Knowledge Assistant
What do we know?
Makes trusted information easier to find, understand, and use. Examples include policies, standards, procedures, finance guidance, federal resources, and other approved documents.
A growing collection of interactive knowledge
Knowledge Center
K12 Focus is building a growing collection of interactive AI Assistants that make useful knowledge easier to find, understand, and use. These Assistants are built from trusted public resources, professional experience, books, presentations, meetings, and other valuable sources.
Rather than searching through dozens of websites, documents, recordings, or folders, you can ask questions in plain language and review the source citations included with each answer.
Google account required: You’ll need to sign in with a Google account to use these assistants. Some school-managed Google accounts may restrict access to externally shared Gemini or NotebookLM assistants. If you have trouble opening one, try a personal Google account.
Three Types of AI Assistants
K12 Focus groups AI Assistants by the job they are designed to do. This makes it easier for school leaders to think beyond generic “chatbots” and consider how different assistants can support an organization.
Experience Assistant
What have we learned?
Preserves practical wisdom, stories, lessons learned, decision history, and knowledge that often exists only in people’s experience.
Coach Assistant
What should we do next?
Works interactively with the user to think through a situation, prioritize what matters, consider options, and identify realistic next steps.
Knowledge Assistants
What do we know? These assistants organize trusted public information so users can ask questions in plain language and review the underlying sources.
New · Video-Enabled Knowledge Assistant
September 11, 2001: Video Knowledge Assistant
Explore a curated collection of long-form documentaries and video sources about the September 11, 2001 attacks, the events surrounding that day, and their aftermath.
▶ VIDEO ENABLED: Ask · Learn · Watch the Original Source
Ask about 9/11 — then jump directly to the original documentary.
Ask a question in plain language, explore the answer, and then say something like “Show me the video where that is explained.” The Assistant can take you directly to the relevant moment in the original YouTube source.
Try it: Ask “What happened on the morning of September 11, 2001?” Then follow with “Show me the video where that is explained.”
Best experience: Use NotebookLM in a web browser. Timestamped video links may not open correctly inside the NotebookLM mobile app.
Important: This is an independent learning demonstration built from publicly available documentary and video sources. Because this topic involves traumatic historical events, source material may include distressing descriptions or imagery.
New · Video-Enabled Knowledge Assistant
Foundations and Evolutions of Colonial British North America
Explore a curated collection of U.S. history video sources covering European colonization, the British colonies, slavery, trade, society and culture, and related developments in colonial North America.
▶ VIDEO ENABLED: Ask · Learn · Watch the Original Source
Search the history — then jump directly to the source.
Ask a history question in plain language, explore the answer, and then simply say something like “Show me the video where that is explained.” The Assistant can take you directly to the relevant moment in the original YouTube video.
Try it: Ask “Why did slavery become so important in the British colonies?” Then follow with “Show me the video where that is explained.”
Best experience: Use NotebookLM in a web browser. Timestamped video links may not open correctly inside the NotebookLM mobile app.
Important: This is an independent learning demonstration built from publicly available video sources. Students should review the original source material and follow their teacher’s expectations for classwork and research.
Kansas Education Knowledge Assistants
These public AI Assistants are hosted in Google NotebookLM. Some school-issued Google accounts restrict access to NotebookLM resources shared from outside the district. If you cannot open an assistant using your school account, you will need to use a personal Google account instead. Ask questions in plain language and review the source citations included with each answer.
About the Kansas Education Assistants
These AI Assistants are built from publicly available Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) and other authoritative Kansas education resources. This collection reflects information available as of August 1, 2026 and is currently scheduled to be reviewed and updated quarterly. Because education guidance can change, always verify important decisions using the cited source documents included with each response.
A better way to find—and use—information
These Assistants can do more than help you find an answer. Ask follow-up questions, request an explanation, compare information, create a checklist, summarize a topic, or ask the Assistant to teach you something one concept at a time.
Try asking:
“Teach me this one concept at a time. Use practical examples, ask questions to check my understanding, and wait for my response before moving on.”
Want to go deeper? Copy and adapt this prompt:
“Assume I’m new to this topic. Using only the information in your sources, teach me the most important concepts one at a time. Explain each concept in plain language, give me a realistic school leadership scenario, and ask me a question to check my understanding. Wait for my response before continuing. If I misunderstand something, help me work through it.”
Explore more than the chat.
All assistants also include additional ways to explore the source material, such as audio overviews, visual mind maps, video explanations, and other learning tools. Look around the notebook and try the formats that are most useful to you.
Tip: Important decisions should still be verified using the cited source documents included with the Assistant’s responses.
Public Beta
Kansas School Finance and Funding Resource Guide
School finance guidance, funding formulas, reports, and related resources.
Public Beta
Kansas Education Systems Accreditation and Standards Framework
KESA, accreditation, continuous improvement, standards, and accountability resources.
Public Beta
Kansas Educator Licensure and Certification Guide
Licensure pathways, renewals, certification, mentoring, testing, and professional requirements.
Public Beta
Kansas Special Education Funding and Gifted Services Guide
Special education requirements, gifted services, funding, and related guidance.
Public Beta
Kansas School Transportation Safety and Compliance Guidelines
Transportation regulations, driver requirements, inspections, safety, and compliance guidance.
Public Beta
Child Nutrition and Wellness
Child nutrition programs, wellness requirements, reimbursement guidance, and related resources.
Public Beta
Kansas ESEA Federal Programs and Funding Guide
Federal education programs, Title funding, compliance, and grant resources.
Public Beta
Kansas School Safety Compliance and Operations Guide
School safety planning, emergency preparedness, compliance requirements, and operational guidance.
Public Beta
Kansas Education Data, Policy, and Funding Resources
Statewide education data, policy documents, reports, planning resources, and funding information.
Public Beta
Kansas Education Technology and AI Operational Guide
Technology leadership, AI, cybersecurity, digital learning, and operational guidance.
New · Video-Enabled Knowledge Assistant
Kansas State Board of Education Meeting Proceedings
Search State Board agendas, minutes, presentations, supporting meeting materials, and meeting video transcripts. Ask about a topic in plain language, compare discussions across meetings, and return to the original video when you want to hear the discussion yourself.
▶ VIDEO ENABLED: Ask · Learn · Watch the Original Meeting
Search the Board discussion — then jump directly to the meeting video.
Ask a question about something discussed by the Kansas State Board of Education, explore the answer, and then say something like “Show me the video where the Board discusses that.” The Assistant can take you directly to the relevant moment in the original meeting video when a timestamped source is available.
Try it: Ask “What has the State Board discussed about student screen time?” Then follow with “Show me the video where they discuss that.”
Best experience: Use NotebookLM in a web browser. Timestamped video links may not open correctly inside the NotebookLM mobile app.
Important: This is an independent research and navigation tool built from publicly available Kansas State Board of Education materials and meeting video sources. Verify important decisions using the cited official records and source documents.
Federal Education Knowledge Assistants
These AI Assistants organize federal education resources that apply across states. They are designed to make federal laws, guidance, training materials, and other authoritative resources easier to explore in plain language while keeping the original sources visible for review.
Federal Resource Assistant
FERPA 101
Explore student privacy, education records, parent and eligible-student rights, consent, disclosure exceptions, directory information, law-enforcement requests, and related FERPA topics. This Assistant currently includes training content from the U.S. Department of Education Student Privacy Policy Office / Privacy Technical Assistance Center.
Important: Training presentations are informational resources and should not be treated as a substitute for current official U.S. Department of Education guidance, applicable law, or legal counsel.
Federal Resource Assistant
Student Privacy and Cybersecurity Best Practices
Explore federal guidance and training on protecting student privacy and strengthening cybersecurity practices in schools. This Assistant is built from a recorded federal webinar and makes the presentation easier to search, review, and apply in a K-12 setting.
Important: Training presentations are informational resources and should not be treated as a substitute for current official federal guidance, applicable law, district policy, or professional cybersecurity advice.
Free Chrome Tool
Security Assistant for Chrome
Created by Tom Sextro, K12 Focus. Security Assistant was developed as a practical way to help users apply cybersecurity awareness while they are actually using email and the web.
See where a link really goes — front and center. Hover over a link for about one second and Security Assistant displays the destination domain prominently in the middle of the screen, rather than leaving it buried in the browser’s tiny status area. That makes it much easier to notice when a link isn’t taking you where you expected before you click.
Security Assistant also makes the real sender easier to see in Gmail and checks domains against an updated public phishing blocklist.
Privacy: Security Assistant processes Gmail sender information and webpage links locally in the browser. This information is not transmitted to or stored by Security Assistant. The extension downloads a public phishing-domain blocklist so it can provide current domain warnings.
Free for personal use. Organizational licensing is available through the extension.
Important public-beta notice
The public-resource AI Assistants in this Knowledge Center are research and navigation tools built from publicly available sources. They are actively being tested and refined and may contain duplicate, incomplete, outdated, or incorrectly categorized material.
Verify important information with the cited source documents, the Kansas State Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Education or other responsible agency, applicable laws and regulations, or legal counsel before making official policy, compliance, financial, personnel, or operational decisions.
Experience Assistants
What have we learned? Experience Assistants preserve practical wisdom, stories, lessons learned, perspectives, and knowledge that can disappear when people retire, change roles, or move on. Whether drawn from lived experience or historical sources, these examples show how valuable ideas can be captured and made conversational.
When History Can Answer Back
Ask Aristotle: A Conversation Across Time
In 1985, Steve Jobs imagined a future in which a student could do more than read Aristotle's words. A computer might capture the underlying principles of his worldview well enough for the student to ask Aristotle a question and receive an answer.
“Someday, some student will be able to ask Aristotle a question and get an answer.” — Steve Jobs, 1985
This source-grounded NotebookLM assistant offers a small version of that idea. It uses a carefully organized collection of Aristotle's surviving writings so you can explore his thinking, ask follow-up questions, and review the sources behind the answers.
1Watch Steve Jobs
2Ask Aristotle
Important: This does not recreate Aristotle or guarantee exactly what he would have said. It is a research and learning experience grounded in the uploaded sources. A Google account is required, and some school-managed accounts may restrict access.
First, hear Steve Jobs describe the idea.
Steve Jobs on Asking Aristotle Watch the short video Opens on YouTubeExperience Assistant
Career Day: Railroad Careers with Dave Mullins
Recorded during a Career Day presentation at Falls City High School, this Assistant preserves Dave Mullins' decades of experience with BNSF Railway and the Federal Railroad Administration. Ask about railroad careers, training, pay, safety, internships, working conditions, and lessons from a lifetime in the industry.
Experience Assistant
Gloria — When Experience Can Answer Back
Built from Tom Sextro’s book, When Experience Can Answer Back, Gloria demonstrates how caregiving experience, personal stories, and practical wisdom can be preserved in an interactive AI Assistant.
Experience Assistant
Tom Sextro's Mentor Teacher's Playbook
Essential Advice for New Educators. Practical lessons, mistakes, strategies, and reflections drawn from Tom's return to classroom teaching after nearly three decades as a technology director.
Experience Assistant
Papa Tom
More Than You Want to Know About Me Personally. A personal AI Assistant built from Tom's stories, career, projects, experiences, and reflections—showing how a person's knowledge and history can become searchable and interactive.
Coach Assistants
What should we do next? Coach Assistants are designed for back-and-forth interaction. Instead of simply retrieving information, they help a user think through a situation, prioritize what matters, consider options, and decide on realistic next steps.
Featured coaching perspectives: These examples show how a substantial body of public talks, research, writing, or captured experience can become a source-grounded conversational coach. Some video-based coaches can now also take you directly to the most relevant moments in the original talks. They are demonstrations, not impersonations or endorsements.
New · Video-Enabled Coach
Explore Leadership With Simon Sinek
Purpose · Trust · Leadership · Teams · Human Connection
Who is Simon Sinek? Simon Sinek is an author and leadership thinker known for ideas about purpose, trust, leadership, teamwork, organizational culture, and the human side of work.
This source-grounded NotebookLM coach draws from a curated collection of Simon Sinek talks and long-form conversations. Ask a leadership question, explore the ideas in plain language, and follow up naturally as your thinking develops.
▶ NEW: Ask · Discuss · Watch the Original Video
More than an AI answer — hear Simon explain it himself.
Ask a leadership question and explore the answer conversationally. Then simply say “Show me the video where Simon talks about that.” The coach can find the relevant moment and give you a clickable link that opens the original YouTube video at that exact point.
Try it: Ask “What’s the difference between managing and leading?” Then follow with “Show me the videos where Simon talks about that.”
Best experience: Use NotebookLM in a web browser. Timestamped video links may not open correctly inside the NotebookLM mobile app.
Important: This is not Simon Sinek and does not claim to reproduce exactly what he would say. It is an independent learning and coaching demonstration grounded in publicly available source material. No endorsement is implied.
Coach Assistant
Chat With Tony Robbins
Performance · Action · Goals · Resourcefulness
Who is Tony Robbins? Tony Robbins is an author, speaker, and performance coach known for work on personal growth, decision-making, motivation, goals, and taking action.
This source-grounded NotebookLM coach draws from a large collection of public Tony Robbins talks and interviews. Use it to think through a goal, obstacle, decision, habit, or next step and explore recurring ideas across his public body of work.
Important: This is not Tony Robbins and does not claim to reproduce exactly what he would say. It is an independent learning and coaching demonstration grounded in the sources loaded into NotebookLM. No endorsement is implied.
Coach Assistant
Chat With Brené Brown
Courage · Vulnerability · Trust · Leadership
Who is Brené Brown? Brené Brown is a researcher, bestselling author, and leadership thinker known for her work on courage, vulnerability, shame, empathy, trust, belonging, and organizational culture.
This source-grounded NotebookLM coach draws from dozens of public talks and interviews featuring Brown. Use it to think through leadership, trust, difficult conversations, uncertainty, belonging, resilience, and the human side of change.
Important: This is not Brené Brown and does not claim to reproduce exactly what she would say. It is an independent learning and coaching demonstration grounded in the sources loaded into NotebookLM. No endorsement is implied.
Coach Assistant
Know Your Impact: A Hattie-Informed Teacher Coach
Evidence of learning · Reflection · Instructional decisions
Who is John Hattie? John Hattie is a New Zealand education researcher and professor widely known for the Visible Learning research program, which synthesizes research on influences related to student achievement.
Describe a lesson, a teaching challenge, or anonymous student work. The Coach helps clarify intended learning, examine evidence of student understanding, consider surface, deep, or transfer learning, and select one practical response to try.
How it is delivered: This Coach is a Google Gemini Gem. Some school-managed accounts may restrict externally shared Gems; if that happens, try a personal Google account.
Important: This independent demonstration is informed by published research associated with John Hattie. It does not impersonate John Hattie, guarantee what he would advise, or imply his endorsement.
Coach Assistant
New Teacher Coach
Tom Sextro · Practical classroom mentoring
Who is Tom Sextro? Tom spent nearly 30 years as a K–12 technology director and later returned to the classroom, teaching Algebra 1 and technology courses. This coach captures lessons, mistakes, adjustments, and practical reflections from that return to teaching.
Tell the Coach what is happening, what is frustrating you, or what you are unsure about. It uses Tom’s captured experience to help new and early-career teachers think through their own situations, decide what deserves attention first, and identify realistic next steps.
How it is delivered: This Coach is a Google Gemini Gem. Some school-managed Google accounts may restrict externally shared Gems; if that happens, try a personal Google account.
Portrait credits: Tony Robbins — Randy Stewart, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Brené Brown — BBeargTeam/Felix Sanchez, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. John Hattie — idunius, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Tom Sextro portrait supplied by K12 Focus.
Help improve these AI Assistants
Try one of the AI Assistants with a question you would normally research. Let K12 Focus know what worked, what was missing, or what appeared inaccurate.