ISTE 2026: Supporting teaching and learning with connected AI

ISTE 2026: Supporting teaching and learning with connected AI tools

Great teaching is built on the human connection and relationship between a teacher and student. As technology evolves, our goal isn’t to replace that connection, but to support it. That’s why we build tools that keep educators in the lead while giving students the personalized help that can help them succeed.

Here is a look at the new tools we are unveiling across Google Classroom, Chromebooks, and Gemini to help teachers and students.

HELPING TEACHERS SAVE TIME AND GUIDE LEARNING

Starting today, we’re rolling out a new Classroom app in Gemini. This makes it easier for educators to get help with everyday teaching tasks by securely using their actual class context.

In the coming months, we’re also expanding teacher-led AI activities in Google Classroom. These activities are grounded in a school’s curriculum and give clear insights into what students actually understand so that teachers can better support them. And to help keep students focused on their assignments, we’re bringing new Guided Learning tools to Chromebooks to cut down on digital distractions. Read more in our blog.

GIVING STUDENTS PERSONALIZED STUDY TOOLS

To help students prepare for exams, we’re introducing Study notebooks in Gemini. These notebooks create personalized lessons and quizzes that adapt as a student learns. They’re rolling out now to personal Google Accounts and will be available for school-issued accounts soon.

We also want to make standardized test prep more accessible. In the coming months, we’re partnering with experts like The Princeton Review to offer no-cost practice ACT and GRE tests.

SUPPORTING SCHOOLS WITH AI READINESS

We know schools need support navigating these new technologies. Alongside our Google Educator Series – which will provide AI training for every educator in the U.S. – we’re providing funds to aiEDU to help Title 1 school districts develop AI readiness strategies. We are also funding ISTE+ASCD to study and improve how AI can be used for student assessments.

To see all our launches, review our Launch Guide and sign up for our newsletter to stay updated on the latest with Google for Education year-round.

At the ISTE 2026 conference, Google unveiled a comprehensive suite of connected artificial intelligence tools designed to enhance personalized student experiences, save educator time, and expand classroom-level support. [1, 2]

The primary highlights from Google’s ISTE 2026 announcements, alongside other notable framework shifts at the event, include the following:

Connected AI Tools for Students

Gemini Study Notebooks: Introduces adaptive, automated lessons and personalized quiz creation directly within Google for Education to adjust dynamically to a student’s unique learning pace. [1, 3]
Free Test Prep: Partnering with industry experts like The Princeton Review to make standardized test preparation more accessible by providing no-cost practice ACT and GRE exams. [1]
Guided Learning: Rolling out built-in Chromebook tools aimed at keeping students focused on task execution by minimizing digital distractions. [1]

AI Features and Training for Educators

Teacher-Led AI Activities: Expanding tools in Google Classroom that allow instructors to generate curriculum-grounded, curriculum-aligned activities. [4]
National Training Initiative: Launching the Google Educator Series to deliver tailored AI literacy and integration training to teachers across the United States. [1, 5]

Educational Funding and Strategic Partnerships

Through its philanthropic arm, Google.org announced substantial targeted grants to help high-need and underserved schools systematically navigate the deployment of generative technology: [6]

aiEDU: Funding to help Title 1 and rural school districts design scalable, open-source AI readiness strategies. [1, 6]
ISTE+ASCD Partnership: Financing a collaborative field study, systemic summit, and insights report focused strictly on optimizing AI-informed assessments to protect teacher time and scale student growth. [1, 6]
Renaissance Philanthropy: Supporting the Reimagining Assessment initiative to field open proposals regarding equitable and modernized grading solutions. [6]

Broader Industry Alignment at ISTE 2026

The wider conference focused heavily on transforming generic “tech buzz” into stable, safe, and pedagogically sound infrastructure: [7, 8]

The Anthropic AI Fluency Framework: Highly featured at the event, this framework maps out the “4Ds” (Delegation, Description, etc.) to help educators align prompting and automation choices with formal ISTE Standards. [9, 10]
The GenerationAI Initiative: Led by ISTE+ASCD to run professional learning cohorts, build hands-on module libraries, and prioritize data equity across diverse cultural contexts. [8, 11, 12]