Skip to main content

NotebookLM: Google's AI Sidekick for Teachers

By Colin Davitt

Why It Matters

We all have loads of content, from standards to Slides. Google's free AI powered NotebookLM turns your materials into everything from interactive guides to engaging podcasts.

The Big Picture

NotebookLM is a closed-system AI that only answers questions based on the documents you have uploaded, no web access, no hallucinations. 

Key Features

  • Source Locked - The information the notebook understands is based on what you upload. You can load: Google Docs, Slides, PDFs, websites, YouTube and copy/pasted text.
  • Instantly Generated Content - Study guides glossaries, timelines and more are created in a snap.
  • Audio Summaries - Turn the content you load into a two-person NPR-style sharable podcast.

Getting Started and Building

Visit notebooklm.google.com


Red - Sources

Click + Add Source in the upper left to get started.

The red box illustrates which resources you can load into your notebook. 
Your accounts are limited to 50 sources. 

Green - Chat

The chat section is where you talk to the AI.
Green Arrow - The context window, where you type your questions you want the AI notebook to answer.
Red Arrow - The question I just asked.
Blue Box - The results of the question. Scroll to read more.

Blue - Studio

Green Arrow - Use this button to generate the audio podcast.
Red Box - Click to create or add notes.
Blue Box - Saved notes.

Next Steps

Common uses of the notebooks are for your own curriculum, for just one class you teach, one notebook per subject, etc. 

Always remember, never add any PII, personally identifiable information, to any AI including Notebook.

Additional Information






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Who is emailing me? The Blue Man Group??? (Add an image to your Google account.)

By Colin Davitt
WHY It is always nice to put a face with a name. Sometimes we need a tiny little reminder of what someone looks like because we don't see them very often. Follow these steps to add/change the image associated with your Google account. HOW Open your email. Click your image. It might just be a blue circle if you have not added something already. Click Change . Find an image you like. Your amazing new image will appear. From now on everyone can put a name to a face!
117 comments
Read more

Annotate PDF? How might I do that?

By Colin Davitt
So I have a PDF and I need to edit it. Here is one method that works pretty well for me. Open Word. Click File .  1. Click Open . 2. Click Browse . 3. Find the PDF you want to annotate. 4. Click Open . Click OK when you see this box. Bam! Your PDF now opens in Word. Note: you maybe have to click Enable Editing at the top of the screen. Finished editing and want to turn it back into a PDF? Click File . 1. Click Save As . 2. Click This PC . 3. Pick a location. I usually save things to my desktop. 4. Click Save as type - and choose PDF. 5. Click Save .
51 comments
Read more

Zoom - How to connect to a Zoom meeting.

By Colin Davitt
This post was created to help anyone who is attempting to connect to a Zoom meeting understand how the process works. Click here for a video tutorial on how to get started with Zoom Continue reading for details on how to connect on an iPad/iOS device, Android phone/tablet, Chromebook and a laptop. While this won't solve every issue, it should take care of getting you quickly connected. The post will be longer than normal, just scroll down to the device you are wanting to connect. Most of these steps only need to be done the first time. Joining the second meeting will be much easier, pretty much just click and join. Please note - I made this post super fast. There are bound to be small errors. iPad/iOS We are using an iPad for this demo. I imagine connecting an iPhone will be nearly the same. Start by downloading the Zoom app from the app store. This is the very first thing you need to do if you don't have the app first the process may be more confusing. You...
111 comments
Read more