NotebookLM with Purpose: A Community-Centered Course for Organizing Knowledge, Memory, and Voice

Before you begin exploring the tool itself, this module invites you to understand the perspective from which you will use it.

NotebookLM can help you work with documents, recordings, ideas, stories, and knowledge that are already part of your processes.

You will be able to have conversations with your own information, organize it, ask questions about it, and use it as a starting point for creating new materials.

But learning a digital tool is not only about knowing where to click.

It also means asking ourselves why we want to use it, who it serves, and how we can use it while respecting people, communities, and collective memory.

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• understand the overall purpose of the course;

• recognize some of the ways you will use NotebookLM;

• identify what you need to get started;

• understand how the learning activities will work;

• recognize the relationship between technology, autonomy, and care;

• begin identifying information from your own work that you could organize with this tool.

This will be your starting point for approaching NotebookLM with curiosity, but also with intention.

In this module, you will learn what NotebookLM is and begin identifying the possibilities it offers when working with information.

You can think of it as a research assistant that works with the sources you add to your notebook.

You can use it to review documents, work with recordings, summarize long texts, locate information, compare ideas, organize materials, and generate drafts based on your own sources.

You will also learn about an important feature: answers can include references that allow you to return to the original material and verify where specific information came from.

You will explore both its possibilities and its limitations, remembering that no tool can replace your judgment or human review.

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• understand what NotebookLM is;

• recognize how it differs from other digital tools;

• identify different ways it can support your work;

• work with documents, audio, and other sources;

• recognize the value of references;

• understand the importance of reviewing results;

• identify information that requires greater care before uploading it;

• begin imagining how you could use NotebookLM in your own context.

NotebookLM can help you think with your information, but the decisions about how to interpret and use it remain yours.

In NotebookLM, every project begins with a notebook.

You can think of it as a digital basket where you gather information related to a specific topic.

You might have one notebook for a community project, another for research, another for a workshop, and another for documenting meetings.

In this module, you will learn how to create these spaces and give them clear names so that you can quickly recognize what they contain.

You will also become familiar with the main areas of the workspace: Sources, the central workspace, and the chat, where you will later be able to interact with the information you add.

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• access NotebookLM;

• create a new notebook;

• give it a clear and meaningful name;

• recognize the main areas of the interface;

• create different notebooks for different projects;

• organize your notebooks by topic;

• delete notebooks you no longer need.

As a practice activity, you will create more than one notebook and begin thinking about which kinds of projects you want to keep separate.

The idea is simple: one clear topic, one clear space.

This will make your information easier to understand and work with later.

A notebook begins to become useful when you add information to it.

In this module, you will learn what a source is and what kinds of materials you can use in NotebookLM.

You will be able to work with text documents, PDF files, Google Docs, presentations, audio files, YouTube videos, web pages, and text that you paste directly.

This opens up many possibilities: recorded meetings, interviews, testimonies, reports, research, educational materials, or collectively created documents can all be brought together in one place.

You will also learn how to organize these sources by giving them clear names and reviewing the summaries generated by the tool.

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• recognize different types of sources;

• upload files from your computer;

• connect Google documents;

• add links and videos;

• paste text directly;

• explore source discovery when available;

• review automatic summaries;

• rename your sources;

• remove materials you no longer need;

• solve some common problems when uploading files.

During the practice activity, you will add different types of materials to your notebook.

From this point on, you will have something essential: a space where different sources can begin to speak to one another.

Once you have gathered your sources, you can begin asking them questions.

In this module, you will discover the NotebookLM chat and learn different ways to interact with your information.

You will be able to ask very specific questions, request summaries, compare documents, identify similarities or differences, organize ideas, and generate drafts based on what already exists in your sources.

You will also learn how to use the references included in responses to check where information comes from.

Instead of automatically accepting a result, you will be able to return to the original passage and review it.

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• ask questions about your sources;

• request summaries;

• compare different documents;

• identify themes, concepts, or patterns;

• ask for support in organizing information;

• create drafts based on your sources;

• review and verify references;

• select specific sources for particular questions;

• review previous conversations;

• reuse responses in other materials while maintaining proper acknowledgment of sources.

During the practice activity, you will ask different types of questions and begin discovering that the quality of a conversation also depends on how you ask.

A prompt is the instruction you use to explain to the tool what you need.

In this module, you will learn that a general question may produce a general response, while a clear instruction can help you obtain a result that is much closer to what you are looking for.

You will work with a simple structure:

Context → Instruction → Format → Style or Condition

For example, asking for a summary is not the same as explaining what you want summarized, who the audience is, how long it should be, and what tone you need.

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• understand what a prompt is;

• provide enough context;

• write clearer instructions;

• indicate the format you need;

• define tone, length, or other conditions;

• build prompts for summarizing;

• create instructions for comparing information;

• develop prompts for generating new materials;

• recognize common mistakes when writing instructions;

• improve your questions progressively.

During the practice activity, you will create several prompts using this structure.

Learning to give better instructions can help you move from “I want the tool to do something” to “I know what I need and I can explain it clearly.”

Not all information is easier to understand when presented as long blocks of text.

Sometimes we need to see connections, sequences, or concepts in a different way.

In this module, you will learn how to use visual tools to explore your sources.

You will work with mind maps, which can help you see relationships between ideas; timelines, which are useful for organizing events and processes chronologically; and study guides, which can help you review and understand longer materials.

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• create mind maps from your sources;

• explore connections between different ideas;

• navigate and save visual representations;

• generate timelines;

• identify important dates and events;

• use chronology to better understand processes;

• create study guides;

• work with questions, summaries, and glossaries;

• customize these materials through prompts.

During the practice activity, you will create different ways of representing the same information.

This will help you discover that sometimes seeing how ideas connect can reveal things that are less obvious in text alone.

Working with information is not only about asking questions and receiving answers.

You also need to preserve what you discover.

In this module, you will learn how to create your own notes within NotebookLM.

These notes represent your voice: your reflections, interpretations, conclusions, and connections between different materials.

You will also learn how to save quotations and important excerpts so that you can return to them later.

As you begin working with more projects, you will explore ways to organize different notebooks and keep your workspace manageable.

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• create notes with your own reflections;

• connect ideas from different sources;

• save important excerpts and quotations;

• return to original materials;

• organize multiple notebooks;

• locate information across different projects;

• archive materials you are no longer using;

• export conversations and notes;

• move content into Google Docs;

• share notebooks when this feature is available.

This module marks an important distinction:

NotebookLM can help you process information, but your analysis, your questions, and your conclusions remain an essential part of the knowledge you are building.

Information does not always need to remain in written form.

In this module, you will explore Audio Overview, a feature that can transform your sources into an audio conversation.

You will learn how to record a reflection, interview, or conversation, add it to your notebook, and review its transcription.

You will then be able to use your sources to generate a conversational audio piece and define aspects such as the main topic, audience, tone, language, and, when available, other characteristics.

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• record audio using a device;

• upload recordings to NotebookLM;

• review transcriptions;

• generate an Audio Overview;

• define the focus of the content;

• adapt the audio for different audiences;

• explore different tones and formats;

• listen to and evaluate the result;

• download the material when available;

• use its transcription as a starting point for other content;

• adapt the material for radio, training, or other spaces.

During the practice activity, you will develop a short process from voice to audio.

This can open new possibilities for sharing information with people who prefer listening, creating educational materials, or exploring formats such as community radio.

When we work with community information, we are often working with much more than data.

We may be working with life stories, testimonies, experiences of violence, organizational strategies, personal information, or knowledge that belongs to a community.

In this module, you will learn to approach privacy and security as practices of responsibility and care.

You will explore what it means to use a tool that works in the cloud and what questions are important to ask before adding information.

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• recognize sensitive information;

• review which materials are appropriate to upload;

• use sources that belong to you or that you are authorized to use;

• consider consent before using other people’s information;

• anonymize certain data when necessary;

• recognize the importance of crediting other voices;

• delete individual sources;

• delete complete notebooks;

• better protect your Google account;

• keep backups;

• share security practices with your team;

• periodically review how you are using the tool.

The question is not only:

“Can I upload this information?”

It is also:

“Should I? Do I have permission? Who could be affected? How can I protect it?”

Knowledge can multiply when we share it.

In this module, you will learn how to support other women in discovering NotebookLM through a process of facilitation, rather than one-way teaching.

Facilitation means recognizing that everyone arrives with different knowledge, experiences, questions, and learning rhythms.

Your role is not to demonstrate how much you know, but to create the conditions for other people to explore, ask questions, practice, and make the tool their own.

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• better understand the group you will accompany;

• define clear objectives for a session;

• prepare materials and technical conditions;

• establish agreements for learning;

• explain a tool through demonstration and practice;

• accompany participants without rushing them;

• carry out simple closing and evaluation activities;

• follow up after a session;

• recognize different digital barriers;

• validate the knowledge participants already have;

• use accessible language;

• respect different learning rhythms;

• care for the emotional dimension of the learning space.

As a practice activity, you will design your first session.

The central idea is simple:

show, practice, and accompany.

Because learning technology can also be a collective process.

Up to this point, you have learned different functions.

In this module, you will see how they can be combined to respond to real needs.

You will explore cases related to documenting testimonies, popular education, collective meetings, community radio, research, rights advocacy, educational materials, solidarity economy, advocacy processes, and the documentation of ancestral knowledge.

The examples will show how the same set of tools can be used in very different ways depending on the purpose of the process.

You will explore cases such as:

• documenting testimonies about obstetric violence;

• preparing popular education workshops;

• systematizing collective meetings;

• creating content for community radio;

• conducting community research on access to water;

• preparing legal advocacy processes;

• creating educational materials for young people;

• systematizing solidarity economy experiences;

• preparing advocacy processes;

• documenting ancestral knowledge.

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• recognize different ways of applying NotebookLM;

• combine sources, questions, prompts, and visualizations;

• use information to create new materials;

• adapt the tools to different needs;

• identify opportunities within your own work;

• design a possible use case for your organization or community.

The tool remains the same.

What changes is the need, the context, and the purpose with which you choose to use it.

You have reached the final module.

But the goal is not to finish knowing every NotebookLM feature.

The goal is to build a foundation that allows you to continue exploring independently.

In this module, you will revisit the journey you have completed: creating notebooks, adding sources, asking questions, writing prompts, creating maps and timelines, taking notes, saving citations, using Audio Overview, protecting privacy, facilitating learning, and exploring community applications.

You will also reflect on what you want to do next with what you have learned.

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• recognize the main tools you have learned;

• identify which ones may be most useful in your context;

• review good security practices;

• remember a simple structure for writing prompts;

• use support resources to continue practicing;

• plan your next experience with NotebookLM;

• choose a specific project where you can apply what you have learned;

• continue developing your skills through practice.

As your final activity, you will define one simple commitment for continuing your learning.

It might be practicing regularly.

Exploring a project.

Organizing information you already have.

Sharing what you learned with other people.

Or using NotebookLM to respond to a specific need in your work.