Bring the Power of AI to Your School Through Google Workspace for Education

New artificial intelligence integrations help students and teachers work smarter and elevate learning.

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Adam Stone writes on technology trends from Annapolis, Md., with a focus on government IT, military and first-responder technologies.

As teachers and administrators know, some of the longest-running challenges in K–12 education haven’t changed. “Each child still needs learning opportunities that can meet their specific needs, and educators still have so much on their plates,” says Jennie Magiera, Google’s global head of education impact.

To solve these challenges, schools are looking to artificial intelligence in various capacities, and Google is making it available for K–12 in ways that are safe and useful with Gemini for Education and Google AI Pro for Education.

How Is AI Changing the Game in K–12 Education?

“Student engagement is very important, and how we engage each student is very different,” says Stacy Behmer, academy team manager at CDW. AI is a great thought partner for teachers because it can help them ensure learning is tailored to each student.

EXPLORE: Google Workspace for Education opens the door to artificial intelligence in K–12.

For example, teachers can leverage AI capabilities to readily adapt lesson plans. “If I’m trying to create differentiated groups from an existing lesson, I could ask Gemini, ‘rewrite this lesson at varying levels,’” Magiera says. “I could even upload past student work to help me understand what specific needs they have to inform that differentiation.”

In these instances, AI eases the workload on teachers while simultaneously meeting the need for personalized learning strategies. “It’s not doing my work for me,” Magiera adds. As a teacher, “I am still the expert on my students and my craft, but this will help me take it to the next level. It is amplifying my impact.”

For students, ready access to AI can mean getting a leg up. A child who’s stuck on a question can turn to Gemini for quick guidance, and “by the time the teacher is able to get to that student, they’re already 10 steps beyond where they would have been without access to Gemini for Education,” Magiera says.

“They’ve already gotten over that initial hurdle, and now they’re getting into much deeper, more complex synthesis,” she says. “When they walk out of the classroom, they’ve moved so much further along on their journey.”

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How Does Google Bring AI Opportunities to Teaching and Learning?

Gemini for Education delivers an AI chat experience supported by the leading model for learning. Better still? “This is available to all schools with any version of Google Workspace, at no cost,” says Maureen Corlett, CDW Education’s manager of the classroom modernization team.

Google AI Pro for Education, a paid add-on, brings even more muscle to the table. It brings together the power of Gemini with the collaboration and productivity benefits in Workspace by embedding generative AI into apps educators use daily, such as Docs, Gmail, Slides and more. Google AI Pro also provides expanded access to premium models and features in the Gemini app and Google NotebookLM.

“With the free version, Gemini for Education, you get 10 uses a month of Gemini Deep Research,” Magiera explains. “With Google AI Pro for Education, you get 20 uses per day, so you can stretch the impact even further.”

All of Google’s education offerings deliver AI in a way that ensures the security of students and their data. There are no ads and student information is never used to create profiles for ad targeting, nor is it sold to third parties or used to train the AI models. The services support compliance with demanding privacy and security requirements, and the AI is limited to only deliver age-appropriate content.

“Being able to give this to everyone in your district, including students of all ages, is really powerful,” Corlett says.

What Helps K–12 Staff Take Advantage of Google’s AI Offerings?

Schools can take steps now to begin taking advantage of AI’s powerful capabilities in the Google environment. However, they should start by formulating a strategy that ensures AI doesn’t make teachers’ lives more complicated or give them more to do. “We have to introduce these tools to our faculty and our staff in a way that gives them easy entry,” Magiera says.

DISCOVER: AI training options open the door to purposeful tech integration in K–12 schools.

To that end, Google offers AI literacy courses for educators and students, as well as a Learning Center with AI courses and resources for getting started with Gemini. There are other avenues schools can turn to as well. “Partners like CDW have amazing training resources,” Magiera adds.

“CDW has a suite of comprehensive services designed to empower school districts,” says Hannel Martinez, product manager for Google for Education learning engagements services at CDW. There’s quick-start training to get educators and staff up to speed as well as premium onboarding opportunities for administrators, which helps set up the back end of the system.

Teachers aren’t the only users who can receive professional development and training around new AI tools. “We also have staff training for those who are not in an instructional role,” Martinez says. These trainings demonstrate to school staff how AI can help with their workflows, enable more efficient communications and synthesize data, he adds.

With the right resources and a thoughtful approach, “schools can ensure the AI is doing what it’s meant to do, which is to help elevate and accelerate learning,” Magiera says.

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