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, 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.)

As another way of comparing the two, here are some pertinent details:

• Purposes.  NotebookLM is usually for larger, deeper synthesis needs with multiple output opportunities, while Gems are more for specific, single outputs.
• Amount of files.  NotebookLM can have up to 50 sources uploaded; Gems can have up to 10.  However, a possible workaround for Gems is below.
• Kinds of files.  Both can use many of the usual suspects: PDFs, Google Docs and Sheets, Word and Excel, images and videos.  However, NotebookLM also allows website URLs, YouTube videos, and "copy and paste" sources, while Gems does not.  Interestingly, however, Gems will always recognize and use the latest version of a Google Doc or Sheet attached; NotebookLM only knows the "instance" version of the Doc/Sheet when first uploaded.
• Kinds of outputs.  As mentioned before, NotebookLM has a wide (and growing) set of Studio tools, starting with Audio and Video Overviews.  A Gem is more of a monotask outputter, only doing what it is set up to do.  These do not have to simply be text-based lesson plans or an email, however!  To take just two examples, a Gem could create coloring pages or a graphic novel.
• Use both!  A Gem can now have a NotebookLM added as a source file, thereby increasing a Gem's capacity of sources beyond its normal "10 files maximum."

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.  (They tend to be more complicated and "code-like" than a typical genAI prompt.) 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!