Tuesday, October 6, 2026

Tech Tips and News for August-September 2026

Image Generated by Gemini
If the Updates section appears to be unusually long, that's because it is. During the back-to-school season there's always waaaay too much to do to keep up with my monthly Tech News posts. Once I can breathe again in late September or early October, I feverishly try to catch us up on all the updates that were issued in August and September. Meanwhile, Google goes on an update tear for back-to-school season, so there are SO many to wade through. Here we are in early October, with the unfashionably late August/September issue packed with updates. I hope you breezed through the back to school craziness and are enjoying a routine pace in your classrooms. If you use Gems in your workflow, you'll want to know that Gems in Gemini will be replaced with Gemini Skills. We will need to be familiarizing ourselves with Skills when they become available in November, and work toward converting any Gems we use to Skills. More info on that is available in the Updates section below. 

Safety & Security


Updates


Tips & Tutorials



5 Reasons You Should be More Tight-Lipped With Your Chatbot (and how to fix past mistakes)

Any info you share with an AI chatbot goes somewhere? Is it used to train AI models? How long is it kept? Who has access to it? 

Your Social Media Is a Scammer's Cheat Sheet. Here's How to Lock It Down

We're long past worrying about oversharing with friends and acquaintances, it's those we don't know that we have to worry about. For this reason I rarely post about my family members - especially my grandchildren, and when I do I try to do it in a way that protects their personal information. 

6 Easy Ways to Stop Companies From Tracking You

The more info a company collects about you, the more money they are making sharing your information with unknown entities, all without your consent. It also increases the chance that your personal information will fall into the hands of scammers or be involved in a data breach.

The 5-Minute Phone Setup That Could Save Your Life in an Emergency

There are instructions for entering your emergency info on both an iPhone and an Android, as well as instructions for finding emergency info on both phones to help others. 


Is Google Classroom’s NEW Update Actually Good? (2026-27 Updates)


Gemini:  Generate Interactive Simulations and Models

Gemini can transform your questions and complex topics into custom, interactive visualizations — directly within your Gemini app chat. Previously, responses were largely text with static diagrams. Now, Gemini is delivering functional simulations that can help you better understand the topic you’re asking about. Whether you’re rotating a molecule or simulating a complex physics system, you can explore further with just one prompt. Responses include visual elements — like tables, grids, and simulations — made specifically for your question. For example, ask about a topic that could be explained visually, like “show me how DNA works in 3D,” and you’ll be able to interactively rotate and zoom into a 3D DNA structure. Or ask to watch a pendulum trade energy back and forth, or learn about cash burn rates through an interactive table.

Gemini:  Skills Will Replace Gems June 1


Skills were recently introduced as reusable prompts that guide Gemini and Google Workspace. They will eventually replace Gems as the tool for tailoring instructions for specific tasks. Skills are reusable, custom instructions that you can leverage any time you’re prompting Gemini in the Gemini app and most Workspace apps. For example, you can create a brand voice skill to help you draft blog posts or a lesson planning skill to save time with class prep. You can even use multiple skills in the same prompt or at different points in the conversation. To learn more about Skills and how to create them in the Gemini App, educational institutions should leverage the Gems Transition Guide for education. 

The main difference between Skills and Gems seems to be that you can stack multiple Skills simultaneously in one Gemini prompt. For example, an educator can combine a "weekly newsletter" skill with an "institutional brand guidelines" skill to ensure on-brand communications. In addition you can copy Skills you've created on other platforms into the Gemini app and Workspace apps. 

So what happens to our Gems? For now, we can continue creating and using our Gems. Skills will be fully rolled out to all users in November. Also in November, Gems will move to the Settings panel of the Gemini app, but we will still be able to create, edit and use them. At that time, all users are encouraged to begin using Skills instead of Gems. More details about the transition will be published as the deadlines get closer. As education users, we will no longer be able to create, edit or use our Gems beginning June 1, 2027. If you have not converted your Gems to Skills by June 1, they will automatically migrate to Skills, however, if you created Gems in Classroom, they will not automatically migrate. Skills that automatically migrate will appear as draft skills. You will need to review and activate them to use them in any Gemini chat.   

Gemini Notebook:  New Back-to-School Features and Learning Tools

Gemini Notebook (formerly Notebook LM) introduced several new features during September:
  • Audio Recorder - In the mobile app only, users can use the new audio recorder to capture lectures or record thoughts. These notes will live directly alongside other sources in the Notebook. 
  • Real-Time Conversation - Also in the mobile app only, users can hold real-time conversations with their notebooks. You can ask questions, get step-by-step instructions, and interrupt at any time just by speaking. 
  • Interactive Learning Overviews - To help users maintain focus during study sessions, Google introduced interactive learning overviews under Reports, which weave together summaries and studio outputs like quizzes, flashcards, and mind maps.
  • Improved Exam Prep Tools - Exam prep tools have been improved with the following updates:
    • New quiz formats include short answer, multiple choice, and fill in the blank.
    • Users can chat with their notebook about their performance on the most recently completed  quiz and flashcard set to help determine where to focus their attention next.
    • Quizzes and flashcards can be customized by adding or editing questions.
  • Short Video Overviews for Learning - These bite-sized ~60-second videos combine narrative overviews with educational animations to help make complex formulas, diagrams, and scientific concepts easier to digest.

Gemini Notebook:  Make a Copy of a Notebook

Gemini Notebook users can now copy entire notebooks, including all associated sources and studio items, if they have copy permission for that notebook. This capability allows users to build upon existing work or templates shared by others. For example, a student can copy a notebook shared by a teacher, and then add their personal study notes and generate customized practice quizzes or flashcards to that copy, or a coworker can copy a notebook with foundational information and add on additional sources to tailor it to a specific project.

When you make a copy of a notebook, several key components are copied to the new user's library. This includes sources and studio content.

A few notes:
  • Sources: Drive-based sources are only included if the user performing the copy has permission to access and copy the original Google Drive file.
  • Studio content: This includes studio artifacts like Audio Overviews, Video Overviews, Study Guides, Flashcards, Quizzes, and Slide Decks, plus artifact generation prompts and custom chat configurations. 
Personal chat history and user-generated notes are not transferred to the new notebook. Additionally, a copied notebook does not sync with the original, so any subsequent updates made by the original owner do not overwrite the copied version. This update is available now.

Google Classroom:  Updates to Gemini in Classroom

Google is introducing several updates to the Gemini tab in Google Classroom designed to make its tools even more helpful for teachers. These changes make it easier for educators to collaborate with AI and create visual aids from any device, while expanding options for refining lesson plans.

Mobile Availability
Educators and students use Google Classroom on the go on their mobile devices, so Google has announced that the Gemini tab is now available in the Classroom Android and iOS apps, making these features more accessible to teachers and higher education students. For educators, the following features are available in the Classroom mobile app: Generate a quiz, Brainstorm project ideas, Craft a compelling hook, Tackle common misconceptions, and starter prompts for the Gemini app. All Gemini starter prompts and personal class notebooks in the student Gemini tab are available in the Classroom mobile app.

Tools to Generate Visual Resources
Powered by Nano Banana 2, Google’s newest image generation model, these starter prompts help teachers create visuals that illustrate complex topics for students:
  • Create an infographic
  • Draw a comic strip
  • Visualize a concept
Teachers can also personalize three new starter prompts to generate a slide deck for a given concept and grade level using Gemini’s Canvas tool:
  • Create a presentation
  • Create an interactive activity
  • Convert a file to Google slides
You should already be seeing these updates. to access them, Navigate to the Gemini tab in the navigation bar in Google Classroom. When using generated content, you should always review the outputs as AI can make mistakes and refine the output so that it fits your context and local policies before assigning to students. Visit the Help Center to learn more about Gemini in Classroom, and check out these resources for teachers, including this resource with tips and best practices for trying Gemini in Classroom.

Gemini Notebook:  Introducing Expert Intelligence

Google is introducing Expert Intelligence, a cross Google initiative that helps users engage with trusted sources through Google AI products, starting with Gemini Notebook. Featuring more than 100,000 books from major publishers, employees and students can now incorporate insights from leading authors, publications, and domain experts directly into Gemini Notebook.

Users will be able to add compatible ebooks they’ve purchased from Google Play Books directly to a Gemini Notebook, making it simple for them to ask questions about a book and receive responses grounded directly in its text. Readers can also use Gemini Notebooks to help you understand books in new ways, for example, by generating Infographics, Audio Overviews, Quizzes, or more. We’re also providing a book on us for users 18 years or older in the U.S. while supplies last.

To see if a book is eligible for Expert Intelligence, visit Google Play Books. If the ebook is eligible, you’ll see Gemini Notebook listed when you click the “Tools” badge on a book’s detail page, or you can browse eligible books. Visit the Help Center to learn more about adding Play Books ebooks as a source in Gemini Notebook. We should be seeing this update in the next week or so. 

Google Docs:  Generate and Edit Visuals with Gemini

Teachers and Admins with the Teaching & Learning subscription can now create and edit images, diagrams, and infographics directly alongside your text using Gemini in Google Docs. These images leverage the context of your document, so you can generate relevant visuals to accompany your writing without ever leaving Docs or relying on external tools. Plus, you can refine your existing visuals and graphics using simple natural language prompts.

With this new functionality, you can:
  • Create rich infographics or diagrams summarizing your docs: Ask Gemini to "Add a diagram providing an overview of the proposal at the top of my doc" or "Create a rich infographic visually summarizing my doc."
  • Refine existing visuals: Use natural language to "Change the aspect ratio to 16:9" or "Make the style more aesthetic to match the rest of the document."
  • Create or edit multiple visuals at once: Ask Gemini to add infographics in each key section, or update the style of multiple visuals at once.
You can access these capabilities from the bottom bar or the Gemini side panel in Google Docs. Learn how to create personalized documents with Gemini in Google Docs. 

Google Slides & Vids:  Record Presentations in Google Slides

There is now a seamless way to record presentations in Google Slides using Google Vids directly from the Slides interface. Moving forward, you will see a new Record option in the right-hand menu of Slides. Selecting this option guides you through a streamlined recording workflow and outputs an immediately shareable link. This new integration provides advanced creation capabilities—including transcript-based editing and voiceover generation—helping you turn simple slide decks into polished, professional video assets in seconds. This feature is available now. Learn more about recording a presentation in Google Slides here. 

Google Vids:  Turn Google Docs, PDFs and Word Files Into Video Summaries

Google Vids now allows you to transform static Google Docs, PDFs, and Word files into engaging video summaries. This new feature leverages AI to generate scripts and narration while providing custom visuals to bring your documents to life. This was previously only available for Google Slides and PowerPoint files. By converting text-heavy files into concise videos, users can quickly grasp key takeaways through a more dynamic medium. This update is available now. Learn how to create summary videos from documents here. 

Google Vids:  Customize the Style of Your Captions

Previously when you used captions in Vids, you could only select from a list of styles. Now you can select the font, where they sit on the screen, and how they animate so they match your brand. aptions make videos easier to follow when the sound is off or when viewers prefer to read along. Captions that look good help your video catch people's attention on social feeds and in company channels. They also make it look finished and ready to share. This update should be available now. Learn how to add captions to a video here. 

Workspace Studio:  Automate Workflows with Custom Starters

Workspace Studio was introduced last winter. It's an AI-assisted service that allows us to automate routine workflows without the need for programming knowledge. These workflows can even iinvolve multiple apps. Now you'll even have assistance getting started automating those routine tasks using custom starters, custom steps, third party integrations, and webhooks. Learn more about Workspace studio and the new features here. Video tutorials are available in the Tips & Tutorials section and in the Five Things to Try During the 2026-2027 School Year video by John Sowash below, as well as the Workspace Studio playlist by Google Developers in the Automate your Workflows with Workspace Studio post below. 

>Five Things to Try During the 2026-2027 School Year



Automate Your Workflows with Workspace Studio


If you watched the John Sowash video above, or noticed the Workspace Studio Google Update in this post, you may be intrigued by how you can automate your workflows without becoming a programmer. That's what Workspace Studio does. This Google Develpers playlist will walk us through how to set up an automated workflow. I'm really looking forward to trying out this new tool to see if it's truly a time saver. The easiest way to access Studio is to open Gmail, and tap the Studio icon in the upper right, next to the gear. 

>Prompt Like A Pro with the Classroom App in Gemini

Type "@Classroom" in Gemini, securely connecting your Google Classroom to draft communications, see which topics need re-teaching, create last-minute sub plans, and more. Get started with these practical use cases in our new guide, created by and for educators. Learn how to prompt it here. 

My Workflow for Creating AI Flyers That DON’T Look AI-Generated


Newline Q Pro Board- Enabling Your Side Toolbars

By enabling the side toolbars on your Newline interactive display board, they become much easier to access. With a tap or two you can enable your whiteboard tools, or return home. 



Finally! YouTube Guide for Teachers

Google has apparently started listening to every educator's lament about how difficult it is to use YouTube videos for education. In response, they have created a YouTube guide just for teachers to use to learn how to share approved videos with students. You can find the guide at https://about.youtube/teachers/. There are How-Tos, FAQs, and even a standards-aligned content library. I've also heard rumors directly from Google staff that there may be an education-friendly version of YouTube in the works. I remain somewhat sceptical there, considering how poorly guarded the YouTube Kids platform remains, but I'm hopeful they'll take a better approach with the education market. Check out the guide to see if there's a way you can make YouTube work better in your classroom. I've also linked the guide in the ASA Tech Guide > Resources > YouTube section so you can find it again. 

I've Spent 10 Years Fixing Windows PCs: These Are the Most Common Problems I Run Into

Easy steps you can take to keep your laptop working well. 

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