Today is the start of the ISTE conference in Denver. I’m #NotAtISTE, but I hope everyone in attendance has a great time!

Google uses the ISTE conference to announce product updates for the upcoming school year. This year there are quite a few interesting updates worth discussing.

Check out the graphic below for a quick summary. I’ve also included a few of my personal thoughts and comments below the graphic.

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Summer updates from the 2024 ISTE Conference

Additional thoughts and resources

Lots of $ updates – There will undoubtedly be complaints about the large number of paid updates on this list. When you are used to free, any cost is high, however the reality is that Workspace is a pretty good deal. You can estimate your cost here

​Related episode: Google Workspace upgrades…worth the price?

AI for teens? – there are lots of AI updates on this list, but the biggest one (IMO) is making Gemini available for teen-aged students (13+) at no additional cost. Schools will be able to disable Gemini access through the Admin Console.

As previously announced, using Gemini through your school’s Google Workspace account provides additional data security and privacy guarantees that you don’t get with a personal Gmail account. Listen to my recent interview with Vivek Chachcha, product manager for AI tools within Google Workspace, to learn more.

I am also intrigued about Gemini being integrated into Google Classroom. This feature is still under development. Your school can sign up to pilot this new feature here.

Check out Read Along – Originally launched in India, Google has been working on Read Along since 2019. The app works on Android and Chromebooks and features speech detection to support young readers. The integration of Read Along into Google Classroom gives early elementary teachers some powerful new tools for improving literacy. This is definitely something to check out!