Key Highlights:

• Google and Khan Academy announced a new AI partnership at the Bett education conference.
• Gemini models now power Khan Academy’s Writing Coach for middle and high school students.
• A Reading Coach will follow later this year for grades 5–12.
• Schoolhouse.world adds AI simulators to train peer tutors without replacing humans.

Google and Khan Academy have announced a new partnership to bring Gemini-powered AI tools into classrooms. The move introduces writing and reading coaches for students and training tools for tutors. It matters because it shifts AI in education from answering questions to guiding learning.

The update was revealed at the Bett education conference in the UK. It positions Khan Academy as one of the first large-scale education platforms to deploy Google’s most capable AI models in everyday learning.

What is changing at Khan Academy?

Khan Academy is integrating Gemini into a new suite of literacy tools. The first to launch is Writing Coach. It does not generate essays. Instead, it walks students through outlining, drafting, and revising their own work.

Teachers can choose between a full interactive mode or a feedback-only option. The tool currently supports grades 7–12 in the U.S. It is in beta for grades 5–6. Students can use it for persuasive, expository, and literary analysis essays.

Gemini adapts its feedback based on student level. It offers examples. It nudges learners when they get stuck. The goal is to keep students writing, not copy-pasting.

How will the Reading Coach work?

Later this year, Khan Academy will launch a Reading Coach powered by Gemini. It targets grades 5–12. Teachers will be able to assign interactive reading tasks across different texts.

Gemini will guide students through passages. It will ask questions to check comprehension. It will also generate insights for teachers, both at the individual and class level. This turns reading into a measurable, guided process.

Why is Schoolhouse.world part of this?

Schoolhouse.world, the peer tutoring platform co-founded by Sal Khan, is also adopting Gemini. The platform now uses AI feedback after every session.

A new AI session simulator lets tutors practice with virtual students. These profiles mimic real learning challenges. Tutors can train before meeting real learners. The system builds confidence and empathy without replacing human teaching.

Why this matters

This partnership reframes AI in education. The tools do not replace teachers. They structure learning, they coach and prepare humans to teach better.

Khan Academy is betting that AI should guide thinking, not finish tasks. With Gemini in the background, classrooms get scalable support without losing the human layer. In that sense, Khan Academy becomes a testing ground for what responsible classroom AI looks like.