Google offers schools AI-boosted search or none at all
Schools may feel 'beholden to' tech giant's decisions since its products are entrenched: researcher
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products → offer → decisions
As Google weaves artificial intelligence more deeply throughout its applications, the tech giant says school board leaders can choose to flip AI tools on — or off — for elementary and secondary students using their classroom apps.
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leaders → weave → apps
But to keep using Google's ubiquitous search engine within that school-tech ecosystem, an AI-boosted version will soon be the only option.
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version → keep → ecosystem
For kids today, the company name itself is synonymous for researching online, so coupled with how deeply its products are embedded in education systems, this week's announcement quickly set off alarm bells — especially among those questioning putting AI tools at students' fingertips.
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announcement → research → fingertips
Yet others see the move as an impetus for schools to prioritize AI literacy and teaching responsible usage now, from the earliest grades onward.
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schools → see → grades
Entrenched in education systems
Google and Microsoft are the dominant tech players in Canadian schools, says education technology researcher Beyhan Farhadi, with their apps entrenched into the student experience.
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apps → say → experience
In the case of the former, for example, teachers might post and mark schoolwork in Google Classroom.
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teachers → post → Classroom
That, in turn, connects with their students' Gmail accounts, apps like Google Docs or Slides where kids create assignments and a version of Google's web browser for searching information, said Farhadi, an assistant professor of educational policy and equity at the University of Toronto.
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Farhadi → connect → Toronto
Many students also work within this ecosystem on school-issued Chromebooks, the pared-down laptops running Google's operating system and apps.
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students → work → system
Given that integration, Farhadi is concerned about Google making "pedagogical decisions that often school boards are beholden to, because they have already invested so much money into the technology.
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they → give → technology
"
Considering how central online research is for student learning today and Google having the most popular search engine, "I don't think you can understate how big of a thing it would be to suddenly have Google search just not be available," said Adam Dubé, an associate professor of learning sciences at McGill University in Montreal.
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Dubé → consider → Montreal
Google revealed updates to its offering to schools on Tuesday, including a new chatbot feature that coaches students to learn through back-and-forth exchanges that was made available immediately inside Google Classroom
That "guided learning" capability will also be blended into Google Search for students "in the coming months," Chris Phillips, Google's vice-president and general manager for education, wrote in a blog post, following a pilot in some U.S. schools this month.
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Phillips → reveal → schools
The company offered more details in a social media post later Tuesday in response to ripples of negative reaction, saying the changes stem from educator feedback in recent months.
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changes → offer → months
"If a school is not comfortable with that and simply wants AI off, then they have the choice to not have search on at all," Phillips told education outlet Chalkbeat.
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Phillips → want → Chalkbeat
A Google statement on X this week offered more details about the changes, saying they were informed by recent feedback from educators.
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they → offer → educators
Alternatives and workarounds
Non-profit group Common Sense Media deemed Google Search's AI Overview and AI Mode as an "unacceptable risk" for kids and teens this summer, and some may be considering AI-blocking browser extensions or rival search engines to keep a more traditional web search for students
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some → deem → students
, says education policy consultant Tom D'Amico.
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D'Amico → say → ?
But going that route doesn't solve ongoing issues such as youngsters accepting AI-fuelled search summaries without checking sources or using chatbots for schoolwork instead of doing it themselves, he added.
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he → go → it
"As soon as that student leaves school and they go home ... they have access" to AI, perhaps through a Google or ChatGPT search on a non-school device, said D'Amico, a former director of education at the Ottawa Catholic School Board who now consults school leaders on AI policy.
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who → leave → policy
Are librarians the key for teaching AI literacy?
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librarians → teach → literacy
In the age of AI, how do we teach young people to think critically?
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we → teach → people
Instead, D'Amico believes now is the time for schools to prioritize teaching students AI literacy and responsible use of the technology across subjects and from the earliest grades.
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schools → believe → grades
"Students are going to go for the easy route," he said from Ottawa.
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he → go → Ottawa
"We need our teachers to teach them why that's not the right path.
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that → need → them
Pushback on inevitability
That Google is positioning its search engine "as synonymous with artificial intelligence ... saying if you use Google, you're using AI" comes at a time of major debate about and emerging evidence suggesting AI usage leaves students worse off, said Dubé.
Art teacher Joyce Hatzidakis uses the AI tool Google Gemini in her high school classroom on Jan. 22 in Riverside, Calif.
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Hatzidakis → position → Riverside
Polls have also indicated Canadians have "a negative or cautious stance towards AI and yet we're seeing it pushed ... and we're being told that it's inevitable," he added.
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he → indicate → AI
Farhadi feels schools are right to consider gradually exposing kids to AI tools, but she also thinks students don't have to be using them to learn about them.
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students → feel → them
"Just because students are using something outside of the classroom all the time doesn't mean that the classroom [can't] be a space of exception," where young people can practise thinking and communicating without being constantly shaped or influenced by technology, she said.
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she → use → technology
The Aporia
