March 9, 2026

Let's celebrate Mario day (March 10th -Mar10) in style this week! Chill with Mario at home and feast your eyes on all the easter eggs in this video!

Here's a direct link to this week's selection

Welcome to part two of the Notebook LM series! This week we will look at two of the Studio outputs that you can generate and use with students!

YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE THESE!

Reminders:

✅ HEB adults have access to this tool

❌ HEB students DO NOT have access to this tool

▩ This tool lives in your Google Workspace waffle

🧠 This beautifully compliments your curriculum

🎧Audio Overview - On demand AI Podcasts

Audio Overviews turn your notebook’s content into narrated summaries that feel a lot like listening to a podcast. The AI will read through your uploaded docs and sources and generate a spoken overview you can play back — perfect for learning while walking, driving, or just multitasking. You can also customize how the AI presents the audio (for example, focusing on certain topics or using different summary formats) so it fits your needs.

📌 Why it’s useful:

- Great for auditory learners or getting information without (OR in addition to) reading.
- Makes absorbing big topics easier when you’re on the go.

How to generate a podcast:

FIRST: Select all the sources you want to be included on the podcast overview in the Sources tab

THIRD: Your podcast will start generating below your Studio options. The more sources you have selected the longer this process takes. Plan ahead. Be patient.

**Always listen to AI generated audio all the way through before giving it to students!

➡️

SECOND: Then go to the Studio column on the far right and click "Audio Overview" once.

FOURTH: You can play your podcast right here in NotebookLM.

FIFTH: You can rename it, download it, share a link to it, or delete it by clicking the three dots.

SIXTH: You can try interactive mode (which is in BETA) with your class.

Interactive Mode turns an Audio Overview from a “podcast you listen to” into a conversation you can join.

While the AI hosts are summarizing your uploaded content, you can tap Join, ask a question out loud, and they’ll respond in real time using only your sources. Then the overview continues.

It’s like calling into a radio show about your own documents — quick clarification without stopping or rewinding.

👂

Sample - Take a listen:

Here is the podcast generated from a Notebook containing all the notes my team took at TCEA this year!

📹Video Overview - Visual + Audio Summaries

Video Overviews take things a step further. Instead of just audio, NotebookLM creates a video made of slides — with AI-generated narration, visuals pulled from your sources (like images, diagrams, key quotes, charts), and a clear structure that highlights the main ideas. Think of it like an automated narrated slide deck tailored to your content.

📌 Key features:

- The video uses slides with AI narration to help explain complex topics visually and verbally.
- It pulls in visuals from your own documents, making it more engaging than plain audio.
- You can specify what you want the video to focus on (e.g., key concepts, target audience).

FIRST: Select all the sources you want to be included on the video overview in the Sources tab

SECOND: Then go to the Studio column on the far right and click "Video Overview" once.

THIRD: Then a window will show up with choices. First choose the type of video format you want to create.

FOURTH: Then select a language for your video. There are 80+ languages to choose from.

FIFTH: Then select a visual style that you like, or let the AI choose for you. Then click generate.

👀

Sample - Watch this:

Here is the video generated from a Notebook containing all the notes my team took at TCEA this year! I chose the "Brief" option.

What should you do now?

First, you will need to:

- Log in
- Create a Notebook
- Upload some curriculum sources for something you're teaching in the next few weeks
- Ask the chat some questions
- Familiarize yourself with the interface
- See last week's newsletter for help with any of this

The new thing to try this week is:

- Generate an Audio Overview - see how you like it. How could you incorporate that into your instruction?
- Generate a Video Overview - see how you like it. How could you incorporate that into your instruction?

Next week, we'll look at the mindmap and flashcard features!

Discussion boards are an easy way to get your students talking about your content!

Simply insert your questions on the grid, get some dice (real or virtual) and let them go!

Creating one is easy!

Start by making a copy ready-made template!
Add your questions to the squares. No repeats.
Add a second slide (page) adding images, diagrams, charts for them to refer to, then print front to back.
- - Example: On map A. which continent is Asia.
Print on sturdy paper or put in sheet protectors!
Have students follow the instructions at the top of the page.
Dice can be real or virtual (google six sided dice). Each group will need 2.
Best done in groups of 2-4 students!

Discussion board template

Directions: Roll the two dice to see what numbers come up. Find one on the top, one on the side and follow them down and across until you meet on a question to answer. Don’t repeat questions, re-roll or do the numbers in the opposite order.

Here's a common trivia example!

Trivia Discussion Board

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