Leveraging Google AI Tools for Enhanced Learning, Research, and Support

How can AI boost your personal productivity?

Over the weekend, I delved into some Google AI tools and am excited to share my discoveries!

First, I explored a Google Scholar AI outline tool mentioned in a Tech & Learning newsletter. This Chrome extension uses AI to generate outlines for PDFs. After disabling other PDF reader extensions, I tested it with a research article by Chris Dede found via Google Scholar. The extension instantly created a sidebar summary with clickable sections that jumped to corresponding parts of the PDF. It even provided citations and a save-to-reading-list option. This tool seems invaluable for anyone organizing research.

Next, I explored Google Notebook LLM, and it’s truly transformative. At the library where I work, I created a notebook for our Tech Tuesday team, where we assist patrons with tech issues.

Google Notebook LLM utilizes Gemini 2.0 to create chats based on various sources like websites, YouTube transcripts, and PDFs. You upload relevant documents for the chatbot to reference and then use prompts to generate answers. It can even create audio podcasts and notes in different formats. Due to library permissions, I can’t share the link here, but I incorporated resources like Google’s, Apple’s, and Microsoft’s support websites, plus my own workshop documentation. This now serves as a quick reference tool for our team, and I’ll encourage my colleagues to bookmark it.

At home, I made a similar notebook for educators to understand global competence and find resources for globally-focused lessons. Here it is for you to try, but I think I may have to add you to the notebook in order for you to experience it. Let me know if you need access.

I began with a Google Doc containing a short description, which became the first source and provided language for the description. I discovered that large files might not work well, and naming PDFs is crucial for the audio podcast tool. The AI voice literally read out unnamed files.

The resulting notebook isn’t flawless; some articles are dated, so chatbot references are, too. With my Google Workplace account, I can add 300 resources and I plan on prioritizing newer material as I add more sources. Queries can be saved as notes, which I found helpful. If you have suggestions for additional resources, including publicly available research, let me know.

Finally, I stumbled upon Google’s Learn About tool, which also uses AI. This is a great way to demonstrate the potential power and usefulness of AI-powered tools. Check out my soundless demo here. Try it out and explore the interactive lists that are generated.

Overall, I’m impressed with these Google tools and their potential for learning, research, and support. I’m excited to continue exploring and refining their applications.