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SPAIN – 2021\/04\/27: In this photo illustration, a Google Classroom logo seen displayed on a smartphone with headphones on a laptop keyboard. (Photo Illustration by Thiago Prud\u00eancio\/SOPA Images\/LightRocket via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
SOPA Images\/LightRocket via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Google just announced a set of updates that will advance how schools use AI. This goes beyond just sticking Gemini into Google Classroom. Google are building what the learning ecosystem of their Classroom app, NotebookLM, Gemini and Chromebooks could actually be as an integrated piece.<\/p>\n
So the question is simple. In a world where the screen is the \u2018badguy\u2019 \u2014 see Pixar\u2019s new instalment of Toy Story<\/a> \u2014 does the latest traunch of AI integrations from Google actually help schools, or does it just add another layer of tech that educators and students have to manage?<\/p>\n When I covered Google I\/O<\/a>, just a few weeks ago, I was a little skeptical, because it kind of feels like Google are just throwing AI tools at the wall to see what sticks. We know that only about half of the products they announced actually survived to 12 months on. So is this what they are doing with Google Classroom too? Just throwing AI tools, this time at our kids and the educators who teach them, and seeing what sticks?<\/p>\n The real test is in how this enhances the learning experience of our children and their teachers.<\/p>\n Google lean heavily on research they have just published from Sierra Leone<\/a>, where 1,763 math students used Gemini’s Guided Learning to support their learning over eight weeks. They saw between 1.2 and 1.7 years of progress, and as much as 1.8 to 2.5 years where educators built it into around half their lessons. According to the research, educators designed the lessons, set the objectives, and led the discussions. And it was not students mining the tool for answers. Across more than 113,000 interactions, students used it to build understanding in 91.4% of conversations, and Gemini handed over a direct solution in just 2% of its messages. Conrad Sackey, Sierra Leone’s minister of basic and senior secondary education, said the trial gives “strong evidence that carefully designed AI can help improve learning outcomes.”<\/p>\n Google Classroom is rapidly moving from a place where work is just set by the teacher and handed back in by the student, into a place where AI-assisted learning happens on the platform. Work designed, delivered and monitored all within Google Classroom, with the support of Gemini. Strip the announcement back and it collapses into three things. Context. Control. Insights.<\/p>\n Context: AI That Works With Specific Class Material<\/p>\n One of Google\u2019s more impressive new features doesn\u2019t start within their Classroom app, but in the Gemini app. Educators can now access a Google Classroom app inside Gemini that gives it the context of their classrooms, such as the assignments, the materials, and the grades.<\/p>\n Educators can ask Gemini to look for common misconceptions over the last three assignments set for a specific class. It can use the context of the last few assignments to write an upcoming cover lesson. Or it can do something like write several announcements to several Google Classrooms at the same time, picking up some of that admin load.<\/p>\n The real test for how useful this is will not be on the tool. It is going to be on the educators. Are their Google Classrooms organized well? Is the context there for Gemini to use well? Are all of the assignments in there? Is everything in there that makes sure Gemini has all it needs? If educators do not organize their Google Classrooms particularly well, this might be a reason to start.<\/p>\n The same logic powers the clearest student-facing change of all. Gemini is getting study notebooks. A student types a learning goal or uploads their notes, and Gemini gives them a diagnostic quiz to find the gaps in their learning. Then it builds short interactive lessons and practice aimed at exactly what that student needs most. As they take more quizzes, the notebook rewrites itself. If they get something wrong, they see more of it. It also syncs with NotebookLM<\/a> for flashcards, podcasts, and more of those multi-model AI features that are popular.<\/p>\n The quick verdict here is that revision becomes adaptive. The clever bit is the diagnostic first, so students face the gap instead of revising what they might already feel comfortable with. There are some downsides. Sometimes it just feels like a bland textbook, so the student is still going to have to bring a lot of their own motivation.<\/p>\n Control: The Educator Remains The Designer<\/p>\n Google are also expanding the teacher AI activities<\/a> educators can create within Google Classroom. These can use guided learning, study notebooks and NotebookLM. The key detail is that the educator chooses which materials the AI is allowed to use. That could be really useful, because it takes in the context of the curriculum and everything on the Classroom app. But for many educators, it is also another layer of the tech stack on top. So will they get the time from schools and districts to get into them and learn how to use them well?<\/p>\n Gemini is finally coming to all students in all Google Classrooms, regardless of their age, grounded in the course materials educators have uploaded. This is a very different experience from a student opening a general chatbot and just hoping for the best. For those who are worried, this might help to quell fears. Google is positioning it as vetted with pedagogy and safety experts. And the Sierra Leone numbers give that some weight. It is the safer, more structured way in. The risk, with a lot of AI, could still be the students using it to just get through the task faster. That is going to come down to the educators and how they guide students.<\/p>\n Control reaches the hardware too. Using Class tools<\/a> on managed Chromebooks, educators will be able to lock student screens to specific resources, keep them inside NotebookLM for a research task or inside one of the new study notebooks for revision. A new guided learning toggle gives real-time support while cutting distraction at the same time. AI in schools is not only a learning issue. It is a focus issue too. Worth noting, this one is only available on managed Chromebooks.<\/p>\n Across every feature, Google acknowledge that the teacher is the designer and the reviewer of learning. Every single feature claims to keep a human in the lead. <\/p>\n Insights: Where AI Stops Being A Generator<\/p>\n This is the shift that appears most interesting. Educators can assign Study Notebooks right in Google Classroom. They build the notebook on the materials the class is already studying and set students to work in it before a quiz, an exam or an assignment. The important part is that they can see progress and patterns, so they spot the gaps before the assessment, not only after it. Revision becomes visible for the educator. It turns private study into something an educator can actually guide.<\/p>\n Google are building out wider learning analytics for for their Classroom app too. They will be able to see how students are interacting with all materials and see the common misconceptions across the class. That helps them find who needs more support and where reteaching is going to be needed. This is where AI stops being a content generator and becomes a visibility tool. I\u2019m conscious that educators do not need more dashboards. They need better decisions. So is this another layer on top of the tech stack that takes up the cognitive load of educators? <\/p>\n NotebookLM insights are coming very soon as well. Educators already use it to turn class materials into study guides, flashcards and video files. Now they will be able to get insights into how students have actually used those resources, showing where they are confused or where they need more practice. At the moment, NotebookLM feels less like a separate tool just tagged on. But, it feels like it is now growing up, for learning. The update is not the content, it is the visibility. Educators can catch the misconception before the test.<\/p>\n As an addition, Google is also moving into free test prep. It is partnering with The Princeton Review to bring full-length, no-cost practice tests<\/a> into Gemini. After a test, students get a breakdown by topic, which can flow straight back into that study notebook for targeted prep. Free, full-length, topic-level feedback could be a real equalizer for those students who cannot afford private prep.<\/p>\n