Helping students learn is a core part of a teacher’s daily life. Many students, though, struggle to capture information accurately in class, organise it in a meaningful way or build the assurance needed to communicate their ideas clearly. Today’s Appvent entry explores a platform designed to strengthen these core learning skills through a structured, evidence-informed approach.
AI Tool of the Day: Genio
Genio, formerly known as Glean, provides a suite of tools that help students take effective notes, review content purposefully and rehearse presentations in a supportive environment. Genio Notes guides learners through a clear, repeatable process for capturing and transforming lesson content. Genio Present focuses on building communication confidence through structured rehearsal, allowing students to practise without the pressure of an immediate audience. Together, these tools create an ecosystem that strengthens the skills learners need to study, remember and present with confidence.
Educational Impact
Genio Notes is designed around what we know about effective learning. Good note-taking is not about writing quickly; it is about reducing cognitive load so students can attend to the teaching while still capturing the ideas they will need later. Genio supports this by allowing students to record lesson audio, mark key moments with time-stamped notes and import teacher slides. This creates a single, organised space that encourages selective attention rather than frantic transcription.
The structured outline generated by the AI acts as a scaffold to help students identify the main concepts and how they fit together. Because the outline links back to the audio, students revisit the original explanation, strengthening encoding and supporting active review. This is especially valuable in STEM subjects where content builds over time. The equation editor enables accurate capture of formulas, and the scribble feature supports quick diagrams without interrupting the flow of the lesson. These features reduce the complexity of capture while maintaining the cognitive effort needed for understanding.
Genio Present supports another essential skill: the confidence to communicate clearly. Presentation anxiety is common, particularly when students are asked to perform without time to rehearse or reflect. Genio provides a structured space to practise, record attempts and track progress over time. Students can rehearse privately, review their recordings and build confidence gradually before receiving feedback from tutors or peers. This slow release of responsibility aligns well with how we help students develop assured communication skills.
The Confident Notetakers Masterclass complements these tools by offering a simple prepare–capture–transform model to help with all of this, which gives students a broader understanding of how strong study habits support learning, without being tied to a specific platform.
Practical Application
In everyday use, Genio Notes becomes a central point for capturing and reviewing learning. Students start by recording the lesson, adding concise time-stamped notes and importing any slides shared by the teacher. The outline and transcript generated afterwards support quick navigation and help learners revisit key ideas without becoming overwhelmed. Event folders give structure to units of work, deadlines or revision periods, promoting better organisation and time management.
For STEM subjects, the combination of the equation editor and scribble tools allows students to capture technical explanations accurately. Instead of rushing to write every formula or diagram, they can listen attentively and then add the detail with precision afterwards. This supports both understanding and retention.
With Genio Present, students prepare in a more measured way. They can rehearse at their own pace, refine their delivery and reflect on their progress without the pressure of an immediate audience. Tutors can provide asynchronous feedback, making the process more accessible and less intimidating.
The Masterclass gives students a clear starting point, helping them understand why structured capture and active transformation make such a difference to long-term learning.
Considerations and Tips
The quality of any generated outline or scaffold improves when students build a routine around their note-taking. Encouraging them to use collections consistently creates a clear structure for review. When revisiting content, toggling between the audio, outline and transcript helps strengthen understanding rather than relying on one view alone.
For STEM lessons, using the equation editor alongside the scribble feature allows students to capture formulas and diagrams accurately without breaking concentration. In Genio Present, regular rehearsal builds confidence more effectively than a single practice attempt, and reviewing recordings over time helps students recognise genuine progress.
The Confident Notetakers Masterclass can be introduced at the start of a course to support students who are still developing effective study habits, giving them a model they can apply across subjects.
Conclusion
Genio offers a thoughtful, structured approach to helping students learn more effectively. By reducing the cognitive load of capturing information, encouraging purposeful review and providing space to rehearse presentations with confidence, it supports core skills that sit at the heart of successful learning. Whether students are navigating complex classroom content or preparing to share their ideas more clearly, Genio provides tools that promote active engagement and greater independence.
You can learn more about Genio and how it can help you and your learners by visiting their website here.
Join me tomorrow for Day 18 of the Appvent Calendar as we continue to explore tools that support meaningful, human-centred learning.
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