Introducing this Spark
This activity introduces students to the ethical use of AI by having them use Gemini Notebook to transform course materials into personalized study resources and a customized learning dashboard. It addresses the common learning gap of students using AI to generate answers rather than deepen understanding by teaching them how to leverage AI as a responsible study partner that supports comprehension, organization, and active learning.
Learning Outcome
By the end of this lesson, students will ethically use Gemini Notebook to create a personalized AI-powered study dashboard and generate study materials that support their learning, enabling them to identify and leverage technology-based resources that enhance their academic success as transfer students. This aligns with the course objective of identifying personally relevant resources that aid in transfer student success by positioning AI as a responsible, personalized academic support resource that students can continue using throughout their time at FSU.
Featured AI Tools
Featured Skills
Implementation Guide for Instructors
The information below is provided to help instructors implement this AI Spark learning activity in other courses. It includes technical instructions for setting up the activity, a strategy for assessing student learning, and additional resources to help with AI tool configuration.
This AI Spark introduces students to the ethical use of Gemini Notebook as a personalized study companion. In the activity, students select a challenging course topic, upload reliable course materials into Gemini Notebook, and use the platform to generate and refine a variety of AI-powered study tools, including flashcards, study guides, mind maps, infographics, and other learning resources. Students then evaluate and customize at least one AI-generated resource to better meet their learning needs before reflecting on how they will use Gemini Notebook to support future knowledge acquisition and retention. The activity is designed to help students develop AI literacy by using artificial intelligence responsibly to enhance comprehension, organization, and long-term academic success rather than relying on AI to complete their work.
- Canvas Setup: Instructors create a Canvas assignment providing the activity instructions and submission requirements, setting up the assignment to allow students to upload documents in PDF format. Provide the directions as listed.
- Tool Access: Students already have access to Gemini Notebook through their FSU login information. No special AI configuration or custom setup is required, as Gemini Notebook functions through individual student accounts.
- Source Guidelines: Instructors should encourage students to upload only course materials and other reliable sources to ensure that accurate, source-grounded responses are generated. Because students are creating personalized study resources rather than generating graded coursework, instructors should emphasize that AI is intended to support learning, critical thinking, and knowledge retention, not replace independent effort or academic integrity.
Student learning will be evaluated through the submission of a Study Dashboard Portfolio, which demonstrates students' ability to ethically and effectively use Gemini Notebook as a personalized learning resource. The authentic assessment directly aligns with the learning outcome by requiring students to demonstrate proficiency in using an AI tool responsibly to create personalized study resources. The reflection component further assesses students' understanding of Gemini Notebook as a personally relevant academic resource, reinforcing the course objective of identifying and utilizing resources that support transfer student success while emphasizing ethical, intentional, and effective use of artificial intelligence.
Curated Knowledge Sources: Students choose their own topic and upload at least three reliable course sources.
Key Behavioral Constraints: Grounding relies on Gemini Notebook's native source-grounded architecture.
Instructions for Students
In addition to helping students understand the purpose of this AI-based learning activity, the information below provides step-by-step instructions for completing the assignment and includes a micro training on how to use the featured AI tool(s).
In this activity, you will use Gemini Notebook, Google’s AI-powered study tool that works with your own course materials, including notes, PDFs, and web links. Unlike many AI tools, Gemini Notebook is source-grounded, meaning it only generates responses from the documents and resources you upload. It can create short overviews, flashcards, study guides, oral summaries, and more, allowing you the opportunity to use resources to study or test your understanding of a topic. The goal is to use AI ethically as a study partner that supports your learning—not as a shortcut to do the thinking for you.
Step 1. Choose a Topic & Gather Sources: Select a topic from one of your current courses that you want to better understand or that will appear on an upcoming exam. Upload at least three reliable sources (lecture slides, textbook chapters, instructor materials, scholarly articles, or trusted educational websites). Ensure each source meets at least three criteria: written by a qualified expert/organization, supported by evidence/citations, intended to educate rather than persuade, and current/appropriate for the subject.
Step 2. Create Your Notebook:
- Open Gemini Notebook and create a new Notebook.
- Title the Notebook with your chosen topic.
- Upload your three or more reliable sources.
Step 3. Create Your Study Tools: Use the Studio section and the Chat feature of Notebook to generate at least five different study tools (e.g., mind map, infographic, flash cards, study guide, report, slide deck, FAQ, timeline, audio overview). At least one of the five must be a mind map or infographic.
Step 4. Improve Your AI Output: Choose one study tool and revise it by asking Notebook to make changes, such as adding more detail, increasing the difficulty, reorganizing information, or focusing on concepts you need to review. You can revise the tool by entering a new prompt in the chat or editing the original prompt. Remember that effective AI use involves evaluating and refining AI-generated content to create study materials that best support your own learning.
What to Submit (Study Dashboard Portfolio):
Submit a single PDF or Word document in Canvas containing:
- Screenshot 1: Overall dashboard.
- Screenshot 2: Sources list.
- Screenshot 3: Studio section, showing you have used at least five of the study tools.
- Screenshot 4: Completed mind map or infographic.
- Screenshot 5: Modifications made to at least one study tool to demonstrate thoughtful refinement rather than passive acceptance of AI output.
- Summary/Reflection (200 words): Describe how you will use Notebook for knowledge acquisition and retention in the future, as well as your thoughts on AI as a study tool.
What is Gemini Notebook? Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) is an AI study tool from Google that works only from the files you give it. Upload your course materials, then ask questions or generate study aids; every answer is drawn from your sources, with citations. Read more about Gemini Notebook.
- Sign in. Go to notebook.google.com and sign in with your FSU Google account.
- Create a notebook. Click “Create new notebook”, then upload your first source. Click the notebook title at the top to rename it.
- Add sources. In the left Sources panel, click + Add. You can upload PDFs, Google Docs/Slides, paste a website link, or add a YouTube video. Uploaded sources appear in the list with a checkbox – leave them checked so Notebook uses them.
- Know the three panels. Left = Sources (your files). Middle = Chat (ask questions; answers include numbered citations you can click to see the original passage). Right = Studio (one-click study aids).
- Generate a study aid. In Studio, click a tile such as Flashcards, Quiz, Mind Map, Infographic, Report, Slide Deck, or Audio Overview. Generation takes a few seconds to a few minutes; the finished item appears in the Studio list.
- How to play an Audio Overview:
- Locate the Notebook guide: Look at the top-right corner of your screen for the Notebook guide panel. If it isn't visible, click the Notebook guide button in the upper right to open it.
- Find the Audio Overview tile: Inside the Notebook guide panel, locate the section labeled Audio Overview. If one has already been generated, you will see an audio player card displaying a title and playback duration.
- Press Play: Click the circular Play button on the audio card.
- Use playback controls: Once playing, a player bar appears where you can pause, skip backward or forward 15 seconds, adjust volume, or change the playback speed (e.g., 1.25x or 1.5x). You can also click the three-dot menu on the card to download the audio file to your device.
- Customize or revise. Before generating, click the pencil icon on a tile to describe what you want (e.g., "focus on chapters 3-4, harder questions"). To revise something already made, type the change in Chat or regenerate with a new prompt.
- Good to know. Upload only course materials and reliable sources – Notebook is only as accurate as what you give it. Your notebooks save automatically and stay in your account. Take screenshots with Win + Shift + S (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + 4 (Mac).