Written by Dr Craig Hansen, New Zealand’s leading AI educator, digital specialist, and founder of the Summit Institute.
More than 1,000 schools across New Zealand trust Craig and the Summit Institute—a New Zealand private training provider—to navigate safe and responsible AI in schools, professional development, and strategic roadmaps. As we enter the next phase of this global shift, we must address the ultimate paradigm: “AI is the biggest equity move we can make in our generation.”
🎨 Using Gemini & NotebookLM to Create Culturally Responsive Visual Design Styles for Your School Community- please Like, Subscribe, and Share this video with other school principals, teachers, and educational leaders across New Zealand!
Use NotebookLM https://notebooklm.google.com/
How can we make school communications more inclusive, engaging, and culturally responsive? In this video, Dr Craig demonstrates a game-changing AI workflow using Google Gemini and NotebookLM to analyze distinct design styles and seamlessly weave them into educational resources like infographics and slide decks.
Discover how to leverage AI to cultivate a true sense of belonging for your whānau and school community—whether you are creating materials reflecting Fijian Indian, Māori, Samoan, or even Minecraft themes!
🕒 Key Takeaways & Timestamps
00:00 – The Science of Learning & Belonging: Why culturally connected design matters for student achievement.
01:08 – What is RAG? An easy explanation of Retrieval-Augmented Generation and why it prevents AI hallucinations.
01:46 – Visual Style Analysis: Using Gemini to extract design aesthetics, color palettes, and motifs from an image.
02:55 – Setting Up NotebookLM: How to build a custom notebook using your own trusted research articles or school documents.
04:43 – Creating Custom Infographics: Generating square, platform-friendly bilingual summaries (English/Fijian) formatted in New Zealand English.
07:26 – Managing Visual Prompt Guides: How to reuse master prompts to keep your slide decks, documents, and assets cohesive.
11:46 – High-Contrast & Inclusive Designs: Adapting visual prompts to better support visually impaired students.
📥 Resources & Links Mentioned in This Video
🏫 Learn More About Summit Institute: Discover our NZQA-approved professional learning development (PLD) and New Zealand’s only NZQA-approved micro-credentials for educators utilising AI workflow. 🔗 www.summitinstitute.ac.nz
📊 Get My Visual Prompting Guide Template: Access the exact prompt framework used in this video to build your own cultural or theme-based styles. 🔗 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G8maFI8t5UGLKcuIXysQIHR-Lhszp2iecvezd55hJtY/edit?usp=sharing
📄 Read the Science of Learning Research Paper: Dive into Dr Craig’s analysis of the refreshed New Zealand curriculum. 🔗 https://www.academia.edu/167212258/The_Science_of_Learning_and_the_Refreshed_New_Zealand_Curriculum_An_Analysis_of_the_Years_0_10_Science_Learning_Area
💬 Connect & Support
“AI is the biggest equity move we can make in our generation.” Let’s make learning more personalized, differentiated, and inclusive together!
If you found this tutorial helpful, please Like, Subscribe, and Share this video with other school principals, teachers, and educational leaders across New Zealand!
#EdTechNZ #NotebookLM #GoogleGemini #ScienceOfLearning #CulturallyResponsive #NZEducation #SummitInstitute #TeacherWorkflow
To avoid systemic irrelevance, the first action for school boards and intermediate, secondary, and tertiary principals is to remove blanket bans. Banning a tool that is now ubiquitous only hides student usage while depriving them of prompt literacy and critical thinking. Craig argues that we must position AI as an assistant, not a replacement. Re-framing these environments allows Kiwi teachers and school leaders to navigate assessment workloads, lesson planning, and bicultural alignment efficiently, without compromising academic rigor.
💬 What New Zealand Educators Are Saying:
“AI has significantly improved my workflow by helping me plan lessons quickly, provide targeted feedback using e-asTTle rubrics, and create culturally responsive content. It saves time, allowing me to focus on active student interaction.”
— Primary School Digital Tech Lead, Auckland
Responsible AI Governance & Implementation
Developing a robust school AI policy that is safe, responsible, and culturally responsive is the cornerstone of strategy. Leaders in Aotearoa New Zealand must align school policy to support digital fluency, ensure data privacy, and protect critical assessment integrity under the NCEA. By integrating localized legislation directly into our curriculum and Te Mātaiaho framework maps, schools can build an environment that fosters innovative, self-directed learning.
For deep, step-by-step guidance, explore our complete list of educational strategies and workshops on our official YouTube Channel Masterclass.
