and within our schools. Please do let me know in the comments what you thought, which of these 10 updates you're likely to use when it comes to Monday morning and these tools are all available. Check out more at aieducator tools and I will see you very soon.