Faculty of Education Welcomes Visit from Google for Education Indonesia
Contributor & Photo by: Virda Lalitya Umam
On September 23, 2025, the Faculty of Education at Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia (UIII) welcomed representatives of Google for Education Indonesia for an engaging discussion focused on enhancing UIII’s educational practices. The visit included representatives from various divisions of Google Indonesia, who brought insights into the latest developments on their educational technologies (edtech). Moderated by resident lecturer Andar Nubowo, PhD, the aim of this meeting is to discuss the optimization of Google for Education features and explore further collaborations at the faculty and university levels.
In the introductory presentation, Kristiyanto, Adoption Lead and Customer Success, revealed that there are approximately 1,000 Google accounts with the UIII domain (uiii.ac.id), comprised of students, lecturers, staff, and administrators—less than half of the Education Fundamentals plan’s designated quota of 2,500. As UIII is already subscribed to the Education Plus plan, users with the UIII domain have access to premium features within an integrated workspace, including comprehensive edtech applications, advanced cybersecurity, and premium artificial intelligence (AI)-driven tools. However, they have yet to be utilized optimally, as many civitates are not aware of them. Additionally, since this subscription has been ongoing since the first cohort in 2021, faculty members were surprised to learn that the Education Plus plan, along with its additional perks, is set to expire within mere months.
To elaborate further on the AI aspect, Sales Program Manager Tiffany Santosa shared recent developments of the AI assistant Gemini and the research tool NotebookLM. Gemini, available as a standalone application and across various Google Workspace applications, including Google Docs, Sheets, and Meet, among others, provides assistance with writing, organizing, analyzing, and data visualization. On the other hand, the NotebookLM app, also powered by Gemini, can instantly process and produce various customizable media, ranging from videos, mind maps, flashcards, to quizzes, sourced directly from uploaded files and selected online sources. This enables educators to create interactive media efficiently, supporting learning and teaching activities. Additionally, considering Google owns the entire AI tech stack, including software, models, and cloud infrastructure, these tools can provide a tailored educational experience for teachers and students. Their seamless integration also enables continuous improvement and development by Google.
Following the presentation, Google representatives conducted a hands-on trial run of NotebookLM for the faculty members. Drawing inspiration from the prior LunchTalk session from lecturer Afifah Muharikah, PhD, Kristiyanto demonstrated NoteBookLM’s capabilities by generating an informative sample video on neurodivergence, complete with narrations, subtitles, and supporting imagery. Despite only relying on online sources with no self-uploaded files, the contents within the generated video were proven to be verifiable, as confirmed by Dr. Muharikah herself. The demonstration continued with another NotebookLM-generated quiz on Mitsuo Nakamura, a Japanese scholar on Islam, per Dr. Nubowo’s request, with lecturers then following suit to craft their own AI-powered media.
The meeting concluded with discussions on potential partnerships between the Faculty of Education and Google Indonesia, particularly for the 5th Annual Conference in 2026. The Google team showed great enthusiasm for this invitation, while also stating interest in organizing another follow-up visit and meeting the then-absent Dean Prof. Nina Nurmila, as well as central figures from the UIII Rectorate. Through this visit, the Faculty of Education is committed to fostering the finest generation of future scholars, with the help of state-of-the-art tech ecosystems and vital multisector collaboration.
