Despite challenges such as increasing workloads, burnout and staff shortages, schools have new opportunities to innovate. According to a Gallup poll, 44% of K–12 workers reported being “always” or “very often” burned out at work. Earlier this year, the U.N. issued a global alert regarding a teacher shortage, and 44 million more primary and secondary teachers will be needed worldwide by 2030, according to UNESCO.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as Google Gemini can help teachers gain back time in the day to address these challenges, according to Vivek Chachcha, product manager for Google Workspace for Education. “One of our primary goals with Gemini and all of our generative AI solutions is to address that teacher burnout,” Chachcha says.
“It can also make teaching more productive and fun,” he adds.
“Gemini allows teachers to focus on what they do best for their students and education,” says Tanya Holloran, manager of Google for Education Programs at CDW.
There are two ways schools can deploy Gemini. The Gemini app is free and has added data protection for users 13 and older, while Gemini for Google Workspace enables Gemini inside of Google Workspace tools including Gmail, Google Slides and Google Docs. Gemini for Google Workspace also allows users over the age of 18 access to chat with Gemini Advanced.
DISCOVER: Learn more about Google for Education solutions for your K–12 classroom.
How Does Gemini Help Educators Reduce Burnout?
Increases in class sizes and the number of tech tools a teacher must use in a classroom — in addition to the administrative tasks unrelated to teaching — drive burnout. As personalizing curricula for a growing student body becomes more challenging, generative AI tools such as Gemini allow schools to tailor a curriculum to specific segments of students.
Teachers can save hours of work by using Gemini to help create lesson plans, Holloran says. For example, it can help teachers personalize lessons according to students’ interests, or it could personalize lesson plans based on a state’s standards.
Chachcha says some teachers have used Gemini to customize math assignments around Taylor Swift and her Eras Tour to engage students who are fans of the artist. These math problems focused on how many tickets she sold, how many people attended particular concerts and how much money the artist made.
“Transforming the context of that assignment had such a big impact on engagement,” Chachcha says. “It really exemplifies how, if done correctly, you can transform existing content into something that is engaging for your students.”
Gemini can personalize lesson plans based on grade level using the side panel add-on integrated seamlessly into their Google Workspace collaborative applications This allows them to reference other files in their Drives so they can create lesson plans based on notes.
With the capability to personalize lesson plans, a teacher could use Gemini to create a poem about gravity for ninth graders in the voice of Albert Einstein. From there, teachers can use the AI to change the tone, add bullets or convert the lesson into a table. Or, they can create an assignment about water conservation that includes objectives, instructions and materials needed.
The AI tool can help reduce the time teachers need to spend on administrative tasks as well. If teachers want to re-create a lesson from a previous year but can’t remember it, Gemini can bring it back up. It can incorporate policies and guidance from curriculum developers or district requirements, Chachcha says. Teachers can tell Gemini to find an email from the superintendent and use AI to quickly draft a response.
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Google Focuses on Bringing AI Professional Development to Teachers
With generative AI’s many possibilities, teachers want to learn how to use tools such as Gemini, Chachcha says.
“We’ve been focusing on the professional development and resource aspect,” he says. “Students are already using it, so we need to ensure our teachers are also familiar with the technology.”
Holloran adds that Gemini makes it possible for teachers and IT leaders to all learn how to use generative AI. “Gemini has an audience that needs to learn how to use it, leverage it and master it so they can then help and enable their own audience: the kids,” she says. CDW now offers end-user training and professional development for classroom teachers. Well known in the industry for technical trainings, the team has developed Gemini training for teachers and administrators.
To further support K–12 end users, Google has developed a course on generative AI for educators with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The company also offers courses to educators on how to use generative AI and how to personalize lesson plans. “With two courses around two hours each, the idea is to really condense that information down into something that is snackable,” Chachcha says.
MORE ON EDTECH: Schools are making technology work for educators.
Google is also releasing YouTube videos and working with nonprofits to boost professional development on using Gemini in the classroom, he adds.
Additional Gemini Uses for IT Professionals and Students
“Whether you’re an educational leader, an IT admin or a curriculum developer, Gemini helps you scale the impact of your work in a more efficient and creative manner, so you can get the most out of your limited hours,” Chachcha says.
IT leaders could also use Gemini to help build out a networking development project. They could prompt the tool to create a table and interact via a conversation on a side panel about whether the deployment is missing accessories. While developing the project, Gemini could also tap into available documents to build out the content.
In the classroom, Gemini’s Help me read feature on Chromebook Plus devices helps students better understand content, whether in an essay, a PDF file or in research on a topic, Chachcha says. “The feature helps students better understand by providing the information in a way that is meant to facilitate learning,” he says. Google incorporates Gemini into Chromebook devices to improve the student experience.
Google was the first company to publish principles to guide responsible AI development. Today, the Gemini app is available to all education customers with added data protections. This means none of the information entered into the chat is used to train the models, and it is never otherwise used without end-user consent. Google has built Gemini Education recognizing the importance of privacy and safety, especially in education. Google Workspace for Education Standard and Plus customers get access to Gemini, with enterprise-grade data protection and reporting controls.
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