Google Pushes Gemini AI Deeper into Classrooms with Over 30 New Tools, Amid Rising AI Disruption in Education

Google on Monday announced a sweeping expansion of its artificial intelligence tools for schools, unveiling over 30 new AI-powered features designed to bring its Gemini AI more deeply into classrooms.

The announcement, made at the annual ISTE education technology conference in Denver, marks one of Google’s most aggressive moves yet into the edtech sector.

At the heart of the update is a dedicated education version of the Gemini app, now available for free to all Google Workspace for Education accounts. This version of Gemini is tailored for educators and students, offering tools that help teachers generate lesson plans, create study guides, write rubrics, and personalize learning materials. It also allows educators to build customized Gemini-based assistants called “Gems,” AI agents trained on specific class content that can help students understand topics more deeply or offer extra academic support.

The push comes as AI continues to disrupt traditional learning models. Across primary, secondary, and higher education, teachers are increasingly facing challenges from AI tools like ChatGPT, which students use to answer questions, draft essays, or even complete assignments undetected. Meanwhile, universities are still struggling with how to identify AI-written content and maintain academic integrity. In this context, Google’s latest move aims to empower educators to regain control of the narrative—and to harness AI as a constructive tool rather than a disruptive force.

A Shift from Reaction to Integration

Google’s approach marks a turning point in how technology companies are framing AI in education. Rather than trying to curb student use of external AI tools, the company is offering school-sanctioned alternatives that integrate AI into the classroom workflow.

One such offering is Notebook LM, Google’s AI research assistant, which will now allow teachers to build interactive study guides using their existing classroom materials—notes, slides, PDFs, and more. The AI will then help students navigate this material in an exploratory, conversational format, making self-guided learning more intuitive and personalized.

Teachers will also gain access to a real-time AI reading companion through Read Along in Classroom, a tool that helps young students with pronunciation, fluency, and comprehension. The tool uses speech recognition to listen as students read and offers immediate support, transforming silent reading into an interactive experience.

To complement these tools, Google Vids, the AI-powered video creation platform, is now being made available to all education users. Vids lets teachers create instructional videos and allows students to complete video-based assignments—useful for creative reports, science explainers, or multimedia storytelling.

New Classroom Controls and Analytics

Google is also beefing up the administrative and classroom management side of its education suite.

A new “Class tools” teaching mode allows educators to share articles, videos, slides, and quizzes directly to students’ Chromebook screens via Google Classroom. The tools let teachers lock student focus to specific tabs, restrict browsing, and adapt content into students’ preferred languages—supporting inclusive learning for multilingual classrooms.

Educators will also be able to track student progress against curriculum standards, assess skill development, and access advanced analytics showing engagement levels and performance trends.

This data-driven approach is designed to support more personalized instruction and early intervention for students who may be struggling. At the same time, Google says it is enhancing security and privacy protections, particularly around Gemini and Gmail integration. Administrators will now have better control over how AI tools are deployed and who gets access to them.

AI in the Classroom: Opportunity or Threat?

While Google is emphasizing the benefits of “responsible AI,” its edtech expansion comes amid growing concern that AI tools are outpacing classroom norms and policies.

Students today are far more likely to consult ChatGPT than to ask a teacher to re-explain a topic. The proliferation of AI-generated content has also eroded confidence in traditional homework and assessment formats. Platforms that promise to help students “cheat on everything” are also gaining traction, deepening the challenge for educators.

At the same time, colleges and schools remain divided over whether existing plagiarism detection tools can reliably identify AI-written work, or if the very nature of student learning is being fundamentally altered by this technology.

For its part, Google says it wants to support human-led, AI-assisted instruction—a vision in which teachers use AI to streamline tasks, tailor lessons, and offer real-time support, while still maintaining authority over the learning process.

The company has stopped short of pushing AI into grading or evaluating students, instead positioning its tools as support systems that can automate prep work and administrative tasks while keeping educators at the center of decision-making.

The updates to Gemini AI are also part of a larger infrastructure and ecosystem overhaul for schools. Google introduced a series of updates for managed Chromebooks, which remain the dominant hardware in U.S. K–12 education. These include better controls for remote device management, as well as streamlined support for AI apps, ensuring that tools like Notebook LM and Vids run smoothly in school environments.

Additionally, the new tools are built to align with educational frameworks and privacy laws in various jurisdictions, especially in the U.S. and European Union, where regulations around student data and AI use are rapidly evolving.

Google has not disclosed whether these tools will eventually be monetized, but for now, access remains free for institutions using Workspace for Education—a move likely aimed at encouraging widespread adoption and building long-term loyalty.