This summer, Google launched its AI Educator Series featuring free, short online tutorials for all six million K-12 and higher ed educators in the country. Calling it the biggest initiative of its kind, the Mountain View company is offering Google's AI products - including Gemini and NotebookLM - alongside AI literacy training for classroom use.
BACK TO SCHOOL: How community is helping each other as Bay Area students head back to classroom
The lessons cover using AI to streamline course planning and administrative tasks as well as adapting material for personalized learning.
"There's a lot of AI for education, AI literacy offerings out there," Jennie Magiera, Google's Global Head of Education Impact, told ABC7 Eyewitness News. "But we kept hearing from the educators from our communities that they just couldn't get to it. And so we really sat and talked to education leaders, teachers. And the biggest thing was the format and the approach."
Magiera says the lessons were created in collaboration with the International Society for Transforming Education (ISTE), a leading ed-tech nonprofit, and designed around a teacher's busy day.
"We call these snackable and stackable. They're 15-minute sessions, and each 15-minute session is tied to a specific educator-use case where I can help them improve their practice or address a challenge they've been facing within their classroom," she said.
Magiera, a former teacher, says personalized teaching is among the biggest benefits AI helps provide.
FULL INTERVIEW: Google's Global Head of Education Impact details new AI courses for teachers
Google's Global Head of Education Impact details new AI courses for teachers
"I think back to my first year in the classroom, and it's the same issues that a lot of educators are facing," she said. "Like a lot of students, not enough time trying to have all the standards. How do I know where they're at? How do I make each learner feel seen by me when I have 30 or 40 learners in my room at 45 minutes to teach them grade five mathematics. And so there's a lot of ways that AI can be a vehicle to get me to those opportunities and to those challenges. And that's what the GES sessions unlock."
More than 20 lessons are available now online, with more added the first Wednesday of each month, starting in September.
Google's not the only one jumping in.
Earlier this year, Microsoft announced its Elevate for Educators program, and last month, Anthropic launched 'Claude for Teachers', giving K-12 educators free access to premium Claude tools for the classroom.
In an interview with ABC's Rebecca Jarvis, Anthropic co-founder and president Daniela Amodei said the program is meant to partner with teachers during class - and after.
"One is really helping teachers on the administrative side," she said. "Helping them to fill out paperwork and forms and do a lot of the back-end work that's needed just in the day-to-day of running a classroom. The second one is helping teachers develop curriculum. So, it's tailored to the specific requirements of that state and region in their educational curriculum to really partner with teachers to help them develop tailored learning tools for their specific classroom."
Amodei also emphasized students under the age of 18 won't have direct access.
"These models are not foolproof; they do make mistakes," she said. "And part of how we have worked with teachers in developing this technology and really listening to their questions and concerns is helping to spot when an AI might be entering unknown territory."
The program was developed with input from the American Federation of Teachers, the nation's second-largest teachers union.
The AFT also partnered last summer with Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic to launch the National Academy for AI Instruction, training 12,000 educators so far.
In a statement to ABC7 Eyewitness News, AFT President Randi Weingarten wrote, "The AFT believes educators deserve practical training to understand what artificial intelligence can and can't do and the potential risks that it poses to children's safety. That is why we created the National Academy for AI Instruction, where educators lead sessions on how to use AI responsibly and how to protect students' privacy.
AI holds tremendous promise but huge challenges, and it's our job as educators to make sure AI serves our students and society, not the other way around. The direct connection between teachers and their kids can never be replaced by new technologies, but if we learn how to harness it, set commonsense guardrails and put teachers in the driver's seat, it can help enhance teaching and learning."