Make back to school season easier with these AI features

Whether you’re perusing your syllabi, decorating your classroom or touring your child’s campus, back-to-school season can bring lots of excitement, and maybe a little stress, too. As three of my four kids head off to school this week, I wanted to share some of the new Google features and AI tools that can help us all make this school year successful.

For learners

With more ways to ask questions, learn new concepts and get interactive practice, these AI features provide powerful ways for students (mostly 18 and older) to deepen understanding and make learning more personal.*

• Chat with Gemini using school-issued Google accounts. We’ve heard from education institutions that privacy is top of mind when evaluating which generative AI tools to use. With additional privacy protections rolling out now, Google Workspace for Education users 18 and older can chat with Gemini knowing their data isn’t being used or reviewed by anyone to train or improve AI models. And in the coming months, we’re also bringing Gemini to teen students’ school-issued Google accounts after taking careful steps to help ensure it's safe and responsible for use in classroom settings.
  
• Study smarter with Gemini. Recent updates include responses from OpenStax textbooks and more opportunities for interactive practice. In Gemini Advanced, users 18 and older can upload documents and ask questions about them, and the new Learning coach Gem will provide study guidance tailored to you.
  
• Enhance your learning with YouTube. Now when you watch an academic video on YouTube, you’ll see relevant definitions of key concepts directly on the watch page. Our new conversational AI tool for users 18 and up makes it possible to figuratively raise your hand while watching a video to ask clarifying questions, get helpful explanations or take a quiz.
  
• Make materials approachable with NotebookLM. Users 18 and up can go from information to insights with the summarization features and chat functionality in NotebookLM, our note-taking and research assistant powered by AI. Now you can even upload image-based PDFs (like handwritten notes or visual diagrams), in addition to Docs, Slides, web URLs and more.
  
• Learn more about what you see with Google Lens. If you’re stuck on a homework problem in math, history or science, you can take a photo with Lens in the Google app to get step-by-step help, so you can learn to solve it on your own. Attending a class lecture virtually from your computer and want to find out more about an equation written on the board? Google Lens in Chrome desktop now allows you to select, search and ask questions without leaving your current tab so you can select that equation right from the video and learn more about it in the Chrome side panel.
  
• Understand topics faster with AI Overviews in Search: Earlier this year, we launched AI Overviews to help you find information more easily. Whether you’re studying math or art history, English or biology, you can ask questions like, “Explain the connection between lightning and thunder” and get the gist along with resources to click out and dive deeper.

For educators

AI can help give educators time back to invest in themselves and their students, while supercharging their creativity and productivity.

• Try out 30+ new Google for Education features. We recently released new AI-powered tools across Chromebooks and Google Workspace for Education to help educators make learning in school settings more personal and engaging, like bringing Gemini to Chromebook Plus and piloting Gemini in Google Classroom. With Google Classroom’s 10th birthday, we launched new features that help with reading, product integrations and data-driven instruction.
  
• Demystify AI with the Gen AI for Educators course. This two-hour self-paced course is designed to help teachers save time on everyday tasks, personalize instruction to meet student needs and enhance lessons and activities in creative ways with generative AI tools — no previous AI experience required.
  
• Personalize Gemini with Gems, custom AI experts for all kinds of topics. In a few easy steps, you can describe what you want your Gem to do and how you’d like it to respond. Gems will then help you complete tasks and reach goals based on your requests. Gems will also remember the instructions you provide, so you can access them to help save time on repetitive prompts or tackle complex tasks. Educators can create Gems for help with a variety of topics, like creating classroom lesson plans or differentiated activities for students with accommodations, or crafting emails to parents.
  
• Foster your students’ passion for AI and STEM. Share five tips with your students to responsibly level up their AI game. And check out the CS First Toolkit for everything you need to kickstart computer science education in fun and engaging ways for students in grades 4-8.
  
• Get tips on using our most popular education tools. With our Back-to-School Guide, make the most of Google tools to improve engagement, collaboration and classroom management. This guide gives you tips on using Google Workspace for Education, Chromebooks, Gemini and admin settings across apps, along with ways to keep guardians involved.
  
• Kick off the school year with engaging Digital Skill Lessons. The Applied Digital Skills Back to School Collection helps students get started in the classroom, express themselves, manage their well-being and stay organized, all while learning foundational digital skills. Each lesson comes equipped with easy-to-use lesson plans so you can jump right in.

For parents and guardians

These new controls and features allow families to manage their own digital ground rules and empower young learners to embrace AI safely.

• Reduce distractions during class with School time. This year, we introduced School time on Fitbit Ace LTE smartwatches. Over the next year, we’ll bring School time to even more devices including select Android phones, tablets and Samsung Galaxy Watches, enabling parents and guardians to limit their children’s device functionality during school hours.
  
• Help your teens navigate Gemini confidently and responsibly. Gemini has additional policies, safeguards and a teen-specific onboarding process to help protect young people from inappropriate responses. You can also explore resources together, like videos from our AI literacy video series explaining the five must-knows of generative AI and how to responsibly use AI to uplevel their learning.

Finally, no matter how you’re learning, teaching or supporting the students in your life, Chromebooks come in a variety of performance levels and price points, and they make great companions for a successful school year. Chromebooks have Google AI built in, and the new Chromebook Plus has even more next-level features powered by generative AI. Plus, schools can easily manage Chromebooks with admin tools, and parents and guardians can keep an eye on younger children’s activity with Family Link — so Chromebooks are simple and helpful to use, all school year long.

*Note that product and feature availability will evolve over time, may not be available in all markets and may not be available for users under the age of 18.