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When basic answers are one click away, rigor means giving students problems that a quick search can’t solve: messy data, conflicting interests, and no single right answer. Writing those scenarios from scratch takes hours most teachers don’t have. In this episode, recorded live as part of our free Google AI Educator Series, EdTechTeacher professional learning specialist Lauren Vu shows how Google’s AI tools can help with both the rigor and the hours. Lauren is a Southern California educator who started out teaching middle and high school history. She models her own planning for an 11th grade US History lesson on factory owners and workers during the Industrial Revolution. You’ll see how she: Uses Gemini Canvas to build a full lesson around critical thinking, including perspective pairing, a simulation, Socratic circles, and an exit ticketIterates on a scenario so it stays open ended and can’t be answered with a web searchAdapts materials for students with IEPs and multilingual learners by asking Gemini what supports they needGets started with Google Workspace Studio and its ready made “recipes” to automate the small digital tasks that eat up your weekApplies the PARTS prompting framework (persona, aim, recipients, theme, structure) to any AI toolWant the badges? Both Google AI Educator Series badges covered here are free to earn on your own time. Use the links below, and enter "ETTeach" as the PD partner code. Resources Session agenda, prompt guide, and Workspace Studio cheat sheet: https://tinyurl.com/4jnw5rmt Google AI Educator Series: https://goo.gle/GES-29 Webinar 1 recording: https://youtu.be/Km503fttrEg EdTechTeacher newsletter: https://edtechteacher.org/newsletter/ AI Summit at Bentley University, April 2: https://edtechteacher.org/aisummit/

Your teachers and students are already using AI, at school and at home. So how does a school move from debate to thoughtful practice? Greg Bagby joins Tom Driscoll to talk about why AI is here to stay, why the AI conversation belongs in every department of a district, and how teachers are building their own classroom tools. Greg Bagby is an education consultant based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. A former music teacher, principal, and Coordinator of Instructional Technology for Hamilton County Schools, Greg served on the technical working group for the 2024 National Educational Technology Plan and was named a District Administration Top 100 Influencer. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN • How a trumpet and a home computer led Greg from the band room to the district office • Why operations teams, office staff, and leaders belong in the AI conversation, not only classrooms • How AI literacy and trained teachers are the next frontier of digital equity • An AI tool that fits a 36 week scope and sequence into the real school calendar • How one calculus teacher built a grading assistant with a Gemini Gem • One thing to try Monday: build a vocabulary app with Canva Code or Gemini Canvas RESOURCES MENTIONED • EdTechTeacher AI and Education Summit, April 2, 2027, Bentley University: edtechteacher.org/aisummit • National Educational Technology Plan • Canva Code • Gemini Canvas and Gemini Gems • Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) • Claude • Matt Miller, Ditch That Textbook • Rachelle Dené Poth • Joy at School, Greg's upcoming podcast with Cindy Gaston ABOUT EDTECHTEACHER EdTechTeacher helps K-12 educators and school leaders thrive in modern learning environments through practical, classroom-grounded professional learning. Learn more at edtechteacher.org.

Your students are reading texts that outpace their background knowledge, and turning in work that may or may not be their own thinking. In this episode, recorded live as part of our free Google AI Educator Series, EdTechTeacher instructor Lauren Vu and CEO Tom Driscoll show how Google Gemini can help with both. Lauren, a California educator with ten years in public schools, models her own planning process for an 11th grade US History unit on the Industrial Revolution. You’ll see how she: Uses Gemini Notebook (NotebookLM) to pull tier two vocabulary with student friendly definitions, translations, and sentence frames for newcomer multilingual learnersRewrites a primary source at a lower reading level without losing the contentExports vocabulary as a CSV for Gimkit and other review gamesUses Gemini Canvas to turn a single assignment into a chunked, multistep assessment that captures how students think, not just what they submitWant the badges? Both Google AI Educator Series badges covered here are free to earn on your own time. Use the links below, and enter ETTeach as the PD partner code. Resources Session agenda and prompt guide: https://tinyurl.com/3fjmaxbb Google AI Educator Series: https://goo.gle/GES-29 Webinar #2 registration: https://edtechteacher.org/event/google-ai-educator-series-webinar-1-2/ EdTechTeacher newsletter: https://edtechteacher.org/newsletter/ AI Summit at Bentley University | April 2nd, 2027: https://edtechteacher.org/aisummit/ Chapters 00:00 Welcome and agenda 06:19 Meet Lauren and Tom 07:48 Why reading scaffolds matter 09:48 Demo: Gemini Notebook for multilingual learners 14:45 Turning vocabulary into a Gimkit game 15:26 Rewriting a text at a lower reading level 18:17 The prompt guide 24:48 Designing assessments that capture student thinking 28:01 Demo: Gemini Canvas multistep assessment 32:43 Prompts for chunked, AI resistant assessments 34:12 Recap and what’s next 36:18 Finding your badges and free resources

Teachers returned this fall to a set of powerful new AI tools built right into the Google Workspace they already use every day. Tom Driscoll and Brandon Hall open Season 3 with a practical tour of what's worth your time: Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM), custom Gems, Canvas mode for building classroom games with no coding experience, the new Gemini tools inside Google Classroom, and Workspace Studio for automating the busywork. Along the way, hear how an eighth grader built a car maintenance bot in ten minutes, and why one teacher set up a "red pen" Gem to tear apart her lesson ideas before her students do. Plus: a preview of this season's new formats, two free Google AI Educator Series webinars (October 8 and October 20) where you can earn badges live, and our first community shoutouts, to Wolcott College Prep in Chicago and Neil Sonnenberg of Medfield Public Schools.

Brandon sits down with Narragansett (RI) Public Schools technology integration coach Vanessa Miller, and they chat about tech coaching, vibe coding, and using AI with students. The ability to vibe code with AI has helped both Brandon and Vanessa, and they talk about a variety of projects that they've worked on. You can find Vanessa Miller on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/vlynnmiller

Brandon sits down with Narragansett High School English and Special Education teacher Sarah Dully, and they discuss all things innovation and pedagogy. Their "yapping" (her words) included using Gemini to modify and personalize lessons, talking about the big picture of teaching, engaging all learners, and using AI to make Masters picks. "When we use AI effectively, it doesn't replace the teacher; it clears secondary tasks away so we can focus on what actually matters, the one-to-one interactions, the deep personalization of instruction, and the unshakable bonds we build with our students" You can find Sarah online on Instagram @OceanStateSTOY and on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-d-315208354

Welcome back! Dartmouth (MA) Public Schools Instructional Technology Specialist Liz Voci sits down with Brandon to talk about Gemini, Gems, Canvas, and vibe coding with kids and adults. Liz and her students built apps using Canvas and Google Sites that mimicked some popular math practice sites and teachers have gotten crafty creating their own classroom tools, too. Follow Liz on LinkedIN at https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-voci-innovator

Brandon sits down with Moses Brown Middle School educator Jon Gold to talk about a variety of topics related to the unique challenges of teaching middle school. The discussion ranges from the learning, guardrails teachers can put in place, and mistakes common with middle level learners; what are we grading and why are we grading it; using NotebookLM and Gems for student feedback; and a future that might include making bots that can assist teachers. Find his work in the New York Times here, and Edutopia here.

In this episode of the EdTechTeacher Podcast, Brandon chats with Dan Levine of Engaging Minds. Engaging Minds offers one-on-one online coaching for upper elementary, middle school, high school, and college students. We chat about how students learn to learn, how technology has shaped the processes at Engaging Minds, and how AI tools have enhanced learning for students with non-traditional approaches. *Note, Brandon's microphone failed to initialize so at times the recording is quieter than normal. Fear not, a new microphone has been acquired!

AI? Workshops? Best practices with EdTech? We've got it all here on the new season of the EdTechTeacher Podcast, this time with guest Tom Driscoll. Brandon and Tom talk about all the excitement of back to school season along with the tools they're currently using to get students and teachers fired up about learning.

Welcome to Season 2! Brandon sits down with Lucia and Troy from the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, Maryland to talk about student centered AI, policy creation, watching students create and teach, and much more! Holton Student AI Cohort Website - www.innovatorsai.org and PodcastInstagram - @ai.innovators0Lucia Hassell-Lee on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/luciahassell/ and on the web at www.luciahass.com and Threads - @edtechdmvDr Troy Gordon on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/troy-gordon-16160063/

Brandon Hall sits down with EdTechTeacher CEO Tom Driscoll to discuss practical use cases for AI with school leadership. These practice cases include app vetting, PR campaigns for events, teacher observation, and so much more. To contact Tom about leadership use cases, email him at [email protected] To check out our catalogue of self-paced summer professional development offerings, go to https://edtechteacher.org/summer/

We're doing it live! Join host Brandon Hall and guests from the EdTechTeacher AI Summit live from Bentley University in Waltham, MA. These interviews were recorded live on March 11 and feature guests Director of Technology and Innovation Eric Lawson of the York (ME) School District; Google's Global Head of Commercialization and Enablement for Google EDU Marta McAlister; EdTechTeacher Instructor and Content Development Manager Dr Catherine Cabiness-Atkinson; and Dover-Sherborn Assistant Principal Tracy Sockalosky.

Winston Roberts is an innovative educator, AI strategist, and Master’s Candidate in Education Entrepreneurship at the University of Pennsylvania... After nearly a decade in the classroom, Winston Roberts saw firsthand how our education system is burning out teachers and preparing students for a world that no longer exists. In response, he founded Teacher in a Suit, offering AI training tailored for education to help school leaders, district executives, and teachers future-proof their schools. As the AI Innovation Lead at Foundation Academy and a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania, Winston is passionate about ensuring students are equipped to thrive in the rapidly evolving AI-driven world. Winston shares his vision for transforming education at major conferences and panels, inspiring educators to embrace AI as a tool for real-world, future-focused learning.

Stephen A. Johnson is an educator, entrepreneur, and technologist dedicated to inspiring others through the power of learning. A UCLA graduate with an MBA, he has taught math from high school to advanced honors levels, developed innovative educational technologies, and mentored countless students. From creating SAT prep resources to empowering learners globally, Stephen believes education is the ultimate tool for transformation, encouraging everyone to dream big, start small, and execute daily.