Matthew's Google Workspace, Apple & AI EdTech Blog

Many EFL and ESL classrooms still practise speaking and listening in calm, predictable settings. A scaffolded pair-work speaking task here, a multiple-choice listening exercise about two people at a train station there—perfectly valid and useful. But real communication in the real world doesn’t always feel calm or predictable. When you’re using English as a second or foreign language, you might forget words, someone might speak too fast, and you have to react instantly. Real life can be very different from a multiple-choice listening activity or a highly scripted pair-work speaking task in class. So, can we help our students develop—through practice—more proactive, real-world speed listening and speaking skills? Answering that question with a YES is the logic behind some of the activities in our school’s enrichment program this year: the Adventures in AI Group for Grades 4–6 students. One type of activity we’ve been testing involves AI voice-mode simulations that drop upper-p...

In the ever-evolving landscape of online education, Google for Education Workspace continues to introduce innovative tools designed to streamline tasks and enhance the learning experience. And a superb addition recently are the specialized chatbots, called "Gems," built within Gemini and seamlessly integrated into Google Classroom. These Gems are poised to revolutionize how educators manage administrative duties, foster student engagement, and personalize instruction.  Having myself been critical of some of the Workspace roll-outs and policies over the past couple of years, particularly in terms of what free-tier Workspace educational organizations could access (or not) in terms of new AI features, I have to say that this new one, this Gem , has made me feel more positive about Google Workspace for Education again. So, what exactly are Gems?  Think of them as intelligent, customizable assistants tailored to specific educational needs. Whether it's automating grading of ro...

  My End-of-Year EdTech Tier List 2024–25 This blog post is very short and simple. You can find my full tier list with links here. As the 2024–25 school year wraps up, I have taken time to reflect on the digital tools, apps, and AI platforms I’ve mostly used this year as an educator. Creating this simple  EdTech Tier List  has helped me see clearly what’s embedded in my daily practice, what I rely on weekly, and what tools remain in experimental phases. It’s a snapshot of my current tech stack as a primary EFL/ESL teacher – and a roadmap for where I might grow next. Reviewing my EdTech tier list has reminded me that while technology never stands still, it’s the pro-active,  intentional choices we make to research and learn ourselves as educators that can help shape meaningful learning experiences for students. I’m excited to see which experimental tools become daily essentials next school year in 2025–26. What  top tools, hidden gems, and experimental favourit...

As of July 3rd 2025 (in my location of HK at least), Google has integrated Gemini into Google Classroom, making its advanced AI tools available free of charge to all Google Workspace for Education accounts. This development, observed firsthand with Gemini appearing in my classrooms today as I was busy working away, transforms how educators and students can now engage with AI. Unleashing New Possibilities With Gemini embedded in Classroom, teachers will now be able to generate lesson plans by inputting a topic and grade level, receiving drafts with suggested videos and quizzes. For example, a 7th-grade science teacher might create an ecosystem unit, adjusting texts and exporting quizzes to Google Forms. Content differentiation is another benefit, allowing tailored materials for diverse learners. Gemini also produces vocabulary lists with examples and rubrics, streamlining assessment design. Students aged 18+ can auto-generate quizzes, with this feature soon extending to younger users. I...

Google's New NotebookLM is a very useful study tool but only users 18+ can use it. Does that mean that this new tool has no value for Educators who work in a K12 environment? The answer to that question is NO.  The purpose of this blog post is to show K12 Educators how they can use Google NotebookLM’s podcast feature to convert dense, theoretical, or policy-heavy documents into digestible audio content which can help them: Learn on-the-go and avoid “PD fatigue” Retain more from long readings Reflect more deeply via AI-generated conversations As educators, we’re constantly asked to read: policy updates, professional development (PD) documents, theoretical frameworks, and the occasional 50-page research article. These texts are often essential, sometimes not — but whatever their importance, let’s be honest: they’re not always easy to digest. Add a full teaching timetable into the mix, and it becomes nearly impossible to give these documents the attention (some of them) deserve. Recen...

Over the past week or so, I’ve been testing a new tool in the ever-evolving world of AI — Simular*. It's a browser-based platform that promises to bring “agentic AI” to life. The idea is compelling: instead of prompting a chatbot like ChatGPT to give you information, you can direct an autonomous “agent” to visit websites, scroll, click, read, extract data, and even write content like a newsletter or report. As an educator, this concept has obvious appeal. When I started to test out Simular I had high hopes, especially in helping me streamline tasks like researching new EdTech tools, curating weekly digests for other educators, and summarizing long-form blog posts or research articles. In theory, it could serve as an automated research assistant — browsing the web while I focus on planning lessons for my students or doing other, related tasks. But after hands-on testing, I’ve come away with two key conclusions: 1. It’s not quite ready — at least for educators. Despite its sleek inte...