Many of us can recall when a teacher's belief in us ignited our confidence, setting us on a path towards something unexpected. This past year, teachers everywhere have continued to show their incredible passion for their students — even amid the ongoing global teacher shortage. As they continue to positively impact their students, we’ve seen rising Google search trends about the teaching profession, including those that show teachers’ evolving priorities and needs to not only support their students, but also one another.

As a testament to teachers’ dedication for learning and education, the world – more than ever – also searched for ways to come together and support teachers.

What Google is doing to support teachers

Whether it’s offering hands-on training to enhance digital equity in the classroom, supporting organizations developing educator and student support resources, or providing self-guided courses to help teachers save time, here are some ways we’ve been sharing our support for teachers everywhere.

• Training, workshops and resources to help safely and effectively use and teach AI in classrooms. Google.org recently announced a commitment to provide more than $12 million by the end of 2024 to organizations across the world that are innovating on integrating computing and AI into classrooms. These grantees are integrating computing and AI literacy into classrooms and critical educator resources.
• Over $25 million in funding to help more than 500,000 educators and students across the U.S. develop AI skills. Part of the AI Opportunity Fund, the funding is supporting organizations like International Society for Technology in Education, aiEDU and other education organizations with developing AI learning experiences, communities, and leadership roles.
• Our Generative AI for Educators course, helping teachers use generative AI tools to save time at no cost, is now available in Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese. Developed by experts at Google in collaboration with MIT RAISE (Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education), educators can gain hands-on, practical experience and earn a certificate when they complete the course.
• Funding resources and an expert-curated curriculum that supports educator and teen mental health. Google.org recently announced a $10 million Teen Mental Health Initiative alongside mental health advocate Selena Gomez, to help over 1 million U.S. high school students and 10,000 teachers build strong mental health habits. The initiative shares nearly a dozen educator modules created by mental health experts (Child Mind Institute, The Jed Foundation, The Steve Fund) found on DonorsChoose, and $500 of immediate funding for any project that advances mental health in a high school classroom.

We’ll continue to search for new ways to empower teachers to better connect with their students with helpful technology. Thank you to teachers everywhere for doing everything it takes to positively impact the lives of their students — you can celebrate World Teachers’ Day further by joining a Google teacher community in your area.