Getting started

What tools do we have, and what can they do?

  5 minute read  

Outwood staff have access to a growing set of AI tools—as part of your school accounts—that can help with a wide range of tasks. Some are standalone assistants you chat with directly; others are AI features built into tools you already use.

Sign in with your school Google account to ensure your use falls within Outwood’s agreements.

Available AI tools

Gemini app

Google’s Gemini app is a general-purpose AI assistant, similar to ChatGPT or Claude. You chat with Gemini and give it instructions (called prompts) to help with a wide range of tasks—from drafting emails to generating images. You can also share files directly from Google Drive.

Some quick wins to try:

  • Upload a complex text: “Create a glossary of key terms from this text.”
  • Upload pupil answers and a mark scheme: “Based on the mark scheme, what are the common misconceptions in these answers?”

See the Gemini app pages for more information.

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Gemini in Google Classroom

Google Classroom has Gemini AI tools built in, with a range of features designed specifically for educators:

  • Generate quizzes (and import them directly into Forms)
  • Generate and outline presentations
  • Develop lesson and unit plans
  • Re-level text to a different reading age

Explore the full range of tools in the Gemini tab in Google Classroom.

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Gemini Notebook

Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) is a research and learning tool that works specifically with sources you provide: documents, websites, slides, and more. Responses are drawn from and referenced against those sources, rather than the AI’s general knowledge.

You can ask questions, add notes, and generate:

  • Study guides and reports
  • Audio and video overviews (including a podcast about your topic)
  • Interactive flashcards and quizzes
  • Infographics and slide decks

Each notebook—containing your sources, notes, and generated content—becomes a self-contained resource. You can share your notebooks, including with pupils through Google Classroom.

See the Gemini Notebook page for more information.

StaffPupilsNotes
✅⚠️Years 10–13: most AI features. Year 9 and below: no access.

Canva’s Magic Studio

Canva has a suite of easy-to-use AI tools built into its design platform. Whether you’re creating a presentation, poster, or worksheet, Magic Studio can help with:

  • Editing and enhancing photos, including background removal
  • Generating new images from a text description
  • Creating animations and video content
  • Rewriting or summarising text within your design

Your school account includes Canva Pro features and Magic Studio access, though a small number of advanced AI features are unavailable.

See Canva’s page about Magic Studio for the full feature list.

StaffPupilsNotes
✅⚠️Pupils have limited AI features only.

Google Vids

Vids is Google’s AI-powered video creation and editing tool. It makes producing professional-looking video content straightforward, even without video editing experience.

  • Generate high-quality video clips and images, or upload your own
  • Generate AI voiceovers, or record your own voice
  • Record directly into Vids from your camera, microphone, or screen
  • Add text overlays, transitions, and more

Check out the ‘Vids on Vids’ tutorial series to get started quickly.

StaffPupilsNotes
✅⚠️Pupils have limited AI features only.

Workspace Studio

Workspace Studio is Google’s tool for automating routine tasks across your Google apps, without any coding. You build automated workflows called flows. Each flow starts when something happens, such as receiving a new email or a form response, or at a set time of day. It then runs a series of steps: actions in Gmail, Drive, Sheets, Chat, and more, or AI steps that summarise, draft, or sort information with Gemini.

Some flows to try:

  • Get a daily summary of your unread emails in Google Chat
  • Get a Chat notification whenever someone submits a Google Form
  • Save email attachments to a Drive folder automatically
  • Draft a personalised email for every name in a Google Sheet

To build a flow, describe what you want to automate and Gemini builds it for you. You can also start from one of the ready-made templates.

See Google’s Workspace Studio training and help page for more information.

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Adobe Firefly

Adobe Firefly is Adobe’s AI platform for creating and editing images, video, and audio. It’s a good choice when you need more control over visual content than general AI tools provide.

  • Generate images from a text description, with fine-grained style controls
  • Edit existing images: swap backgrounds, adjust lighting, extend the frame
  • Browse the gallery to see examples alongside the prompts that created them
  • Export directly to Adobe Express for further editing
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oCloud

Outwood’s own oCloud includes a Toolbox of AI-powered tools built for our specific needs:

  • A generator for KS2 SATs reading paper questions
  • A text re-leveller and adapter for adjusting reading materials

Go to the Toolbox area (under Systems and Tools).

Tip

Have a suggestion for a tool you’d find useful in oCloud? Put it on the ideas board!

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Using other AI tools

Many other good AI tools are available, but extra care applies when using them. Most AI services involve sending your data to external servers, and many “free” tools retain what you share and may review and use it for further training.

Warning

Pay careful attention to:

  • messages about not entering confidential information
  • any terms and conditions you’re asked to agree to

Just because a tool is made by the same company as an approved tool, that doesn’t mean it’s covered by Outwood’s agreements. Google’s experimental “Labs” tools, for example, are not.

Services not covered by Outwood’s agreements are unsuitable for pupil work and for anything sensitive, such as personal information or confidential data.

If you have questions about a new tool or service, contact the IT helpdesk.