Microsoft Teams is a powerful communication and collaboration app that can be used in various educational settings. It can help teachers and students connect, share, and learn in one place, whether they are in the classroom or at home. In this article, we will explore some of the benefits of using Microsoft Teams in an educational environment.

Collaborate Seamlessly

One of the main benefits of using Microsoft Teams is that it enables seamless collaboration among teachers and students. Within Teams, educators can:

• Quickly converse with students.
• Share files and websites.
• Create OneNote Class Notebooks.
• Organize interactive lessons.
• Provide effective and timely feedback.
• Distribute and grade assignments.
• Share instructional material in Professional Learning Communities.

Students can also collaborate with each other using Teams. They can:

1. Work together on Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files in real time.
2. Divide into smaller breakout rooms for discussions and group work.
3. Submit, save, and extract information from handwritten notes and assignments with Office Lens.
4. Use the Assignments and Grades feature to track their progress and achievements.

Support Inclusivity

Another benefit of using Microsoft Teams is that it supports inclusivity and accessibility for all learners. Teams offers personalized tools that accommodate the diverse learning styles and needs of every student, from K-12 to higher education. Some of these tools are:

1. Immersive Reader: a feature that allows students to easily read conversations and chats in a more personalized format. It also provides ASL visibility features, text decoding solutions, live captions and language translation.
2. Reading Progress: a tool that helps students improve their reading fluency through personalized learning experiences. It enables independent reading practice and AI-assisted reviews.
3. Presenter Coach: a tool that helps students improve their public speaking skills by providing feedback on their pace, pitch, filler words, and more.
4. Career Coach: a tool that helps students sharpen their professional expertise by providing personalized guidance on career exploration, skills development, networking, and more.

Teams also supports social-emotional learning (SEL) by providing a safe space for students to navigate their feelings and develop social skills. Some of the features that promote SEL are:

• Reflect: a feature that allows teachers to check in on students’ emotional states and provide support as needed.
• Feelings Monster: an app that allows students to express their emotions using animated monsters.
• Kahoot!: an app that allows students to have fun with ready-to-play SEL games in Teams.

Communicate Securely

A third benefit of using Microsoft Teams is that it enables secure communication among teachers, students, parents, and guardians. Teams provides a digital environment that protects the privacy and safety of all users. Some of the security features of Teams are:

• Video conferencing: a feature that allows teachers and students to meet for free with up to 300 participants. Teachers can control who can join the meeting, mute or remove participants, enable or disable chat, record the meeting, and more.
• Messaging: a feature that allows teachers and students to chat individually or in groups. Teachers can supervise student chats, moderate inappropriate content, create announcement channels, pin important messages, and more.
• Custom background: a feature that allows users to blur their meeting background, choose a free image, or upload their own. This can help users protect their personal space and avoid distractions during meetings.
• Together mode: a feature that allows users to see the whole class in a new way for discussions and presentations. This can help users feel more connected and engaged during meetings.
  
  

So, there you have it, some of the great reasons to use Microsoft Teams. Speak to your Tutor today if you do not have access to your Team.

You can access Microsoft Teams with your Global Skills Account. Simply go to www.office.com sign in with  your account and choose Teams from the Side menu.