Gemini's Guided Learning - Moving from Answers to Understanding

There are lots of ways that AI can be helpful to students, such as personalized learning, feedback, productivity support, and more.

The problem is, sometimes it can be a little too helpful.

A student might ask for assistance with a homework problem or an essay and the AI chatbot will simply do the problem or write the report. We want AI to support learners in their work, not do their work for them.

Thankfully Google has a helpful feature built right into Gemini that does just that. It's called "Guided Learning".

With Guided Learning, instead of just giving the student a quick answer, Gemini will explain some of the basic information, but will then ask the student questions to bring them into a discussion and encourage them to think critically.

See below for a short demonstration video and written directions on how you and your students can use Guided Learning.

EdTech Links - Week of 8-4-25

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Two Truths and a Lie - AI Prompt

"Two Truths and a Lie" is a classic game you can play with your students to see if they can guess which of your three statements is false.

This can be a great way to build critical thinking and subject area knowledge.

And this activity was invented by Abraham Lincoln.

Which of course is a lie. And that is how the game is played.

As a teacher you can create the statements for your students to evaluate. But wouldn't it be nice if we could use AI to help with this process. Well we can!

I have put together a prompt that you can use with your favorite AI chatbot to create an interactive “Two Truths and a Lie” game for any topic and any grade.

See below to get your copy of the prompt and see a short video about how it works.

Back-to-School Bootcamp with Banzai

I am excited and honored to be providing a keynote to kick off Banzai's free virtual "Back-to-School Bootcamp" on August 5, 2025 from 11am to 3pm MT (1pm to 5pm ET).

If you are not familiar with Banzai - https://banzai.org/ - here are some quick details about them:

• They provide totally free online courses for students in grades 3 through 12.
• The courses cover personal finance, digital citizenship, college and careers, and more.
• The courses are highly interactive with games and resources that allow students to make mistakes, learn, and succeed from the safety of their classroom.
• Teachers instantly view student progress with a powerful grading interface.
• Banzai complies fully with restrictions set by COPPA and FERPA, and does not store any personally identifiable information.
• And it really is free, thanks to the support of banks, credit unions, and other organizations.

You can sign up for my keynote here - Registration link - or sign up for any of the sessions on the Bootcamp website. I hope you can join us!

World Snorkl Day 2025 - Recorded Videos

I recently had the privilege of presenting a session for "World Snorkl Day". This was a free live streamed PD event with six hours of awesome content from amazing educators presenting a wide range of sessions to help you learn, explore, and apply Snorkl even better.

If you are not familiar with it, Snorkl was one the featured AI tools in my "Cool Tools 2023" series. For more details you can read that original blog post and watch my 12-minute tutorial video all about the tool.

This year I got to provide the closing session on "Level Up All Learners with Snorkl" where we did a deep dive into how Snorkl can support all students with feedback, personalized learning, accessibility, and more. 

See below for the 30-minute recording of my session, as well as links to all the other recorded sessions from the event.

World Snorkl Day 2025 - Virtual PD

Snorkl has been one of my favorite AI tools for education since even before it officially launched.

If you are not familiar with it, Snorkl was one the featured AI tools in my "Cool Tools 2023" series. For more details you can read that original blog post and watch my 12-minute tutorial video all about the tool.

In short, here is how Snorkl works:

• You create a problem, question, or prompt for your students and provide an exemplar answer for the AI.
• Students then record themselves speaking as they solve the problem or answer the question while explaining their reasoning.
• If needed the student can draw on the digital whiteboard while speaking.
• The AI then reviews the student's explanation based on the guidance you have provided.
• The AI then provides personalized feedback for the student on their work.
• The grades and feedback are all collected for you as the teacher to review.

The great news is that Snorkl is running a free virtual PD event on July 30th with a wide range of sessions to help you learn, explore, and apply Snorkl even better.

I am super excited to be presenting one of the sessions. See below for all of the details and how to register for this free event.

My 2025 CFISD Digital Learning Conference Sessions

I am excited and honored to once again present at the 2025 CFISD Digital Learning Conference this year.

This year is the 15th annual CFISD Digital Learning Conference and is:

• Entirely virtual with over 100 EdTech sessions
• Held on July 22nd and 23rd
• Open to all educators
• FREE!

You can get all the details on the conference website at: www.cfisd.net/DLC

• All sessions for 7/22 - https://cfisd-dlc-2025.glide.page/dl/d0a5f4
• All sessions for 7/23 - https://cfisd-dlc-2025.glide.page/dl/da19fa

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting for the 2025 CFISD Digital Learning Conference, along with any associated resources and the live stream links for each session.  I look forward to sharing and learning with you!