What's New in Google - November/December 2025

Catch up on everything new in Google Workspace for Education from November/December 2025, and see great ideas and resources!

Below is the recorded video from our December 2025 Google User Meeting, along with the meeting agenda with all the awesome resources and Google updates from the last few months. This includes lots of new Google updates and Google resources for your class.

The monthly meetings are hosted by the Google Educator Group of Ohio, but are open to anyone from any location. The purpose of these meetings is to:

• Connect Google-using educators
• Share the latest Google Workspace news and features
• Provide tutorials, demonstrations, and how-to’s
• Share best practices of how Google Workspace is being used within schools
• Ask questions and get answers

The video from the meeting is recorded and available for later viewing for those who cannot attend or connect live. See below to view the recorded video, agenda, and all the resources from the December 2025 meeting:

Learning Genie Webinar

I am excited to be presenting a webinar about a super-helpful AI-powered EdTech tool called Learning Genie!

Over the last year I have had a chance to learn a lot about this tool from some of my good EdTech friends including Jon Corippo and Toby Fischer. 

I then had the opportunity to speak with Gene Shi, the founder of the company (the "Gene" behind the Learning Genie) and explore the tool for myself.

If you are not familiar with Learning Genie - https://www.learning-genie.com - it is a tool which helps educators quickly develop a comprehensive and well-structured teaching unit. Here are some key features:

• 🧰 Create complete unit plans with all the needed resources (plans, slideshows, worksheets, assessments, more)
• 🏫 Works with any subject and any grade (PreK-12)
• 📍 Localizes curriculum to engage students in meaningful and relevant learning experiences
• 💰 Robust free version

To help you learn more about this powerful tool, I will be co-hosting a deep-dive webinar with Gene Shi:

• 🧞 Learning Genie Webinar
• 🗓️ Wednesday, January 21, 2026
• ⏰ 7pm ET / 6pm CT / 5pm MT / 4pm PT
• ▶️ The webinar will be live-streamed and also recorded for those who can't attend live
• ✅ Register at bit.ly/jan21genie or in this Google Form

I hope you will join me for this exciting webinar!

EdTech Links - Week of 12-8-2025

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

EdTech Links - Week of 12-1-2025

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Recorded Webinar - Dive into Snorkl for Student Learning

I recently recorded a webinar about one of my favorite AI tools for education - Snorkl. (Disclosure - Snorkl sponsored this webinar, but all opinions were my own.)

With Snorkl, students record their reasoning with a verbal and visual explanation, and then receive instant AI-powered feedback to drive deep and meaningful learning.

Here are the basics for how it works:

• ❓ You create a problem, question, or prompt for your students (any subject, any grade).
• 🎙️ Students record themselves solving the problem or answering the question while explaining their reasoning.
• ✒️ If needed the student can draw on the digital whiteboard while speaking.
• 💯 The AI then reviews the student's explanation based on the guidance you have provided.
• 💬 The AI then provides personalized feedback for the student (and you) on their work.

Having students record themselves to explain their understanding is an excellent way to truly assess what a student knows and can do, while helping to address academic integrity concerns. The challenge has always been how long it would take a teacher to watch the recordings for every one of their students. With Snorkl this is no longer a daunting task.

And all of this comes in a robust free version! To learn all about Snorkl, see below to watch my recorded 1-hour webinar and to access the resources from the session.

Gemini Goes Bananas: The Ultimate Guide to AI Infographics

Recently Gemini released a big update to their image generation feature (code named Nano Banana Pro). This new version is more powerful and capable than ever, allowing Gemini to make images that are more detailed, realistic, and accurate.

One of the most interesting use cases I have seen for the new image model is generating infographics. In the past this was not possible as infographics typically have a lot of technical details that have to be presented properly for the result to have any real value.

You can get away with having a few errors in a photo of a landscape, but not in a timeline where the details are essential.

With Nano Banana Pro we now have:

• Legible Text Rendering: Words are spelled correctly without the dreaded "AI gibberish" text.
• Search Grounding: Because Gemini uses Google Search, the content in the infographics is up-to-date and accurate.
• Spatial Reasoning: Because this model understands layout, the structure and flow of the infographic aligns with the content being communicated.

I have been playing around with this new feature for a while now and am excited to share some infographic examples it has created, as well as some helpful tips and tricks to get the best results. See below for all the details and be sure to share your creations and suggestions with me.

EdTech Links - Week of 11-17-2025

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Snorkl Webinar

Snorkl is another one of my all-time favorite AI tools for education. I have been sharing about this great tool since 2023 when I included it in my list of "EdTech Cool Tools" for that year.

With Snorkl, students record their reasoning with a verbal and visual explanation, and then receive instant AI-powered feedback to drive deep and meaningful learning.

Here are the basics for how it works:

• ❓ You create a problem, question, or prompt for your students (any subject, any grade).
• 🎙️ Students record themselves solving the problem or answering the question while explaining their reasoning.
• ✒️ If needed the student can draw on the digital whiteboard while speaking.
• 💯 The AI then reviews the student's explanation based on the guidance you have provided.
• 💬 The AI then provides personalized feedback for the student (and you) on their work.

Having students record themselves to explain their understanding is an excellent way to truly assess what a student knows and can do, while helping to address academic integrity concerns. The challenge has always been how long it would take a teacher to watch the recordings for every one of their students. With Snorkl this is no longer a daunting task.

And all of this comes in a robust free version! To help you get the most out of this versatile tool, I will be presenting a deep-dive webinar:

• "Dive into Snorkl for Student Learning"
• 🗓️ Tuesday, December 2nd, 2025
• ⏰ 7pm ET / 6pm CT / 5pm MT / 4pm PT
• ▶️ The webinar will be live-streamed and also recorded for those who can't attend live
• ✅ Register at bit.ly/dec2snorkl or in this Google Form

I hope you will join me for this exciting webinar!

Podcast Spotlight - Otwell Middle School Bulldawgs Unleashed

While I was at the GaETC Conference recently, I had the pleasure to be a guest on "Bulldawgs Unleashed" which is the podcast for Otwell Middle School in Georgia.

The podcast is hosted by Dr. Greg Walkup (A/V Broadcast & Film teacher) and David Miller (Otwell Middle School's Educational Technology Coach).

The focus of the show is to spotlight teachers, staff, and Otwell community members.

For the particular episode I was on, we discussed the following:

• My GaETC sessions, which you can access the resources for here https://bit.ly/curts-gaetc25
• My professional journey from middle school math teacher to EdTech coach
• My educational philosophy, including the importance of having a growth mindset
• The resources I share on my Control Alt Achieve website
• And tips for how I keep up to date on all the changes in EdTech, especially AI

Take a look below to listen to the episode and access other resources for the podcast.

EdTech Links - Week of 11-3-2025

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

My 2025 GaETC Sessions

I am excited and honored to be presenting at the Georgia Educational Technology Conference (GaETC 2025) in Atlanta, Georgia on November 5th and 6th, 2025.

I always look forward to an opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

You can access more GaETC information and register for the conference at

https://conference.gaetc.org/

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at GaETC 2025, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

What's New in Google - October 2025

Catch up on everything new in Google Workspace for Education from October 2025, and see great ideas and resources!

Below is the recorded video from our October 2025 Google User Meeting, along with the meeting agenda with all the awesome resources and Google updates from the last few months. This includes lots of new Google updates and Google resources for your class.

The monthly meetings are hosted by the Google Educator Group of Ohio, but are open to anyone from any location. The purpose of these meetings is to:

• Connect Google-using educators
• Share the latest Google Workspace news and features
• Provide tutorials, demonstrations, and how-to’s
• Share best practices of how Google Workspace is being used within schools
• Ask questions and get answers

The video from the meeting is recorded and available for later viewing for those who cannot attend or connect live. See below to view the recorded video, agenda, and all the resources from the October 2025 meeting:

EdTech Links - Week of 10-27-2025

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

EduGem Spotlight - DOK Analysis

EduGems is my website where I share my favorite Gemini Gems for schools. 

You can access, use, and copy any of the Gems at https://www.edugems.ai/

I am always excited to announce new Gems, and today I am highlighting the "DOK Analysis" Gem.

📊 DOK Analysis

This Gem helps you quickly analyze any assessment to determine the Depth of Knowledge (DOK) level for each question, using the DOK 1-4 framework. This is perfect for gaining a clear understanding of the cognitive demands of your materials, identifying primary verbs, and ensuring your assessments promote the appropriate level of student rigor.

To use this Gem, you will have a collaborative conversation with Gemini. You'll start by providing the grade level and subject area and the specific assessment (which you can paste or upload). Gemini will then analyze each question on the assessment and provide:

• A direct quote of the original question
• The primary verb/cognitive task from the question
• The assigned DOK level for that question
• And the justification for that DOK level

After all the questions are analyzed, the Gem also provides a summary for the entire assessment with a total and percentage for each DOK level.

See below for a short video demonstration of this EduGem, as well as the link to access, use, and copy the Gem.

EnlightenAI - Your New T.A. for Grading and Feedback

I recently recorded a webinar about one of my favorite AI tools for education - EnlightenAI. (Disclosure - EnlightenAI sponsored this webinar, but all opinions were my own.)

If you are not familiar with it, EnlightenAI is an AI-powered tool that works hand-in-hand with a teacher to assist in guided grading and personalized feedback for student writing.

Here are a few key aspects of how EnlightenAI works:

• You can pull in writing assignments from a wide range of sources (Google Classroom, Illuminate, Canvas, Form, Docs, and more)
• You can provide the AI with your rubric, the assignment prompt and materials, exemplars, guiding instructions, and more.
• The AI will use that information to provide grades and feedback for student writing.
• You can override any grade and customize any feedback which will train the AI even more to learn your style and grading requirements.
• The AI will provide insights into strengths and weaknesses for every student, as well as customized lessons and activities to help address those.
• The AI can also provide instant writing feedback directly to students while they are writing to support revision during the writing process.

And all of this comes in a robust free version! To learn all about EnlightenAI, see below to watch my recorded 1-hour webinar and to access the resources from the session.

Using, Creating & Sharing Gems in Google Gemini

As I have shared before, Gems are a great feature of Google Gemini where you can save a common prompt to use anytime you need.

In addition to using the Gems yourself, you can also share them with others so they can benefit from them too.

To help explain all the details of Gems and how they work, I recently recorded a short 12 minute tutorial video about Gems that covers the following topics:

• ❓ What are Gems?
• 🎁 Premade Gems from Google
• 🛠️ Creating a Gem
• 💎 Using a Gem
• 🔗 Sharing a Gem
• 💻 My EduGems Website

See below to watch the video, and be sure to visit my new EduGems.ai website where I share dozens of my favorite Gems for schools.

EdTech Links - Week of 10-13-2025

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Introducing EduGems

Gems are a great feature of Google Gemini where you can save a common prompt to use anytime you need. Rather than having to copy and paste or retype the prompt each time you need it, you can simply click on the Gem to launch the saved version of the prompt.

Recently Google released an update for Gems that makes them better than ever. Now any Gems that you create can be shared with others. You can share a Gem with specific people, or your whole school, or the entire world.

This is significant because now schools can create and curate their own collections of educational Gems to share by department or grade level or with all staff. I am excited to see schools begin to do this.

Inspired by this new feature, I have put together my own collection of favorite Gems that I have created or collected. You can find them at my new "EduGems" site at:

edugems.ai

Note: If the main link does not work for you, you can just go to the Google Sites link for the site here - https://sites.google.com/view/edu-gems/home - It looks like Squarespace may have a DNS issue, so I am working with them to get that fixed.

See below for more details about this new site and how you can submit your own Gems.

EdTech Links - Week of 10-6-2025

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Recorded Webinar - Brisk Teaching: The AI Multitool for Education

I recently recorded a webinar about one of my favorite AI tools for education - Brisk Teaching. (Disclosure - Brisk sponsored this webinar, but all opinions were my own.)

If you are not familiar with it, Brisk is a free Chrome extension that provides AI-powered tools for teachers and students. 

It does so many things, I often call it the "Swiss Army Knife of AI Tools".

With Brisk Teaching you can:

• Generate resources such as quizzes, slideshows, rubrics, lesson plans, DOK questions, guided notes, podcasts and more. 
• Relevel content for different grades. 
• Provide personalized feedback on student writing. 
• Monitor the student writing process. 
• Create school-safe "Boost" activities for students with customized AI chatbots for tutoring, chatting with a character, debating, brainstorming, exit tickets and more. 
• Plan and bundle instructional materials with Brisk Next. 

And all of this comes in a robust free version! To learn all about Brisk, see below to watch my recorded 1-hour webinar and to access the resources from the session.

Podcast Spotlight - GaETC

I recently had the pleasure to be a guest on the "GaETC Podcast" which is the official podcast for the Georgia Educational Technology Conference.

I am excited and honored to be a featured presenter at this conference in Atlanta, Georgia on November 5th and 6th, 2025. You can get all the details on my sessions in my earlier blog post here: My 2025 GaETC Sessions

As for the podcast, here is a description for the episode I was on:

Join us on GAETC The Podcast as we dive into the world of educational technology with Eric Curts, a renowned expert with over 33 years of experience. In this episode, Eric is joined by Clint Winter from Elbert County Schools, Hollie Sisk from Effingham County Schools, and Lee Green from the University of West Georgia. Together, they explore the transformative power of AI in education, the importance of creativity and innovation, and the evolving landscape of teaching tools. Discover how AI can enhance teaching, the significance of empathy in education, and the future of personalized learning. Whether you're an educator or tech enthusiast, this episode offers valuable perspectives on the intersection of technology and education. Tune in for an engaging conversation filled with practical insights and inspiring ideas.

Take a look below to listen to the episode and access other interviews with more GaETC presenters.

EdTech Links - Week of 9-29-2025

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

What's New in Google - September 2025

Catch up on everything new in Google Workspace for Education from September 2025, and see great ideas and resources!

Below is the recorded video from our September 2025 Google User Meeting, along with the meeting agenda with all the awesome resources and Google updates from the last few months. This includes lots of new Google updates and Google resources for your class.

The monthly meetings are hosted by the Google Educator Group of Ohio, but are open to anyone from any location. The purpose of these meetings is to:

• Connect Google-using educators
• Share the latest Google Workspace news and features
• Provide tutorials, demonstrations, and how-to’s
• Share best practices of how Google Workspace is being used within schools
• Ask questions and get answers

The video from the meeting is recorded and available for later viewing for those who cannot attend or connect live. See below to view the recorded video, agenda, and all the resources from the September 2025 meeting:

Google Docs Calendar Templates for the 2026-2027 School Year

Several years ago I created some Google Docs templates for a colleague who was looking for a simple one-page document to show important calendar dates for an entire school year. The templates were a big hit and many people found them to be helpful.

Although it still feels like the school year has just gotten started, I have already received emails from folks asking if I have made a version for next year ... the 2026-2027 school year.

So for all of you super organized people who are already planning for the next school year, I am happy to say, yes, I have versions for 2026-2027. See below for the links to get your own copies of these templates, as well as some basic directions on how to edit them for your own use.

EdTech Links - Week of 9-15-2025

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Brisk Teaching Webinar

Brisk Teaching is one of my favorite AI tools for education. I have been sharing about this great tool since 2023 when I included it in my list of "EdTech Cool Tools" for that year.

Brisk is a free Chrome extension that provides AI-powered tools for teachers and students. It does so many things, I often call it the "Swiss Army Knife of AI Tools".

With Brisk Teaching you can:

• Generate resources such as quizzes, slideshows, rubrics, lesson plans, DOK questions, guided notes, podcasts and more. 
• Relevel content for different grades. 
• Provide personalized feedback on student writing. 
• Monitor the student writing process. 
• Create school-safe "Boost" activities for students with customized AI chatbots for tutoring, chatting with a character, debating, brainstorming, exit tickets and more. 
• Plan and bundle instructional materials with Brisk Next. 

And all of this comes in a robust free version! To help you get the most out of this versatile tool, I will be presenting a deep-dive webinar:

• "Brisk Teaching: The AI Multitool for Education"
• 🗓️ Tuesday, October 7th, 2025
• ⏰ 7pm ET / 6pm CT / 5pm MT / 4pm PT
• ▶️ The webinar will be live-streamed and also recorded for those who can't attend live
• ✅ Register at bit.ly/brisk-oct7 or in this Google Form

I hope you will join me for this exciting webinar!

Promptember - 700 AI Prompts for Education

Over the past couple of years I have created and curated a wide range of example prompts for use with AI chatbots. As of my last count, I have over 700 prompts!

I share many of these in the various PD sessions I do on AI for schools and conferences around the world. However, I didn't really have one central, convenient place with all the prompts collected together.

To help with this, I have created this blog post and an associated Google Doc where all of these prompts can be found, copied, edited, and used however you need.

And what better time than September to have a "Promptember" event!

Over time I will continue to add to this list and will update both this blog post and the Google Doc. And please share with me your favorite prompts or collections. I would love to learn from you!

My 2025 GaETC Sessions

I am excited and honored to be presenting at the Georgia Educational Technology Conference (GaETC 2025) in Atlanta, Georgia on November 5th and 6th, 2025.

I always look forward to an opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

You can access more GaETC information and register for the conference at

https://conference.gaetc.org/

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at GaETC 2025, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

EdTech Links - Week of 9-8-2025

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

EnlightenAI Webinar

EnlightenAI is one of my favorite AI tools for student writing feedback. In short, EnlightenAI is able to build a model based on how you grade, your style of communicating, your rubrics, and what is important to you, and then provide personalized, detailed feedback on student writing.

I have been sharing about this great tool since 2023 when I included it in my list of "EdTech Cool Tools" for that year.

Well since that time, EnlightenAI has continued to develop with many new features for both educators and students. To help catch everyone up on all that is new, I will be hosting a free webinar all about EnlightenAI. Here are the details:

"Engage, Enhance, Encourage: EnlightenAI for Student Writing Feedback"

• 🗓️ Thursday, October 23rd, 2025
• ⏰ 7pm ET / 6pm CT / 5pm MT / 4pm PT
• ▶️ The webinar will be live-streamed and also recorded for those who can't attend live
• ✅ Register at bit.ly/enlightenai or in this Google Form

Topics to be covered:

• Learn how teachers leverage EnlightenAI to save huge amounts of time providing high quality writing feedback to students and freeing teachers to focus on students
• See how AI feedback tools can unlock powerful data analytics and clearer insights for ELA progress
• Hear how other districts are using EnlightenAI to give students more, faster, and better writing guidance to grow scores
• Get valuable tools and resources you can use on your next summative or state test prep assignment

I hope you will join me for this exciting webinar!

27 Free Gemini AI Tools for Educators

As many of you probably already know, Gemini is Google's powerful AI chatbot that can serve as a helpful assistant for educators. You simply type in your request and Gemini generates your content, including lesson plans, rubrics, DOK leveled questions, and more.

But what if you are not sure what to type in? Creating a prompt that is complete and effective can be a challenge.

Well recently Google released a new collection of resources to help with just that. There is now a new "Gemini" tab in Google Classroom and on that page you will find 27 pre-made AI prompt tools for using Gemini in education.

And you don't even have to be a user of Google Classroom. As long as you have access to Google Classroom page, you can use all of these AI tools.

See below for a tutorial video and written directions on how to access and use these powerful free tools.

My 2026 FETC Sessions

I am excited and honored to be presenting at the Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC 2026) in Orlando, Florida on January 11th through 14th, 2026.

I always look forward to an opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

You can register for FETC at https://www.fetc.org/

If you are thinking of attending, you can save 10% off All-Access, Session, and Session+ registrations with my special promo code FETC26SPEAKER.

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at FETC 2026, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

EdTech Links - Week of 9-1-2025

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

What's New in Google - August 2025

Catch up on everything new in Google Workspace for Education from August 2025, and see great ideas and resources!

Below is the recorded video from our August 2025 Google User Meeting, along with the meeting agenda with all the awesome resources and Google updates from the last few months. This includes lots of new Google updates and Google resources for your class.

The monthly meetings are hosted by the Google Educator Group of Ohio, but are open to anyone from any location. The purpose of these meetings is to:

• Connect Google-using educators
• Share the latest Google Workspace news and features
• Provide tutorials, demonstrations, and how-to’s
• Share best practices of how Google Workspace is being used within schools
• Ask questions and get answers

The video from the meeting is recorded and available for later viewing for those who cannot attend or connect live. See below to view the recorded video, agenda, and all the resources from the August 2025 meeting:

"When I Grow Up" - Gemini Image Prompt

As educators one of our goals is to try to prepare our students for their future. To help them be whatever they want to be.

Sometimes though, especially for students who are struggling academically, it can be difficult for students to visualize that positive future.

What if we could give them a vivid, personal glimpse into their own potential? Perhaps with a picture that shows them working as a marine biologist, tagging a sea turtle by a coral reef. Or maybe a photo of them as an architect, personally sketching designs in a studio. Or a teacher or athlete or chef or singer or doctor or such.

Well with AI we can do that! With Gemini's latest image model, you can take a picture of a student and show what they would look like working in their dream career. And you can do it easily, accurately and safely. Let's take a look at how to do this!

EdTech Links - Week of 8-25-2025

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

AI Deep Dive with the Digitize Fully Charged Podcast

I recently had the pleasure to be a guest on the "Digitize Fully Charged Podcast" hosted by Pam Currie and Niall Ridgway.

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love podcasts and am always mentioning something new I learned from one of them, so I was super excited to get to join an episode of this podcast.

The podcast is described as follows:

Welcome to the Digitize Fully Charged Podcast – where Scottish humour meets digital transformation. Hosted by Pam Currie and Niall Ridgway, we’re here to spark real conversations about how technology is shaking up classrooms, schools, and local businesses across Scotland (and beyond).

I had a wonderful time chatting about AI topics including:

• Why AI must move beyond helping staff, and reach students too.
• The big question: Will AI ever replace teachers?
• Creative classroom ideas: AI guest speakers, debates and choose‑your‑own‑adventure games.
• How to get started with AI as a teacher, even if it feels intimidating.
• The dangers of bias, mistakes and misinformation in AI – and why that’s exactly why it belongs in the classroom.
• Data privacy, student safety and why I recommend Gemini for schools.
• Why AI is your new teaching assistant, not your replacement.

Take a look below to listen to the episode, access the resources that I shared in the episode, and explore more about the podcast.

The Bionic Educator - Banzai Recorded Webinar

A few weeks back I had the privilege of presenting my "Bionic Educator" keynote to kick off Banzai's virtual "Back-to-School Bootcamp".

If you are not familiar with Banzai - https://banzai.org/ - here are some quick details about them:

• They provide totally free online courses for students in grades 3 through 12.
• The courses cover personal finance, digital citizenship, college and careers, and more.
• The courses are highly interactive with games and resources that allow students to make mistakes, learn, and succeed from the safety of their classroom.
• Teachers instantly view student progress with a powerful grading interface.
• Banzai complies fully with restrictions set by COPPA and FERPA, and does not store any personally identifiable information.
• And it really is free, thanks to the support of banks, credit unions, and other organizations.

My keynote was "The Bionic Educator" which explores the impact of AI on education, with the key question being "Will AI take our jobs, or help us do our jobs better?" The recording of the keynote is now available! See below to watch it and access more resources from Banzai.

My Sun City EdTech Sessions

I am excited and honored to be a featured speaker at the 2025 Sun City EdTech Conference hosted by ESC19 and TCEA in El Paso, Texas on September 11th.

I always look forward to an opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

You can get all of the details about the conference including registration, presenters, sessions, and more on the conference website at:

esc19.net/conferences/sun-city-edtech-conference

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at the conference, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

EdTech Links - Week of 8-18-25

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Chromebook Accessibility Tools with the Innovation Squadcast

I recently had the pleasure to be a guest on the "BCSD Innovation Squadcast Podcast" hosted by Pam Hubler and the team at Berkeley County School District.

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love podcasts and am always mentioning something new I learned from one of them, so I was super excited to get to join an episode of this podcast.

The podcast is described as follows:

In this podcast, the district’s Innovative Learning Coordinators delve into the newest technology and innovations to equip our schools, teachers, and students with advanced resources and support. Produced by the Berkeley County School District’s Office of Technology in Goose Creek, South Carolina.

I had a wonderful time chatting about Chromebook accessibility topics including:

• Built-in accessibility tools such as select to speak, dictation, docked magnifier, face control, quick answers, reading mode, and more.
• Recording tools for students including the Chromebook Screencast tool
• Helpful extensions to support learners such as Read&Write, Helperbird, Google Translate, Beep, Mote, and more.

Take a look below to listen to the episode, access the resources that I shared in the episode, and explore more about the podcast.

Why Every School Should be Using Gemini - Data Privacy

There are a wide range of excellent AI tools that can benefit educators and students. I have shared many of these on this blog, and I routinely provide training on them for schools around the world.

One of the AI tools that has consistently improved over the last few years is Google's AI chatbot - Gemini.

Google has added so many useful features to the free version of Gemini including Deep Research, Fact Checking, Guided Learning, image generation, Gems, Canvas, Audio Overviews, Quizzes, and more.

However there is one feature that is the number one reason why Gemini should be a part of every school's AI toolbox. It may not be the most exciting or flashiest feature, but it is arguably the most important for schools and educators.

And that is data privacy.

As educators we are required to protect student data privacy and to comply with laws such as FERPA and GDPR. Well thankfully, for free, Google provides schools with built-in data privacy and protections in Gemini.

See below for a short video and write-up that covers the details of what is included in this.

EdTech Links - Week of 8-11-25

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!