Google Gems (and EduGems)

While Google's NotebookLM has taken much of the acclaim and headlines for how Gemini AI can transform learning, another free tool over the past year has been shaping up to be its contender:  Google Gems.   While Notebooks can offer audio and video overviews, infographics, slide decks, and seemingly new beta Studio tools every fortnight, Gems can offer a more nuanced kind of support.  Gems are customizable AI chatbots you can load up with your own vetted documents (up to 10, compared to 50 for NotebookLM), which you then can easily share.

For a short (12:08) overview on Gems, watch this video by Eric Curts (and more on Curts in a moment):

Recently, Google for Education provided a wonderful deep slide deck of resources titled "100+ ways to use Gemini in K-12 Education."  One of the slides gives a short comparison of Gems versus NotebookLM:

A labeled screenshot of Google Classroom, labelled with the differences between Gems and NotebookLM. (Unless otherwise indicated, all screenshots are from this slide deck.)

Gems are great if you want to take the burden of prompt engineering off of the end user by writing a guiding "script," yet ensure a guard rail experience where the source of knowledge is based only on the documents of your choosing.   In effect, you are being a light programmer creating a new app, but without worrying about having to write actual code. 

Gems sit inside of Gemini itself, in its "Gem Manager" dashboard.   You can see Gems you made and saved (which you can always edit and customize further), Gems shared with you (as you can receive or give sharing rights like any other Google Doc), and of course, create a new Gem.

Writing an excellent prompt is the heart of a Gem.  For many an AI PD, I've shared Google's PARTS strategy on how to compose a more effective script (taken from this free course) by thinking of how to be more specific and detailed when thinking of each, um, part of PARTS.  However, the original handout I've used considers PARTS from the first person perspective of the prompter ("I am a third grade teacher..").   For a Gem, it may be more helpful to consider a third person perspective, like the example below.  In a meta moment, with a push of the "magic wand" button in Gems, you can also use "Gemini to rewrite [the] instructions" for you.

As I mentioned before, Gems can be shared with specific people, or made usable by all via its hyperlink.  Indeed, Gems could theoretically be shared inside a Google Classroom with students. However, the use of Gems by students in your educational domain may or may not be allowed, depending on the settings determined by your Google admin.  (For more, read this help article.)  Dr. Jim Masters, superintendent of Henry County Public Schools (KY), launched a specific Gem math tutor "grounded in learning science" with students.  Afterwards, over 250 of them answered a survey, and the results were noteworthy: "57% can now solve a similar problem independently" and "72% said [how the Gem demonstrated] breaking the problem into steps helped them most."  While some students admitted they wished the Gem would have just given them the answer (therefore admitting the Gem kept productive struggle and didn't minimize their cognitive load), many also said they still appreciated, or even preferred, the way their teachers helped them work through a problem.  The humans still matter in the loop.  "Technology can scale feedback," said Dr. Masters, but "teachers develop thinkers.  Student voice is now driving the next iteration — the same way a product team studies user experience."

When learning how to create a well-engineered Gem, a model can be helpful so you can peek "behind the curtain" and analyze its script.  There are also moments when you want to save time and simply utilize a well designed Gem made by someone else.  With that, we return to Eric Curts and his EduGems website:

The site is a collection of curated Gems, most made by Curts himself.   The Gems run the gamet  -- some educator-facing, some for students to use directly, and for various contents and needs.  There's a category that really caught my attention (for obvious reasons) called Engagement and Games, with Gems such as "CYOA Story" and "Historical What If."  Let's look at one called "Gamified Learning":

Along with a short description of each Gem, you have two choices.  You can interact directly ("Use the Gem") or "Make Your Own Copy"; the link is a force copy that will automatically save it into your own Gem Manager.   Note that once you have your copy, you can preview its prompt and potentially customize it.

Here is the Gamified Learning Gem "ready to use." Note that you have to give a Gem some kind of indication that you want to start -- typing "Hi" or "Begin" is fine.

When interacting with a copy of "Gamified Learning," you can see the Gem in editing mode.  Note the full prompt on the left and the chance to preview the Gem on the right.

EduGems also offers tutorials, and a Google Form where you can submit your own Gem for potential inclusion on the site.

Google Gems offer a handy way of reusing an excellent prompt over and over and easily make a sharable chatbot based on key sources you trust.   Even if you don't use Gems often, deconstructing a well-made one can teach you a lot about AI and prompt engineering.   Thanks to Google for making another highly useful free tool.  And special thanks to Eric Curts for curating an educational Infinity Gauntlet website of inspiring Gems!

"Tabletop Role-Playing Games in the Classroom" is now in print!

In August 2023 -- a year after launching Kentucky Educators for Role-Playing Games -- I began writing a book.  It was born from a pragmatic perspective; I had spend a lot of time and energy curating resources and stories for KyEdRPG, so why not package it for an outside audience?  But as I began, I had no idea if it would ever be published, much less seen by more than a handful of friends.  

Six months later in February 2024, the first complete draft of my manuscript was ready, but more importantly, I found a publisher in McFarland as part of their "Studies in Gaming" series.  I am so thankful that Matthew Wilhelm Kapell (series editor) and Layla Milholen (executive editor) gave me such early affirmation, and helped guide my book to publication.  Friends, educators, and rollers of the dice, I give you: Tabletop Role-Playing Games in the Classroom: Infusing Gameplay into K-12 Instruction!

When I received my author's copies a few weeks ago, I did an "unboxing" video, and perhaps befitting the holiday season we are in, I was once again full of gratitude and thanks.  

My Acknowledgment section is long and full of names, but in this blog entry I'll add one more:  Kalli Colley, a Regional Innovation Specialist with the Kentucky Department of Education.  The first of our Kentucky "Dungeons & Desks" series (which continues!) was in March of this year, well past the point where my manuscript was locked in for copy editing.   Therefore, I was unable to include her in the Acknowledgements, so I'll make that up here.  It's been a joy co-facilitating sessions with Kalli, leading and learning with attendees from Kentucky and beyond about TTRPGs in education.  I'm thankful for her expertise!

And by reading this, thank you.  Over a decade ago, Edtech Elixirs began, and it's the practice of writing thousands of words over 200+ blog entries that gave me the confidence to tackle something as audacious as a book. I hope that Tabletop Role-Playing Games in the Classroom is also something you can consider worthy of your time to read -- and inspires you to try some joyful instruction in your own learning spaces.

I'll end with helpful links and information for how you can order your copy:

More info about the book

Print ISBN Number:  9781476697550

eBook ISBN Number:  9781476657905

Direct from Publisher

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Books-a-Million

I highly recommend special ordering the book via its print ISBN number at your favorite local brick-and-mortar independent bookstore (mine is Carmichael's!).  If you use my Bookshop portal, 10% of sales go to support independent bookstores, and I also earn a small percentage. 

The Nature of Expertise in the Age of AI

For several years, I've been providing content and student support for the University of Kentucky's Changemakers program, designed and managed by the Center for Next Generation Leadership. It's an online one year continuing education option where Kentucky educators can get a rank change for successful completion.  I appreciate that Next Gen believes in "parallel pedagogy"; while it provides valuable resources and materials to be read, viewed, and reflected on, it also requires the program's students to complete meaningful transfer tasks, pursue an action research project, and participate in a final defense of learning that demonstrates how transformative practices are happening in the Changemaker's own classroom. 

This professional learning pathway to rank change involves mostly asynchronous work through online modules focused on the awareness and implementation of what Kentucky calls "vibrant learning" in the classroom, with module topics such as Learner Agency and Inquiry Based Learning.  It's my contribution to the latter module where the content below originally began, but I've expanded and added more detail for this blog entry.

Inquiry-based learning is a powerful pedagogy.  For students, it can be as extensive as working on a multi-week project-based learning unit, or as simple as asking more high-quality questions in class.  Inquiry comes from curiosity, and the attempt to answer challenging questions and solve problems that have no obvious solution.

Complicated problems requires help.  Two heads are better than one, after all.  With this in mind, seeking community partners can make perfect sense.  (As an aside, this teacher guide can help shape your conversations when you attempt to bring the community into your classroom; while it mentions PBL, the strategies can help for any scale project or problem you want your students to tackle.)   

These community partners or "outside experts" can authenticate what may seem abstract into real world problems, and even motivate students to "dig in" when the work gets difficult, to echo the title of this excellent Next Generation Learning Challenges article.  But before we consider how bringing in experts from outside of your classroom can increase vibrant learning, let’s first discuss inside experts, and even the idea of “expertise.”

Keep in mind that traditionally, and for decades (centuries!), you have been considered to be the expert in the room – of your content, of your pedagogy, of your ability to manage your classroom.  The professionalism required of the vocation, much less the idea of professional standards boards that grant, review, and in some cases revoke certification to teach, adds to the foundational belief that a teacher has earned their well-deserved “expert” credentials.

But you are usually one human in a room of thirty.  Leaning into the expertise of your students can be at its most basic level a strategy of smartly leveraging your numbers.  Viewing your classroom through an asset mindset, we can see students as learners that bring their own powerful POVs which can enrich your culture and community.  For example, with the right scaffolding, structures, and practice, your students are capable of providing peer-to-peer feedback.

However, some of our stumbling blocks in education are self-induced, born out of a desire to remain humble.  For example, calling yourself or anyone else an “expert” can sound or feel lofty and divisive.  Educators are sometimes their own worst critic, and may wonder aloud what right they have to declare themselves the expert on such-and-such.  As for students, they may view their own bountiful and beautiful knowledge with a shrug of their shoulders.  If someone in middle school knows how to disassemble and reassemble a car engine, it simply reflects their personal interests, or the fact that their mother loves hot rods.  They are told early and often in traditional school that such knowledge isn’t “book learnin’.”  Loving hot rods or diesel mechanics doesn’t matter, thinks the student, because it’s not a part of my third period class, and it won't show up on my multiple choice test on Friday.

Therefore, let’s consider a broadening of our definition of “expert,” and look more at the first five letters of the word.  What we really hope to provide, increase, articulate and bring into a classroom is experience.  From another person’s POV, your experience may be long and traveled (which can make you “more experienced”), or simply a road I’ve never traveled upon (which makes your experience a novel one, compared to mine).   Viewing expertise in this kind of inclusive light opens up what an “expert” is.  We can see an expert as simply (but powerfully!) a person with a different, valued perspective.   The key word is “valued.”  You may have a different POV, you may have twelve degrees on the wall, but if I don’t care about you and especially if you don’t care about me, your “expertise” won’t matter much.  We can also see an expert as a person who is recognized as skillfully applying knowledge.  The key word is “applying.” Remember that old chestnut that answers the question, “What’s the difference between intelligence and wisdom?”  Intelligence is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, but wisdom is knowing you would never put a tomato in a fruit salad.  Expertise that feels too detached and theoretical, or a bunch of random facts you can Google anyway, won’t personally matter very much to your learners.

With our new, more expansive definition of “expert” behind us, how do these experts from outside of a classroom still have potential to help?  Vibrant learning is memorable and authentic, and community partners can be both.  A parent who is a car mechanic might come in to demonstrate the torque caused by automobile engines.  Not only does that make abstract laws of motion and physics seem more relevant to students, it also has a far greater chance of making tonight’s dinner conversation when the student is asked “What did you do at school today?”  By permitting alternative voices into your learning space, you open up different perspectives and bring the outside community inside of your classroom community. Outside partners could also provide feedback to students as they ideate and prototype a solution in a PBL, or serve as a panel audience for defenses of learning. Of course, in a world full of wondrous technology, we are not limited to in-person guest speakers.  Someone from a European museum might Zoom in for a mini-lecture and a Q & A.  There are over twenty billion uploaded YouTube videos, so with the right discernment and curation skills, an expert is just a click away.

You might have noticed that artificial intelligence wasn’t mentioned above as a potential “outside expert.”  Going back to our expanded definition, it certainly can seem to checkmark the same boxes.  AI can offer a different perspective, powered by code and fueled by billions of artifacts from our culture and knowledge.  Is that perspective valued, or valuable?  It might, although AI is not always accurate, unbiased, or trustworthy; however, the same can be said of Wikipedia entries created by humans, or the theory from a popular scientist of the past which has been discredited in the present.  Discernment and critical thinking is key, particularly from the teacher who should be monitoring, filtering, and observing the AI usage (and teaching students to be critical AI users as well).  AI can also certainly apply its knowledge scraped across the terabytes of the Internet within (milli)seconds of being prompted.  Is that knowledge skillfully applied?  Based on the uploaded rubric of a teacher alongside the first draft of a student’s essay (being mindful of your platform's privacy protections, of course), or the public domain text of an author, AI could provide nuanced feedback on student writing or pretend to be a character in a book for a fascinating interactive conversation.  But some of the proficiency of AI’s application will depend on qualitative measures: of the rigor of the rubric you uploaded, or the veracity and bias of the knowledge it grabbed from its database, or the depth of skills the AI has been taught to emulate. And again, AI hallucinations can happen.  

What will hopefully emerge, as we become more skilled and critical users of AI, is that our ethical priorities will shape the machines instead of letting the machines shape us.  A promising example is the “Dimensions in Testimony” website, a partnership between the University of Southern California and the Shoah Foundation.  The site began by digitizing recorded interviews of actual survivors of the Holocaust and the Nanjing Massacre.   Next, an interviewee has a separate page where, via a looping video, they seem to sit and wait for your questions.  

When prompted, a short video plays where the interviewee “answers” your question, creating a virtual conversation.  You can do this via your microphone or by typing.  What may seem miraculous is really just clever programming – the interviews were transcripted and time-coded, so AI simply takes your prompt, scans the text, finds a corresponding clip that seems to best answer your question, and plays from that particular time-stamped portion of the interview. Still, you can see the power of providing such “expertise” to students, giving them a chance to be both empathetic as well as practicing their questioning/prompting skills.  (It should also be noticed the dignity and care given to the subject matter by USC and Shoah.  The interviews were real, using genuine survivors of genocide and the Holocaust, not actors.  While you technically could have AI “pretend” to be a survivor of a war crime as a customized chatbot, or have students interact with some kind of digital fictionalized Holocaust survivor avatar, there are many reasons why this would be an unethical and inappropriate use of such technology.)

As you ponder ways to increase and improve inquiry, reflect on the nature of “expertise,” both inside and outside of your own four walls.  As you do so, you can cautiously consider how AI can be one of many types of “outside experts” you can bring into your classroom.

For more information on Changemakers, be sure to check out this page for the latest links to sign up for updates and apply to join the next cohort.

KyEdRPG Spotlight: Librarian Laura Mann and TTRPGs for Literacy

 

Librarians -- and the library -- are often the heartbeat and hub of a school.  Since extracurricular game clubs are frequently held in such learning spaces and therefore led by a librarian, it shouldn't be a surprise when such educators also use an innovative approach like tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) as part of their instructional time too.  They recognize it as an engaging way to enrich student literacy (and a little numeracy as well).

When librarian Laura Mann told me about the TTRPG she had created around a book her middle school students were reading, I was eager to see it in action.  Last month, I visited Laura at Bernheim Middle School (Bullitt County), a beautiful and recently renovated building.   

Walking around the nooks and tables, I was impressed with the sixth graders' eagerness to play the game.   I took pictures and conducted an interview with Mann to share the details (and her resources!).  As an aside, I am also proud for Laura to be our first Kentucky librarian to be featured on the Kentucky Educators for Role Playing Games website!

Laura, welcome to Edtech Elixirs!  Please share your educational journey. 

My teaching and library careers have been a dynamic journey, to say the least.

I first stepped into the classroom in January 2011 as a substitute teacher in Bullitt County, fresh off graduating from Campbellsville University the previous month with my BS in Elementary Education. I quickly gained a host of diverse experience, moving into specialized roles such as Reading Interventionist at Vine Grove Elementary (Hardin County, 2011-2012) and Math Interventionist at Old Mill Elementary (Bullitt County, 2012-2013). This period of focused, one-on-one teaching truly helped me get my foot in the door and it was during this time that the library truly began calling to me. 

While working as a Math Interventionist, I took on a part-time role as a Library Page at the Louisville Free Public Library and began work on my Master of Science in Library and Information Science. This paved the way for my first full-time role as a Library Media Specialist (LMS) at Nichols Elementary (2013-2014). After a brief return to the classroom to teach second grade in 2014-2015, I took a sabbatical to complete my MSLIS. The question was, where would I take my skills? Back to the public schools or into the public library?

I decided, at this point, I would try the public library again and took on a position at Spencer County Public Library in 2016, where I continued until 2018. I loved the job, but discovered my true love was students. I was offered a position as the LMS at Bloomfield Middle School in Nelson County Schools (2018-2019) before moving into a District LMS for the next 5 years. All of this rich experience has led me to where I am today: the Library Media Specialist (LMS) at Bernheim Middle School, back in Bullitt County. This is a role I absolutely love, and I can't wait to continue it for the foreseeable future.

What is your personal experience with playing TTRPGs?

My experience with actually playing TTRPGs is limited, but my interest is not! I've always loved playing board games, and hearing a good story. TTRPGs combine the best of both worlds into one.

I watch streams and videos of others playing on various platforms, and it always looks like such a great time. I was struggling to find friends to play with, but I'm hoping to join the TTRPG group that meets at my local Bullitt County Public Library branch—as soon as I can clear my schedule for their next play night!

Some people outside of education may be surprised that school librarians “teach classes.”  Can you briefly describe your related arts schedule with your middle school students?

One of the great perks of my current role is the flexibility it offers. School librarian schedules often fall into three main categories, depending on the school's needs:

• Fixed: While not exclusive to elementary schools, this is very common in such settings, where the librarian is part of the Related Arts rotation teaching classes for most of the day.
• Responsive: This is the ideal scenario—the librarian is free to schedule their time as needed to serve students and staffulty (staff + faculty).
• Partially Responsive: This is the schedule our school uses. 

I'm very lucky to only teach two classes per day, which rotate every nine weeks. This partial teaching schedule is a huge benefit because it frees me up for the rest of the day to focus on critical library operations. With the help of my fantastic library aides, we manage the constant flow of activity: fixing Chromebooks, checking out books, and making sure the library runs smoothly all day long.

What inspired you to bring TTRPGs into your learning space?

I wanted to add TTRPGs to include a little more fun to our learning, but also to deepen the learning with Kentucky Academic Standards for Library Media—especially in the Collaborate domain. I'm thinking specifically focusing on pushing past basic "group work" (like dividing up a poster project) and moving toward the high-level collaboration detailed in standards like M.CL.T3.A “Learners identify collaborative opportunities by: Deciding to solve problems informed by group interaction.”

I love how you wrapped your TTRPG adventure around a text the students are reading.  Tell us about your game!

The official title is “The Bernheim Riddle”, a play on the book we are reading The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin.  The game mechanics are based on a simplified version of Dungeons & Dragons.

The first step in setting up the game was making sure the students had a grasp on Character Sheets and how to use them. At the start of the term, students made Character Sheets for themselves. This was to help them understand the sheets for later game play, but also to help me get to know them better. We played a brief game using where students had to follow the Community Agreements (being respectful, responsible, safe, kind, courageous, and using excellent work ethic) while finding a lost library book. 

 A copy of the Filling Out You Character Sheet (Google Slides).

Then, we began reading our book. I wanted to create a strong connection to the historical world of Bletchley Park. We started with some light research on the people who actually worked there. We would play our game as these people.

Students used the official Bletchley Park website, using its "The Roll of Honour" page to find their historical figure. Their research was focused on discovering key information such as who the person was, what their specific job was at Bletchley Park, and any other available biographical details.

A copy of the Bletchley Park Research Sheet (Canva).

Then, we completed Character Sheets for their historical figures. This was a challenge for them as strengths were not listed on the Bletchley Park website. We had to think about what specific job they had and what skills the person doing that job may have. I used a base character sheet I found from a member of the Dungeons and Dragons Aotearoa NZ Facebook Group (posted by Abigail Ea) and edited it to ensure the skills and strengths perfectly matched the historical context we were working with.

A copy of Laura's adapted Character Sheet (Canva).

The original Kids Character Sheet by Abigail Ea.  (Please support the creator!)

Copy of Filling Out Your Historical Figure Character Sheet (Google Slides).

Once students had their historical figure’s sheet completed, we could begin our game!

Each student has taken on a role within their group. There is a leader, an ambassador, a dice tamer, an adventure tracker, and a writer. Each person has specific roles/jobs they are responsible for.  For example, the ambassador is the only person who can come ask me questions!

The narrative centers on a mysterious person named "Enoch" who has been causing problems at the famous code-breaking facility, Bletchley Park. Throughout the game, students take on the roles of their Bletchley Park workers and must figure out Enoch's plan by breaking codes and ciphers, making decisions as a team, and dealing with the repercussions of their choices.

To make the game manageable, I split the entire story into four weekly sections, each with a clear stopping point: "Part One: The Whispering Witness," "Part Two: The Missing Machine," "Part Three: The Double Agent’s Diary," and "Part Four: The Evacuee’s Enigma."

Since I have so many groups and can't possibly be a Game Master for all of them, I built a self-guided system that requires minimal involvement from me after set-up. This allows groups to move at their own pace and collaborate without interruption.

The two main components are the Canva Slide Decks which function as the narrative and clue delivery system,  and a Google Form which acts as a sort of Game Master.

For example, if students are required to interpret a Morse code message, they submit their answer into the Google Form. If they put in an incorrect answer, the Form simply tells them, "That is not the right code." If they get it right, the Form validates the answer, links them to the next section of the Form, and provides the link for the next Canva slide deck.  

[Editor's note: you can learn how to create "Response Validation" rules for how a person answers on a Google Form from this help site, to replicate what you might see in a Breakout EDU game.]  

If students choose to talk to a certain non-player character, the slide deck will take them on that path. They'll get information that is either helpful or sends them right back to their choices—simulating the consequences of real TTRPG interaction. While this system does limit the range of options, it allows groups to work through the game on their own, making decisions without the need for constant intervention from the teacher.

As an example, here are the "Part Three: The Double Agent’s Diary” Canva Slides which were what the students were playing on the day you visited:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

How have the students reacted?  

Some students are excited to play and ready to take on the challenges. Others are not sure where to begin and don’t participate as much with their groups. I'm thinking of revisions for next time to keep everyone involved.  Students do regularly ask when we are going to play the game again, since we only play on the last day of the week.

What feedback have you gotten from the staff at Bernheim Middle about using a TTRPG for instruction?

Our band/music teacher is very much into RPGs of all kinds and was a bit jealous of my class. He mentioned skipping his classes to come play with mine! My principal Chase Goff came into the class to see my students playing.  He later shared with me, “I really enjoyed talking to the students about the tabletop games.  Honestly, I have never played these or engaged with them so it was really cool to see it.  I also thought it was great to see the students productively struggling, having to back up and try again.” 

What’s next for TTRPGs in your library?

I plan to incorporate TTRPG with my classes the rest of this year. I will, however, use different books for each grade level just so I don’t have to read the same book twice a term for the entire year! I will choose from Kentucky Bluegrass Award books in an attempt to drum up excitement for those selections. I know we will not finish our current read and I already have students clamoring to be the first on the list to check it out! It shows me that the students are in love with the book, regardless of how they feel about TTRPGs.

This has been awesome, Laura!  Thank you for sharing your story.  Last question:  What advice would you give to a school librarian who wants to start using TTRPGs in their library?

Just try it! Even if it is with one class or coordinating with another teacher. Was there a big learning curve? Yes. Is there a lot of prep before you can even start? Absolutely. Has it been a fun adventure and a good opportunity to try something new? For sure. 

Special thanks to Ms. Mann for taking the time to answer my questions, and inviting me to visit!

Serious Play Conference 2025

Ever since the first time I discovered the Serious Play Conference, I was eager to attend.  However, for several years it was at the University of Toronto and therefore didn't seem to be an affordable option for a work trip.  This year, however, it was at St. John Fisher University in Rochester, New York.  I was thankful to have the conference approved by OVEC as my annual out-of-town professional learning, and doubly grateful when I was asked (along with my TTRPG educator colleague Kalli Colley) to speak on a panel!  On a side note, I've been curious about the Erie Canal ever since I sang a folk tune in pre-school, so I was also glad for the chance to see it in person, as it ran just outside of our hotel.  (On a side note to my side note, the Del Monte Lodge was a beautiful place to stay, run by an incredibly friendly staff.)  While in Rochester, I even ate a version of their local delicacy: a "garbage plate" (it was delicious).

Canals and garbage plates aside, how was the three day conference?  In a word: illuminating.   Like the Play Make Learn conference in Wisconsin I attended last year, it was energizing to be around hundreds of educators and game designers who enthusiastically believe in the power of play- and game-based learning.  While I created an extensive Wakelet covering the depth and breadth of the sessions I attended and the resources I gained (also embedded at the end of this blog entry), here I will share a dozen highlights:

• Michelle King, our keynote for the first day of conference, inspired us with the notion that "words create worlds," and told us a paraphrase of Brian Eno's difference between the solitary genius (an "egosystem") and the collective innovation from a scenius (a vibrant and healthy "ecosystem").  What kind of playful and positive world will we create together?
• Stephen Reid, our second day keynote, implored us to not forget that "play matters."  We are often limited by anti-play policies and taught to be suspicious of adults who engage in what is perceived as frivolous activity; as a particularly evocative example, he showed us the difference between what you find when you google "man in a tree" and "child in a tree."  Reid also shared anecdotes of using Command and Conquer and Minecraft in his classrooms.
• Deb Fuller and Luigi Guarniccio discussed the need for accessibility in games.  As Fuller reminded us, things like curb cuts are not just niceties for those permanently in wheelchairs, as "we are just temporarily abled" and, with age or an accident, will eventually need such supports.  How can we design better for those that are (among many other examples Fuller and Guarniccio provided) left-handed, or have vision challenges?
• Meghan Gardner discussed what makes a game truly "transformative" versus merely "remarkable."  Additionally, Gardner is the founder of Guardian Adventures, a treasure trove of educational gaming resources and examples.
• Kelly McNeil, a Learning Experience Designer with Digital Promise, shared her journey in bringing play into professional development.  She reminded us that while fun can help in engagement, we still need to construct adult learning around evidence-based practices, such as Darling-Hammond, Hyler and (Madelyn) Gardner's "Seven Models of Effective Professional Development."
• I first read about Dr. Megan Connell's work using Dungeons & Dragons as a part of her therapeutic pedagogy in Shelly Mazzanoble and Greg Tito's book Welcome to Dragon Talk.  So I was particularly excited to hear her speak, alongside learning what teacher Greg Gordon has done in his own classroom.
• MagiKids is a charitable foundation that donates Magic: The Gathering kits to learning spaces.  From that session, I was also blessed to meet Lyla Ross, the head of the Washington State-based 501(c)(3) Gamers Engaged, one of the many "backbone organizations" that help fund MagiKids.
• Sharon Peck demonstrated multiple examples of how games can improve literacy.  (Also, check out Professors at Play!) 
• Speaking of professors...University of Toronto professors Leslie Stewart Rose (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education) and Quinn Jacobs (Department of Arts, Culture, and Media) shared "How Play Solves Problems of Practice in Classrooms."  One of the examples indicated was the use of Dungeons & Dragons!  I appreciated their ample research references throughout their presentation, and how we better appreciated play in a learning setting by actually playing a game.
• Lt. Col. James "Pigeon" Fielder (ret.) uses a semester-long simulation game for one of his political science courses at Colorado State University.  He was candid about what worked, and what he would do differently in the future.
• I picked up two books while at the conference:  Becky Keene's AI Optimism and Tracy Fullerton and Matthew Farber's The Well-Read Game: On Playing Thoughtfully.  I can't wait to dive into both!
• Last but not least, I visited The Strong National Museum of Play twice for after-hours conference events.  It was a charming and delightful institution, and it alone would make planning a trip to Rochester worthwhile.  (For a plethora of pictures, check out my Facebook post from my KyEdRPG Page.)

As I mentioned at the beginning, Kalli Colley and I were asked to speak on a session panel: "Adventures in TTRPG: Building Learning Worlds with Dice, Devices, and Dialogue."  It was wonderfully moderated by Sana Alimohamed, and we were joined by an impressive group of educators: Sharon Lee De La Cruz, Phill Cameron, and Huaidian (Daniel) Hou.  Thank you to the 50+ attendees of the session, who leaned in with great interest and questions!  A special thanks to Sana, who in addition to her moderation duties took the time to curate and share several resources discussed in the panel in a LinkedIn post.

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From left to right: Sana, Phill, Kalli, me, and Huaidian.

Besides the learning gained at the Serious Play Conference, I am grateful for the chance to have met so many admirable people in person.   A final shoutout needs to be given to Paul Darvasi and Elisa Navarro for putting together the event (and for Dr. Darvasi's personal reach out that led to Kalli and I submitting proposals).  If you have a chance to attend a future Serious Play Conference, I highly recommend it.

Speaking of Kalli Colley, our "Dungeons & Desks" FREE regional PD series returns this fall to two Kentucky locations:  London (October 20) and Hazard (November 3).  Come play and learn with us!

 

Google Vids (and other Google updates for Summer 2025)

Google has had a busy summer with plenty of updates, including a new product that I've finally had some time to play with: Google Vids.  But before we get to Vids, let's briefly cover some other territory that educators will find important to know.

If you're a teacher who has logged into Google Classroom lately, you've probably noticed that your workspace now includes Gemini baked in, and more specifically, has multiple tools at your fingertips to help you more effectively complete tasks.  It's clear that the popularity of the "custom bot dashboards" prevalent in several other AI learning platforms has encouraged Google Classroom to do the same. 

[Update 10/14/25:  Eric Curts created a deep dive video on the various pre-made AI tools inside Google Classroom, linked here (19:03)].

While the built-in capability of Gemini is currently only available for the teacher side of Google Classroom, Gemini itself is now available for students of all ages.  Additionally, Google NotebookLM (perhaps the most pragmatic AI tool I currently use) will also be available for "all ages in the coming months" (per a Google Workplace Team email sent June 17, 2025).  You can read more in Google's June 2025 blog announcement.  Of course, your Google Admin may choose to keep this toggled off for certain age groups (or for all of your students!) and/or for one or both tools; it's worth asking what your district's plan might be.  Remember that for educational accounts only, Google has made assurances that AI data and usage will remain private to the domain itself, usage will not train Google's AI machine, and inputs/outputs will not be human reviewed, as they first announced back in May 2024. 

Speaking of NotebookLM, it's perhaps no surprise that it continues to upgrade.  The output language can now be changed, and that can include the (in)famous "Audio Overviews."  You've likely been wowed by the Audio Overviews feature (and if you're like me, also a bit disturbed by its capacity for human mimicry); customization can now allow you to make them shorter or longer in length, or give the Overview specific topics to focus upon.  But perhaps the most dramatic leap for NotebookLM is the beginning of Video Overviews:

I was able to try this out on a personal free gmail account (upgraded features usually tend to chronologically lag behind for educational domains, so be patient if you don't see the feature yet).  I picked a Notebook with two sources that were focused on the topic of flexible learning spaces: a Google Slide conference presentation I did back in 2021 about the then just opened K-8 school Marnel C. Moorman in Shelby County, and a 2018 article in Edutopia. Despite only having those relatively short sources, the generation for what turned out to be a seven minute Video Overview took at least ten minutes on a Friday night.  While it's likely this will get better, or possibly be another incentive to go Pro (for faster generations?), I would caution you from expecting a Video Overview to load in the same short time it currently takes to generate an Audio Overview.  Yes, yes, you might be asking, but what was the quality?  Well...I was blown away, just like I was about Audio Overviews only a year ago.  As I'm still impressed and mulling over the possibilities of what an Audio Overview can bring to the table for learners, the Video Overview comes along. It basically creates your very own short documentary of your uploaded sources.  And like Audio Overviews, you can share or download the videos.  (In order to watch the video via a shared hyperlink, you have to share viewing rights to the entire Notebook.)  As always, the AI was not perfect, but I'll take some of the blame too. For example, my presentation had a quote from a different Edutopia article spoken by a teacher in a California school (attributed by the article name and hyperlink on the slide), but the video narrator mistakenly stated "as one of the MCM teachers Stacey Lamb said..," which, given the slide scanned superficially as is, seems a fair misunderstanding.  Watching the whole seven minutes, I found very little else to nitpick, especially considering if my goal was to create a sophisticated summarization of my sources.  Here's the Video Overview it generated for me, also downloaded and saved to my Google Drive:

Staying on the topic of videos: one of Google's tools getting some considerable press recently is Veo 3. This is another example of the continual evolution of text-to-video genAI in the marketplace; the outputs are longer, more sophisticated, and can now include AI-generated sound and dialogue.  It's impressive, and brings more ethical concerns, but I mainly passed it by for practical reasons -- it's not cheap, and therefore not likely to be in a typical K-12 teacher's classroom anytime soon.  (However, Google is offering a free year of their AI Pro plan to college students, if they redeem the offer by October 6.)

But if you are looking for a practical Google video tool for teachers and students, it's now finally time to discuss Google Vids.  In a nice flip, this is currently available for all educational users at no charge, but is not available for free/personal Google accounts.  Here's a quick elevator pitch to describe the tool: "An online video editor that's as easy to use as Google Slides."

Creating a new Google Vid is like creating most products in the Google Suite: it's an option for the New button in your Drive, or a choice on your waffle, or simply typing vids.new in your address bar.  There are templates you can choose from if you want to create your project more quickly.  

You can import media (such as Google Slide decks, audio files, and screencasts), make everything from scratch, or do a bit of both.  A tip: I think it's easier to "compose" the skeleton of your video by starting in Google Slides, then importing it into Vids. However, note that anything animated, or clickable, will simply "flatten" once it gets into Vids (after all, you can't hyperlink inside a video), much in the same way that Slides downloaded as a PDF may lose the same features.

Once in editor mode, you can easily add transitions between "scenes," or lengthen/shorten a scene by dragging it by the end.  You can also record a video or audio file to insert into your project, making choices like doing a voiceover a breeze.  One of my favorite features of Vids is Script, located in the sidebar.  You can type what you want to say and it will scroll like a teleprompter while you record your audio or video.  If recording a video, this also means you can look directly into the webcam while you speak.

This screenshot of creating a Script is courtesy of a Google for Learning course.

This screenshot of using a Script as a teleprompter while recording video is courtesy of a Google for Learning course.

Collaboration in Vids happens like a typical Google doc -- you can share viewing, commenting or editing rights to your project. If it's viewing only, the viewer will actually only be able to play the video from your project.  This deserves a bit of emphasis, because in a practical sense it means your Vid becomes a real-time living artifact just like a Doc or a Sheet; you could share a link just once and the viewer will always see the most recent updates, as opposed to having to delete an old video and resharing a new link to the latest uploaded version.  This alone can save significant time and increase workflow.  That capability aside, you can also download the final video as a MP4.

You can create Vids as an assignment in Google Classroom for your students!  First, create a template that you want students to customize and add their own text and materials. (One of the fun Inserts to consider is a "Video Placeholder," available in various cutout frames; when an editor comes across one of these icons, they can click on it to record their own video that will be automatically matted to the chosen shape.)  You can then assign it in Classroom, making sure it "force copies" for each student.  Students can open the assignment, edit it and turn in the Vid like any other Google doc.  Here's a short video about creating Vids assignments in Classroom, from a free Google for Learning course:

There is admittedly a cookie-cutter aspect that could occur when students are creating videos within the templated perimeters of Vids.  However, the intuitive ease of editing in Vids "in the cloud," as well as the ability to quickly share and collaborate, means that students should be able to spend more time on the content than on the clicking.  The bottom line: you can make polished videos in a fraction of the time it took before, and for free.  

This screenshot is courtesy of a Google for Learning course.

It's worth noting that if you pay for an upgraded AI license, you can also use Gemini inside of Vids to create genAI video content or voiceovers.  Here's a video (7:59) showing how Gemini integration with Vids works:

It used to be that improvements or new tools in Google were incremental -- you might be lucky to see something new every few years.  As with all edtech nowadays, that speed of change has rapidly increased.  By the time we hit spring 2026, I will expect new Google features that will likely make even the amazing ones in this blog entry seem quaint and "sooooo 2025."

Rollin' Down to Richmond for The Twenty Sided Tavern (and +2 on Keynotes)

Summer for a professional development facilitator and digital learning consultant is a busy time. I've also found time for play!  As we cross the mid-point of the season, I wanted to highlight some of my summer adventures so far.

Let's go chronological.

Soon before kickoff at the Cave City Conference Center on June 18.

On June 18 (right before I left for a family vacation), I was both the morning and afternoon keynote for an artificial intelligence conference held by the Green River Regional Educational Cooperative (GRREC). (I also squeezed in a breakout session on AI and PLCs.)  In a packed ballroom at the Cave City Conference Center, more than 250 educators from across Kentucky learned, collaborated, and shared.  One teacher from Allen County came up afterward to tell me it was the best keynote she's ever attended -- a high compliment I'm not sure I deserved, but I humbly thanked her for it.  And speaking of thanks, I'm very grateful to GRREC's Jessica Turner (who I congratulate for just taking a principal position at Meade County!) and Merissa Waddy for asking me to keynote their conference.

As soon as vacation ended, I was off to Washington Community High School (Illinois).  My old friends Dan Reem and Tom Gross (Teachers in the Dungeon) are WCHS's head of social studies and librarian/game club sponsor, respectively.  For years, they have run an annual student RPG summer camp, with multiple breakout session options and two different strands (a player and "Dungeon Master" [DM] track).  Community partners lead sessions or facilitate games; for example, d20 Dinner show students how to make homemade dice.  This year (with the help of Stefanie Crawford of Illinois Digital Educators Alliance), Dan and Tom arranged a precursor to the student camp with a teacher "express conference" on July 7 and invited me to kick it off with a keynote on tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) in education.  On July 8, attendees were able to shadow students on the first day of their camp.  (Chris Tatum of NerdLouisville also came up to talk to the educators and ran some breakout sessions for students.) 

Dan Reem (left) and Tom Gross.

Students rolling up their D&D characters on the first day of camp.

There was such great enthusiasm from attendees eager to bring TTRPGs back to their own schools, and the adults encouraging them to do so.  (Special nod to Dan Crawford of Cabbages and Kings Games for donating dice to the teachers as well as DM'ing a student D&D game!)  I was particularly inspired by the students at the camp, who were positive, polite, excited, and focused.  I had the chance to teach students by running a breakout camp session for budding DMs on building an adventure, but more importantly,  I was taught how to better DM from a D&D one-shot led by a just-graduated WCHS senior.  The summer camp isn't just for fun -- it creates leaders.  

As always, I'm grateful for the chance to learn from others, and of course special thanks to Dan and Tom for inviting me up!  As they shared on a recent episode, they seem committed to having the conference again next year, so stay tuned to their podcast for updates.

As a final share, my wife and I were fortunate to attend the kickoff of the world tour for Dungeons & Dragons: The Twenty Sided Tavern in Richmond, Kentucky on July 18.   While the EKU Center for the Arts might seem a inauspicious site for such an endeavor, it's a beautiful theater, and it was full of raucous fans.  The traveling company could not have picked a better place to preview their show.

For more pictures, visit this Instagram post.

Note the "Hit Point" bars at the top of the screen, representing the real-time health of the three "player characters."

With a sly sense of humor, the story is infinitely changeable (no two shows on this tour will be exactly the same!), as one would expect from a theatrical experience based on D&D.  In a sense, the show is a liveplay of a D&D adventure, and my wife -- who has never played -- began quickly catching on to the basic mechanics.  The embedded improvisation is not only hectic (the actors often asked for shouted out answers to feed the story, such as names for monsters), but haptic; it's also powered by audience interaction via our mobile phones and a browser-based platform from Gamiotics.  We were involved from the start, voting on which kind of characters each of the three "players" would take on; choosing whether they should go left or right, which shop to visit, or which spell to use; and even valiantly mashing a screen button to give characters enough "oomph" to accomplish goals.  Kudos not only to the actors portraying the DMs and players, but to the production crew -- the stage sets, lighting and backdrop screen effects keep you perpetually delighted and immersed.

The Twenty Sided Tavern definitely had my mental wheels turning (and mental dice rolling?) for applicability to a classroom.  While you might need a DM to rule set and give players a sandbox to play in, a true D&D adventure needs everyone to participate in order to complete a journey, much as a cohesive classroom is one made up of learners, not just "teacher and students."  A community of learners is a community of trust, with room to both fail and play.  Speaking of play, I wonder how the kinds of interactive polling that makes The Twenty Sided Tavern so much fun can also be an innovative strategy for teaching?  For years, we have used such real-time tools for judging comprehension (i.e. pushing out a question, seeing if students get the right answer), but what if teachers similarly used them to transform direct instruction into a story with agentic student control, provided we are prepared to quickly pivot? Imagine a social studies class learning about ancient Egypt:  

Okay, the archaeologist goes inside the pyramid's inner chamber and finds...a sarcophagus!  Does she look closely at the sarcophagus, or at the various objects placed around it inside the chamber? [class voting on their devices] Looks like...you want to see the sarcophagus!  You notice the intricate hieroglyphics....

Lastly, the story that binds the discrete parts is key in both D&D and in teaching -- and narrative is what makes learning memorable.  Indeed, all TTRPG stories are co-created, and truly vibrant learning is similarly an act of a co-created classroom.

I'll wrap up this blog entry by wishing you all the rest and rejuvenation you need and deserve this summer, while realizing that even in your most playful moments, you are likely still plotting for the school year ahead! 

For more resources on TTRPGs in the classroom, visit Kentucky Educators for Role Playing Games.