Microsoft Strikes Back: Copilot Notebooks Levels the Playing Field for Education

For too long, Google has dominated the educational AI landscape. While Microsoft struggled with their OpenAI partnership and delivered a Copilot experience that never quite lived up to expectations, Google leveraged their pre-existing platform in Google Classroom to introduce education specific tools such as the recent Gemini in Classroom and, perhaps most usefully, Notebook LM. Google's Notebook LM has been my go-to knowledge extraction tool and the one app that I recommend to educational leaders and any other professionals working with complex documentation. But is all that about to change?

Microsoft has finally delivered a compelling response with Microsoft 365 Copilot Notebooks—and it might just be the game-changer that Microsoft schools have been waiting for.

Knowledge Extraction  

As educators, one primary use case for large language models centres on knowledge extraction: converting texts, producing classroom resources, voice-to-text functionality, and text levelling. Google's Notebook LM excelled in this space because it operates at a low temperature setting—it extracts information without getting creative or fabricating content. It's grounded in the source material you provide, making it a pure knowledge extraction tool that avoids many generative AI pitfalls. Add to that the fact that it doesn’t train on your interactions with it and it is pretty much perfectly suited to working in educational environments.

Now Microsoft has caught up with Copilot Notebooks, available through institutional Microsoft 365 licences for business and education users. NOTE - your 365 licence still needs the copilot add on to access this.

What Microsoft 365 Copilot Notebooks Brings to the Table

Core Functionality

Microsoft's offering functions similarly to Notebook LM but with crucial collaborative advantages:

• Shared institutional notebooks that multiple users can access and contribute to

• OneDrive integration for seamless document sharing

• Real-time collaboration where teams can see who's asking what questions

• Comprehensive content integration including Copilot chats, files, pages, meeting notes, and links

Key Features for Educators

Content Aggregation: Bring together all relevant resources—from curriculum documents to meeting notes—in one interrogatable space.

Collaborative Intelligence: Unlike individual AI interactions, these shared notebooks create institutional knowledge bases that entire departments can leverage.

Contextual Responses: Copilot analyses notebook content to provide focused answers, identify key themes, and draw insights specific to your educational context.

Living Documentation: References stay updated in real-time as projects evolve, ensuring your knowledge base remains current.

The Google vs Microsoft Battle for Educational AI

Google's Advantages

Google has long dominated educational technology through:

• Superior collaborative approaches

• User-friendly virtual learning environments

• Cleaner, more intuitive interfaces

• Excellent cloud and sharing capabilities

• Earlier AI integration with Notebook LM

Microsoft's Counterattack

While Microsoft Office products remain superior individual applications (PowerPoint still outperforms Google Slides), they've struggled with collaborative functionality. Copilot Notebooks addresses this gap by:

• Matching Google's collaborative capabilities

• Leveraging Microsoft's robust business infrastructure

• Providing institutional-grade AI integration

• Supporting both Microsoft and Google school workflows

Practical Applications for Educational Leaders

This development is particularly powerful for educational leaders working with policy documents and institutional planning. Imagine uploading:

• Curriculum specifications from multiple exam boards

• Ofsted reports and improvement planning documents

• Staff meeting minutes and development plans

• Policy guidance from local authorities

The shared notebook becomes a collaborative intelligence hub where senior leadership teams can collectively interrogate institutional knowledge, track decision-making processes, and ensure consistent policy interpretation across departments.

The Brisk AI Integration Bonus

Adding to Microsoft's momentum, Brisk AI has now integrated with Microsoft Office applications. This means educators can:

• Create quizzes directly from classroom materials

• Generate resources from existing documents

• Deploy Brisk Boosts (AI tutors) specific to their content

Important caveat: Brisk Boosts don't yet meet UK DfE recommended safety standards for live monitoring and reporting. However, schools with existing monitoring systems (like Senso or NetSupport) can bridge this gap by ensuring student interactions occur within monitored environments.

Platform Agnostic Thinking: The Strategic Imperative

The most important lesson here is tool agnosticism. Schools shouldn't feel compelled to demonstrate brand loyalty—they should remain agile and choose the best tools for their specific needs.

While institutional inertia makes platform switching challenging (imagine moving from Google Workspace to SharePoint overnight), the ideal approach involves:

• Hybrid solutions where appropriate (back-office services on one platform, teaching tools on another)

• Cross-platform training for key staff

• Flexible procurement that doesn't lock schools into suboptimal tools

Looking Forward: Parity and Progress

With both Google and Microsoft now offering robust collaborative AI knowledge extraction tools, we're entering an era of genuine competition that benefits educators. This parity means:

For Google Schools: Continued excellence with Notebook LM, plus competitive pressure driving innovation

For Microsoft Schools: Finally, a compelling alternative that leverages their existing infrastructure investment

For All Educators: More choice, better tools, and increased leverage in negotiations with platform providers

The Bottom Line

Microsoft's Copilot Notebooks represents more than catching up—it's a strategic positioning for the future of educational AI. By combining institutional collaboration with powerful knowledge extraction, Microsoft has created a tool that could genuinely challenge Google's educational dominance.

The question isn't whether your school should adopt this immediately (that depends on your existing infrastructure and licensing), but rather how quickly you can evaluate its potential within your specific context.

For educational leaders: This is your moment to experiment with collaborative AI intelligence gathering. Start small, test with willing departments, and build institutional knowledge systematically.

For classroom teachers: Watch this space. The tools that educational leaders use today often become tomorrow's classroom applications.

The AI arms race in education just got significantly more interesting. And ultimately, our students benefit when technology companies compete to serve our sector effectively.

What's your experience with collaborative AI tools in education? Are you team Google, team Microsoft, or pragmatically platform-agnostic? Share your thoughts in the comments.