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Use Google NotebookLM for teaching

NotebookLM is a powerful knowledge assistant that provides content engagement and analysis using Artificial Intelligence (AI). It is part of the Google Gemini Education Plus suite of tools that Monash staff and students (over the age 18) can now opt in to gain access.

NotebookLM supports teaching, learning, research, and administrative work by allowing you to curate a collection of multimedia sources. With the collection you can ask questions to pinpoint specific information and discover themes and relationships within your information, as well as quickly summarise content and assist with note-taking.
You can also create a range of elements to further engage with select content in the knowledge bank including mind maps, interactive podcasts, quizzes, flashcards, slides and infographics. Furthermore, you can share Notebooks with others to learn and work together.
NotebookLM allows you to collect sources in a Monash enterprise system with data protection.
Chats with NotebookLM are based primarily on your collection of content and footnotes bring you directly to the places within the content that the AI assistant is drawing from to formulate its responses. This linking provides valuable opportunities to check the assumptions by referring directly to the source and to gain confidence in where the AI is drawing its information and assumptions from.

Access Google NotebookLM

Getting started with NotebookLM

A useful place to start with NotebookLM is to create a unit-specific notebook for each unit you teach. This gives you one organised space where you can gather the materials that shape the student learning experience and use AI to help you review, connect, and work with those resources more efficiently. You might include the unit guidance resources, learning outcomes, weekly topics, assessment instructions and rubrics, lecture slides, key readings, Moodle content, exemplars, policy or accreditation requirements, and notes from previous teaching iterations.

At this early stage, it may also be helpful to share the notebook with other members of the teaching team so you can experiment together and explore what the tool can do before applying it more broadly. This can help build confidence, establish shared expectations, and identify useful ways NotebookLM might support teaching preparation, resource development, and discussion within the unit team.

Deciding how you will use your notebook

Once your unit notebook is set up, the next step is to decide how you want to use it. For example, it may function as a private AI-supported workspace for your own planning and preparation, a shared resource for colleagues in the teaching team, or the basis for a version adapted for students. Being clear about the purpose and audience of the notebook from the outset will help you make better decisions about what to include and how to organise it.

If you plan to use NotebookLM with students, it is often helpful to create a separate copy of the notebook that includes only student-facing materials. This allows you to remove staff notes, draft content, internal reflections, or planning documents that are intended only for the teaching team. Clear naming is especially important if you create more than one version, so that staff and student notebooks are easy to distinguish.

Ways to use NotebookLM in unit design

NotebookLM can support a range of unit design and teaching preparation activities. A useful place to begin is with the materials you already use in your unit, such as readings, lecture slides, websites, videos, lecture notes, and other teaching resources. Once these are added, NotebookLM can help you review, organise, and work with those materials in more efficient and flexible ways.

NotebookLM can help you engage with complex learning materials more efficiently. For example, it can help you identify key concepts, extract supporting evidence, highlight important terminology, and make connections across multiple sources. This can be useful when reviewing content yourself or when preparing to introduce, explain, or scaffold difficult material for students.
To deepen this process, it is recommended to configure the NotebookLM chat settings to act as a learning guide. In this mode, the tool shifts towards a more Socratic approach, prompting you with guiding questions, encouraging reflection, and helping you unpack ideas rather than simply providing answers. This supports deeper understanding, mirrors effective teaching practice, where structured dialogue and feedback are used to strengthen learning design and outcomes.
NotebookLM can also be used to support planning and preparation for teaching. For example, you might use it to generate discussion prompts, suggest explanations for difficult concepts, identify common misconceptions, or link ideas in your materials to professional practice and authentic contexts.
It may also help you draft or refine teaching resources based on the materials you have uploaded. This could include lecture slides, summary resources, podcasts, or in-class learning activities. Used carefully, NotebookLM can help reduce some of the time involved in preparing teaching materials while still allowing you to apply your own judgement, disciplinary knowledge, and understanding of your students.
As you become more familiar with the tool, NotebookLM can also support more intentional approaches to inclusive and engaging teaching. For example, you might use it to help explain concepts for students with different levels of prior knowledge, generate examples relevant to diverse cultural or professional contexts, or suggest active learning tasks for tutorials, workshops, or online classes.
You can further strengthen this by building a curated knowledge base in NotebookLM that includes resources on inclusivity, engagement, and effective teaching practices (e.g., Teach HQ materials, unit resources, and institutional guides). You can also include Monash assessment policy documents and assessment design guides to ensure any outputs align with university requirements and expectations. With this foundation, NotebookLM can begin to respond in ways that reflect Monash context, data, and guidance, making its outputs more relevant, consistent, and practical for your teaching.
For example, when preparing an assessment or activity, you might upload unit-specific materials such as lecture notes, slides, recordings, and any external resources provided to students. NotebookLM can then draw on these sources to generate more holistic, aligned questions that reflect the unit's full learning experience while also being informed by institutional policy and sound assessment design principles.
NotebookLM is most useful when it supports your thinking rather than replaces it. It can assist with reviewing sources, organising ideas, and generating possibilities, but your role as educator remains central in selecting, adapting, and refining what is most appropriate for your unit and your students.

Example prompts

As an educator teaching [cohort level, e.g., final-year undergraduate students] in [discipline/unit], using the provided materials, what are the three key takeaways I should highlight when teaching [topic/content], ensuring they align with the intended learning outcomes and level of complexity?
Suggest five examples I can use to explain [topic/content] to [cohort level, e.g., first-year students] with [level of prior knowledge, e.g., no background], ensuring the examples reflect diverse cultural or professional contexts.
What are some common misconceptions students might have about [topic/content] in [discipline/unit], and what are effective ways to address them in a [teaching format, e.g., lecture/tutorial/online setting]?
Suggest how I can link the content of [these materials/resources] to real-world professional practice in [discipline/industry].
Recommend three active learning activities for group discussion based on [topic/content or uploaded materials], suitable for a [class format, e.g., tutorial/workshop/online session] with [class size].
As an educator teaching [cohort level, e.g., final-year undergraduate students] with [number] students in a [delivery mode, e.g., online/blended/face-to-face] [discipline/unit], suggest three evidence-based strategies I can use to promote effective teamwork, ensuring they are scalable and appropriate for this learning environment.

- Upload relevant, high-quality unit materials alongside key Monash resources (e.g., assessment policies and design guides) to ensure outputs are aligned with your teaching context and institutional expectations.
- Make use of the range of source types NotebookLM accepts, including PDFs, websites, videos, audio, pasted text, and Google Docs.
- Start with clear, specific prompts and refine your questions as your thinking develops.
- Use NotebookLM to summarise, compare, connect, and organise ideas across your sources.
- Treat outputs as suggestions to review and adapt, not as finished teaching materials.
- Check citations and source links so you can see how responses are grounded in the materials provided.
- Review all AI-generated outputs for accuracy, clarity, bias, and appropriateness before using them in teaching or sharing them with students.
- Be aware that some outputs, such as quizzes, flashcards, or slide decks, may not be easily editable.
- Be transparent about your use of AI and be prepared to explain how NotebookLM has supported your practice.

Monash use cases

The examples below demonstrate how NotebookLM was used in practical Monash teaching and learning contexts, with real unit materials and workflows. These examples are designed to help you see how the tool can support common tasks such as unit design, content revision, and student learning support, while aligning with broader priorities around effective, inclusive, and evidence-informed teaching practice.

Click the arrows to explore more examples

Using NotebookLM as a reading tutor for academic literature

Associate Professor Beatrice Trefalt used NotebookLM to help students from a wide range of disciplines engage with complex required academic readings, without becoming overwhelmed.

Student orientation and study support using NotebookLM

Brendan Boniface used NotebookLM to create an intentionally designed learning repository to help students engage with unit materials and gain confidence early in the semester.

Redesigning a unit with existing teaching materials with NotebookLM

Dr Amber McLeod used NotebookLM to plan and redesign a future semester unit by drawing on existing teaching resources including previous slides, readings and lectures.

Note-taking as a knowledge-building practice with NotebookLM

Associate Professor Ari Seligmann demonstrates how NotebookLM can be used as a digital support for structured reading and note-taking, drawing on the platform's original note-card logic.

Using NotebookLM as a self-testing study companion

Cameron Pettiona demonstrated NotebookLM's Learning Guide feature as a study aid that can scaffold learners through a body of material rather than simply providing direct answers to questions.

Note

Due to the rapid pace of technological change, these use cases are intended to inspire ideas rather than be followed step-by-step, as features may have evolved or been enhanced since they were developed.

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