Google Classroom expands AI tool access as service turns 10

Yesterday’s big Made by Google event may have launched the new Pixel 9 series, but the real star of the show had to be the company’s latest AI-powered services. From Pixel Studio’s image generation to tools for research, it feels like Google’s got an AI solution for almost everything. Today, the company’s sharing some news about its latest improvements to Google Classroom, including — you guessed it — ways AI can help teachers and students alike.

Parents and guardians are getting new tools to stay on top of students’ upcoming assignments through their Classwork pages. They can also sign up for email digests, summarizing what students will be working on. Google already introduced the AI-powered Read Along in Classroom for students who need some extra help with their reading skills. And while that was initially just available in English, Google shares its plans to expand that to Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese in the weeks to come.

The majority of Classroom’s improvements, though, are happening on the teacher-facing end, largely with the aim of streamlining tasks, optimizing their access to data, and using AI to empower creativity. In the next few weeks, Gemini to Classroom will extend beyond its private preview program to global access, helping educators brainstorm new lesson plans.

That’s set to all be followed by an eventual expansion of the AI track of the Google for Education Pilot Program. The arrival of new class management tools should let teachers better track the progress and needs of small groups of students, and teachers will soon have access to more flexible grading options.

This is just touching on all the updates arriving now and upcoming features Classroom is picking up as Google looks back on 10 years of its learning platform.