NotebookLM - AI Teaching Tool

NotebookLM is an AI-powered research and writing assistant developed by Google that helps students and educators organize, analyze, and generate insights from their own sources. Whether it’s lecture notes, scholarly articles, PDFs, or study guides, users can upload documents and engage in a conversation with the AI to ask questions, summarize sections, or explore key themes—all within a single interface. For faculty in higher ed, NotebookLM offers a streamlined way to prepare course materials, create research overviews, or guide students in critical reading. It’s designed to support deeper learning and help users make meaningful connections between complex sources.

How To Use It

  1. Organize Course Materials
    Upload lecture slides, readings, syllabi, and handouts to create a centralized, searchable AI-powered notebook that supports class planning and delivery.

  2. Generate Summaries and Overviews
    Use AI to generate concise summaries of lengthy academic articles or reports—great for preparing readings for students or building discussion guides.

  3. Create Guided Study Materials
    Automatically generate FAQs, study questions, or key takeaways from assigned readings, helping students focus on the most important concepts.

  4. Support Student Research
    Encourage students to upload their research sources and use NotebookLM to explore patterns, ask questions, or test their understanding of material.

  5. Draft Lecture Notes or Outlines
    Quickly build lecture outlines or slide content based on uploaded academic papers, prior lecture notes, or textbook chapters.

  6. Facilitate Literature Reviews
    Speed up the early stages of a literature review by asking NotebookLM to identify themes or summarize insights from a group of related articles.

  7. Annotate and Reflect
    Use the chat function to explore ideas, ask for clarifications, or brainstorm arguments—all based on your own content and notes.

  8. Collaborative Teaching Prep
    Share notebooks with colleagues or teaching assistants to collaboratively develop assignments, rubrics, or course frameworks.

Resources and Articles

How Faculty Are Using It