How Google’s Gemini is Revolutionising AI in Education
The education sector is walking a fine line between using AI to enhance learning and preventing its misuse in academic work. As schools and universities reconsider their policies – ranging from full adoption to outright bans – technology companies are moving to shape the future of digital education. Google has stepped into the debate with a new initiative facilitating students aged 18 and above across Europe, the Middle East and Africa free yearly subscription to access its premium AI services that would typically cost several hundred dollars annually.
The package includes Gemini 2.5 Pro, Google’s advanced large language model capable of processing both text and images. Google claims that the offer is designed to empower students to experiment responsibly with AI in their studies, fostering skills that will define the next generation of learners.
The Benefits of Google Gemini for Teaching and Learning
Despite challenges such as increased workloads, burnout and staff shortages, schools have new opportunities to innovate. According to a Gallup poll, 44% of K–12 employees; professionals in education system reported feeling “always” or “very often” burned out at work. Earlier this year, the U.N. issued a global alert regarding a teacher shortage, and UNESCO predicts that 44 million more primary and secondary teachers will be needed worldwide by 2030.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as Google Gemini can help teachers reclaim time in their 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 shares. “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.
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 adds. 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 shares. “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 adds. Teachers can tell Gemini to find an email from the superintendent and use AI to quickly draft a response.
Google Focuses on Bringing AI Professional Development to Teachers
Google has also made Gemini in Classroom free for institutions already using Google Workspace for Education, its suite of cloud-based tools that competes with Microsoft 365.
Teachers receive access to “more than 30 new capabilities to help teachers plan more efficiently and create engaging content and resources”.
Google is “partnering with universities around the world to help educators and students use tools like Gemini and NotebookLM to enhance efficiency, get more personalized support and foster AI literacy”.
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,”. 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,”.
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”.
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 in 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 assists students in better understanding content, whether in an essay, a PDF file or conducting research on a topic. “The feature helps students better understand by providing the information in a way that is meant to facilitate learning,”. Google incorporates Gemini into Chromebook devices to enhance the student experience.
Enable teacher-led AI experiences for students with NotebookLM and Gems
In the coming months Google will be launching teacher-led AI experiences for students — grounded in Classroom materials. Using NotebookLM and Gems right from within Classroom, educators can create interactive experiences to empower student learning, curiosity and agency.
Teacher-led NotebookLM in Classroom:
Educators can select resources from their class and instantly create an interactive study guide and podcast-style Audio Overviews for students, grounded only in the materials educators upload.
Teacher-led Gems in Classroom:
Educators can create Gems, which are custom versions of Gemini, for students to interact with. After educators select Classroom resources to inform the Gem, they can quickly create AI experts to help students who need extra support or want to go deeper in their learning.
Google’s other AI Tools for Education
Gemini for Education – AI assistant for lesson planning, student support and personalised learning experiences.
Gemini in Classroom – Built into Google Workspace, helps teachers create engaging assignments and content.
NotebookLM – Organises notes, research and study materials into structured summaries and learning guides.
Deep Research – Scans hundreds of sources to generate detailed academic reports and references.
Veo 3 – Turns short text prompts into eight-second educational video clips.
Nano Banana – AI image editing tool that transforms and enhances visual learning materials.
Learn Your Way – Uses Gen AI to personalise and reimagine digital textbooks and lessons.
AI Quests – Game-based learning experience that teaches students the AI development lifecycle.
Experience AI – Google DeepMind and Raspberry Pi Foundation’s curriculum introducing responsible AI concepts.
Be Internet Awesome (AI Literacy) – Foundational lessons to teach safe, responsible AI use to young learners.
Dr. Mahmood Ahmed Khan; DBA, M.Sc. in Corporate Management, MBA in Marketing Management is the Founder and Managing Director – Global HR Management Services has more than 18 years of passion and experience building high performance teams and cultures that deliver results.
He can be reached at linkedin.com/in/mahmood-ahmed-khan