Just Back from ISTE 2025 – Google is All In on the Future of Learning
Whew! Just landed back home from ISTE 2025, and I’m still buzzing with inspiration—especially after seeing all the incredible announcements from Google for Education. From Gemini to smarter Chromebooks and new tools built for teachers, Google made one thing clear: they’re not just riding the wave of AI—they’re shaping it for real classrooms.
The theme that resonated most with me? Human + AI collaboration. Google isn’t trying to replace the teacher; they’re building tools that elevate our practice. Whether it was seeing Gemini in action inside Google Workspace, or learning how teachers can now create custom “Gems” (think AI teaching assistants!)—everything felt purposeful, privacy-forward, and designed with educators in mind.
Some of the highlights that stuck with me:
-
Gemini for Education is free for all Workspace for Education users—and it’s powerful. Teachers can use it to generate quizzes, lesson plans, rubrics, and more.
-
Chromebook updates are built for real classrooms—teachers can now manage and support learning in new ways right from their device, including sharing screens, spotlighting student work, and using document cameras with ease.
-
Google Vids is a game-changer for student creativity and collaboration. I saw projects that looked like they came out of a production studio—all done in a drag-and-drop interface.
-
And yes—NotebookLM, Gemini Canvas, and Google Classroom are starting to connect in ways that make AI support feel seamless and safe.
Google also emphasized student privacy and responsible AI use throughout. It was reassuring to hear that student data isn’t being used to train models and that admin controls are built in from the start.
Coming back from ISTE, I’m fired up. We’re stepping into a new era—not one where tech overwhelms us, but one where thoughtful innovation is finally catching up to what educators have been asking for all along.
If you haven’t already, I highly recommend checking out Google’s ISTE 2025 collection—there’s so much good stuff packed in there.
Let’s keep learning forward.
