The age of artificial intelligence has arrived, and it’s making a significant impact on higher education. Research indicates that between 86% and 92% of students nationwide use this technology in their studies. Meanwhile, more professors are discovering its potential, including those at the University of Houston.
Thanks to UH’s Education Innovation and Technology (EIT), the UH community has expanded access to two of AI’s most robust platforms. Faculty, staff, and students now have licensed access to Gemini for Education and NotebookLM.
EIT secured licenses for these tools to support productivity in teaching and research. While many AI tools are accessible via the web, Gemini for Education provides UH faculty with the confidence that their work remains data-protected.
“The primary benefit of UH acquiring the license for Gemini for Education is data
protection,” said Jeff Morgan, Associate Provost for Education Innovation and Technology.
“The data submitted through the licenses we have acquired is protected and will not
be used by Google for training purposes.”
Morgan, who is also a mathematics professor, speaks from experience regarding how
Gemini supports faculty efforts. He regularly uses it for his mathematics courses
and finds it highly effective for preparing student materials.
“It provides tremendous time savings,” Morgan said. “A prime example occurred when I was creating review material for an exam. I told Gemini the five topics we covered and asked it to create a 50-question multiple-choice review set—with 10 questions from each area—along with a complete solution set.”
While Morgan’s background is in STEM, he noted that these tools are applicable across all disciplines. He also highlighted NotebookLM as a game-changer for faculty. The platform allows professors to curate course materials—such as notes, videos, and multimedia—into an AI source-grounded chat where the AI becomes an expert on that specific course’s content. It can even generate AI podcasts and study guides using uploaded content.
“NotebookLM represents a significant advancement in how users manage and interact with information,” Morgan said. “Its ability to intelligently process and summarize content, answer questions, and facilitate collaboration makes it an invaluable tool for students, researchers, and professionals alike.”
How to Access
Faculty, staff, and students can access both Gemini for Education and NotebookLM through
AccessUH via the Google Workspace app.
UH’s licensing of these tools complements other campus initiatives, including annual AI conferences and a growing Microsoft Teams group. For more resources and training materials, visit uh.edu/ai.
“All of these efforts send a clear message that we want our faculty, staff, and students to have access to state-of-the-art AI tools,” Morgan said. “These tools provide the UH community with data protection while assisting them with content creation and learning tools that streamline nearly any aspect of their professional or educational journey.”