Gemini

What is Google Gemini?

Gemini is a free of charge generative AI tool that can help you save time, create personalized learning experiences, inspire fresh ideas, and learn confidently – all in a private and secure environment. SPS Teachers have access to a 2.5 Pro version of Google Gemini with their district Google accounts.

Students in grade 7 and up can use Gemini with their Google accounts in a data safe environment. 

Step by Step:

1. Start a New Chat: Open a new chat in the Gemini app (on mobile or on the web).

2. Upload Your File: Look for the upload icon (it might be a paperclip 📎 or a plus sign +) and select the file you want to use. You can upload several types, including:

   • PDFs (.pdf)

   • Text files (.txt)

   • Google Docs

   • Microsoft Word files (.docx)

3. Generate the Audio: Once your file is uploaded, Gemini will analyze it. You should see a button or prompt that says "Generate Audio Overview". Click it.

4. Process and Play: It will take a few moments to process the document and create the audio. When it's finished, a media player will appear directly in our chat.

5. Listen and Download: You can hit "Play" to listen to the overview immediately. To save it for your students, look for a Download or Share button on the player. This will let you save the audio as an .mp3 file, which you can then upload to your class website, Google Classroom, or email to students.

Benefits:

This feature is tailor-made for what you want to achieve:

• For Different Grade Levels: Before you generate the audio, you can give Gemini instructions. For example, upload a news article and say: "Generate an audio overview of this article, but explain it for a 6th-grade level." It will create the simplified summary first, and then turn that simplified text into the audio file.

• It's Quick: This is much faster than you reading and recording the text yourself. You can create audio summaries for textbook chapters, historical documents, or assignment instructions in minutes.

• Student Use: You can also teach students (especially in middle or high school) to use this feature themselves. They can upload a dense, publicly available research article and generate an audio overview to quickly understand its main points before diving in to read the full text. 

Key Notes:

• In accordance with AI Ethical Guidelines, it is advised not to upload any student work, data or information to any AI platform

• All resources used should be publicly available in other domains.

How to Use It: Paste a link to text or attach a file into Gemini and use a simple prompt. 

Example Prompts for Teachers:

• "Summarize this article on photosynthesis for a 6th-grade reading level."

• "Create a 10-question multiple-choice quiz based on this text."

• "Make a vocabulary list with simple definitions from this chapter."

• "Turn the main events in this passage into a simple timeline."