Chapter 2/Ebook5: Exploring Google Notebook and its effectiveness for Subject Leads & Coordinators
Date/Time: 7th Oct 2025, 8:35 am
This is another interesting post on the wonders of the amazing Google Notebook and how it can benefit subject leads and coordinators who work alongside teachers and heads in schools and classrooms. Had a great opportunity to train a group of subject leads on 4th Oct 2025. The subject leads are responsible for designing curriculum frameworks, lesson plans, scheme of works, syllabus among a lot of other tasks. I thought I could support them by sharing the wonders of the amazing Google Notebook with them.
The session was created in Google Sites and attendance forms, feedback forms and lesson checks were created in Google Forms. The session was delivered online using Google Meet. Around 15 participants attended the 1.5 hour session online. It was a practical session where the participants had the opportunity to explore the various sections and features of the Google Notebook practically. The participants attended the session from their systems and were able to individually explore the Google Notebook. All participants will receive a digital certificate who attended the session and completed all tasks.
The session started with checking prior knowledge of learners regarding the use of Google Notebook. Most of the participants had not used the Google Notebook and it was a new experience for them. Apparently they had no idea about a Google Notebook. I shared the link to the Google Site created for the session with them. We started by sharing the session description and the session objectives. I demonstrated to them how to create a Google Notebook by using the screen share option in Google Meet. Further I discussed the various sections of the Google Notebook with them including the chat section, sources section and the studio section.
I uploaded a PDF of the Science textbook based on SNC and approved by the Punjab textbook board in the Google Notebook. This was uploaded in the sources section. Next I demonstrated to the group how we could create content from the textbook using the chat section. For example we could create lesson plans based on different chapters. We could create lesson summaries of different chapters that can be shared with learners before exams for revision. We could create different kinds of assessments based on the content in the chapters. The subject leads could create curriculum frameworks, schemes of works and lesson plans. And most importantly they could share with the rest of the teachers in all schools. All teachers in schools could be added as collaborators and can access similar lesson plans worth teaching in classrooms. Different subject coordinators could create their own Google Notebooks and share with teachers. It’s a great way to extend knowledge and understanding of subject leads. It is a great opportunity to empower subject leads.
Furthermore, the Google Notebook now has various new features added in the studio section which basically allow for more creativity and differentiated learning opportunities for learners. These include creating flash cards, interactive quizzes, audio over views, video over views, creating mind maps and creating reports. I really liked the reports feature, now they have different forms of reports added in the reports section. These include briefing guide, blog, study guide, curricular framework, educational policy paper, concept explainer and topic overview. Even with the flash cards you could create differentiated flash cards with varied levels of difficulty. Imagine as a teacher or even as a subject lead creating flash cards for different learners in your classrooms. It gets very difficult. With flash cards in Google Notebook you could create easy, medium and difficult flash cards. You could even select the number of questions.
The same is applied for creating interactive quizzes. You can create quizzes with varied levels of difficulty which otherwise is a very difficult task. Furthermore, you get immediate feedback on your responses in the quiz. The quiz also provides hints to solve a problem. The learner can attempt the quiz several times. The teacher can assign these to learners via a link. These quizzes can be used in class to summarise the key points in the lesson. These can be shared using a multimedia projector or assigned to learners as homework. These quizzes can also be used to check the learners prior knowledge about a topic.
I was awe-inspired by the participants' active and keen participation in the session. They were all exploring the different features of the Google Notebook. They were able to upload the PDF textbooks in Google Notebook and explore different features. Participants were able to create content in Google Notebooks. Some participants shared the lesson plans, quizzes, and flash cards they were able to create using the Google Notebook. They found the Google Notebook very useful. It could help them in creating better quality content for their subjects. It can empower them in ways they cannot imagine.
Overall it was a very interactive session and the reason was active participation of the subject leads. I wanted to demonstrate two things to them: one the usefulness of the Google Notebook for their subjects and second how to communicate and involve participants actively in online training sessions. I am a firm believer of online training sessions and I believe online training has a very strong potential for teachers and educators in Pakistan. Planning another session for matric school teachers and teachers who teach online. I am sure they would be awe-inspired by the potential of the Google Notebook and how it can actually transform teaching and learning in the classrooms.
Happy Reading till my next post soon InnshaaAllah.
Regards and prayers
Sheeba Ajmal
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