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Writer's pictureShelanna Sturgess
May 23

Gemini for Education: Bringing the Power of AI to Google Workspace for Education


Join Google for a webinar on May 23rd to learn more about how to use and deploy Gemini for Education

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to help students, educators and education communities save time, create captivating learning experiences, inspire creativity and learn with confidence. 


Google for Education is adding more data protections for schools chatting with Gemini at gemini.google.com, which is free of charge. Google is also offering enhanced Gemini for Google Workspace to education communities with two new paid add-ons (Gemini Education and Gemini Education Premium). 


The free version of Gemini is included, free of cost, with all Google Workspace for Education Editions and can be accessed as a separate tool. With added data protection, your data is not reviewed by anyone, it’s not used to train artificial intelligence models, nor shared with other users or institutions. This experience will use Google’s 1.0 Pro model and be available in 40+ languages. Gemini is currently not available to people under 18 while using their Workspace for Education accounts. 


Starting May 23rd, educational institutions can add Gemini for Google Workspace to their existing Workspace for Education edition for users 18 years and older by purchasing one of the following add-ons (1):


  • Gemini Education brings the power of Gemini inside Google Workspace. Its lower price offering helps educational institutions get started with generative AI in Workspace with a monthly usage limit. Through the Admin console, Admins can learn more about how people in their domain are trending towards their usage limits. AI can help users write in Google Docs, reply to emails in Gmail and create images in Google Slides.  Users will also experience the most updated models of Gemini. 

  • Gemini Education Premium includes everything in Gemini Education plus additional advanced features like AI-powered notetaking and summaries in Google Meet, AI-enhanced data loss prevention and more coming soon. This add-on provides full access and usage of generative AI tools in Workspace. 


Google Gemini example

IT Admins need to enable Gemini in the Admin Console and users need to be over the age of 18 to access this tool. 


  • To enable Gemini, head to Apps > Additional Google Services > Gemini 

  • You’ll need to ensure you have Age-Based Access Settings correctly configured so that users over the age of 18 are identified in the Admin Console. Head to Account>Account Settings> Aged Based Access Settings. The easiest way to do this is to apply the settings by Organisational Unit to your Staff OUs.


The new paid upgrade editions, Gemini Education and  Gemini Education Premium, are available from Google Partners or GfE Education Specialists and there is no minimum order requirement - so you can start a pilot with a small group of staff. Visit this page to learn more about available pricing and discounts. In order for users to access Gemini for Workspace they need a licence assigned to them.


  • To assign licences (on an individual level), head to the individual user in the Admin Console and select Licences to toggle on a Gemini License. 

  • To assign Licences in bulk, use a CSV file to bulk add or update users. For the users you want to add licences to, add the SKU IDs to the New Licences [UPLOAD ONLY] column of the CSV file.

  • Use the SKU IDs listed here.

  • A spreadsheet can include up to 200 existing users that are being assigned new licences.


By leveraging advanced natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) models, Gemini Editions offer a range of features that simplify tasks, automate processes, and provide real-time assistance. Users can research and brainstorm new ideas for professional development, lesson plans, IT security policies, and more by chatting with Gemini at gemini.google.com. 


Google Gemini in Docs example

AI can never replace the expertise, knowledge, or creativity of an educator, but it can be a helpful tool to enhance and enrich teaching and learning experiences. While Google is encouraged by the widespread excitement around generative AI, it’s still early days for this technology. That’s why it’s always important to review information that’s presented as fact, and when in doubt, double-check with Google Search. Gemini makes this easy with its double-check feature, which uses Google Search to find content that’s likely similar to or different from statements generated by Gemini.


73% of education and technology leaders say the #1 tech enabler for 2024 is generative AI (2). According to the UK Department of Education, "Generative Al, has the potential to reduce workload across the education sector, and free up teachers' time, allowing them to focus on delivering excellent teaching (3). In a recent study, 37% of participants saved 5-10 hours a week with generative AI (4).


Generative AI is used to create new content, such as text, images, music and code all with simple prompts.  Users can improve the quality of the generated content by using natural language with clear and concise instructions as well as providing context and specific, relevant keywords. Breaking down complex tasks into separate prompts is another great way to write prompts for AI. This slide deck has more than 20 ways to use Gemini for Google Workspace in education.


Let’s dive into some key ways Gemini Editions for Google Workspace can be used in education:

  1. Intelligent Email Composition: Gemini Editions provide real-time suggestions for grammar, spelling, and style as you compose emails in Gmail. They also offer predictive text and phrase completion to help you write emails faster and more effectively.

  2. Smart Summarisation: Gemini Editions can automatically summarise long emails, documents, and presentations, allowing you to quickly grasp the key points without having to read the entire content.

  3. Task Management: Gemini Editions offer a task management feature that helps you organise and prioritise your tasks. It can automatically extract tasks from emails, documents, and chats, and suggest due dates and reminders. Use Google Sheets to automatically create workflows such as a rollout plan for an IT security policy.

  4. Document Summarisation and Drafting: Gemini Editions can summarise long documents, such as reports, articles, and whitepapers, providing a concise overview of the main points. They can also extract key insights and recommendations from the documents. This feature can be useful for drafting student feedback based on selected text. Gemini can also draft content such as letters, based on notes and sample text. Alternatively, use Gemini in Docs to generate lesson plans and more.

  5. Presentation Summarisation and Development: Gemini Editions can summarise presentations, highlighting the key points and takeaways. They can also generate speaker notes and provide suggestions for improving the presentation delivery. Additionally, they can be used to generate slides and images.

  6. Q&A and Knowledge Base: Gemini Editions include a Q&A feature that allows you to ask questions and receive answers from a knowledge base of company-specific information.


With all these great time-saving features the cost of Gemini editions can easily be off-set. It’s estimated that for every $1 invested in AI projects or initiatives by education and government institutions, there’s $3.42 return on investment (5).


You can watch Google’s webinar live on the 23rd of May or on-demand post-publication to learn more about Gemini or complete the Get Started with Gemini for Google Workspace course on the Google for Education Teacher Training Centre.



 

 (1) Education institutions that have already purchased Gemini Enterprise will have the choice to transition to either Gemini Education or Gemini Education Premium.






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