A new Microsoft Teams update for summer 2021 brings a whole bunch of benefits for both students and teachers, helping schools deliver blended and hybrid learning efficiently and in an engaging way.
We’ve rounded up our top features that you need to try out in your lessons.
Here’s a quick summary of the update:
- Set group assignments.
- Return assignments to students for revision.
- Lock Teams meetings from additional attendees.
- Record classes automatically.
- Use a virtual laser pointer in PowerPoint.
- Lower all raised hands in Teams meetings.
- Immersive Reader for mobile.
- More features for Android users.
Group assignments.
Teams has introduced a new group assignments feature, allowing students to work together and submit one assignment for the whole group. Teachers can then provide feedback and grades to either each individual student within that group or give out an overall grade for the group.
Interested in this feature? We have created a short guide and step-by-step video for you on Group Assignments here.
This feature is great for when you need a student to do extra work after you’ve provided feedback, or even if they’ve simply forgotten to attach a document to their assignment.
From a student point of view, the assignment is visible in their “active work” list, and they can see the feedback you’ve initially provided.
All you need to do is select More options next to Return when you’re reviewing a student assignment and then select Return for revision.
Improved features for hybrid teaching.
Blended learning, hybrid classroom – whatever you’re calling it in your school – teaching students in school and providing support to those learning from home due to self-isolation can be challenging.
Teams has brought out several features to improve both teacher and student experience.
First up, there’s an auto-record setting you can now toggle on and off in your Meeting options as a teacher. Selecting Record automatically does exactly what it says on the tin and records your meeting automatically so that you don’t need to worry about forgetting to record when you start your class.
Note: You will need to change this per meeting, there isn’t yet a button for recording every meeting automatically.
During Teams lessons, you can now create a virtual laser pointer when presenting with PowerPoint Live. Only the active “in control” presenter can make annotations – so you don’t need to worry about students becoming distracted and trying out the feature for themselves!
Many have been using the Raised Hands feature in Teams to allow students to virtually notify the teacher when they want to ask a question. However, up until now, there has been no way for teachers to lower raised hands, and if a student forgets to lower their raised hand, it can be confusing.
Teams has introduced the ability to lower all raised hands via the Participants pane.
Better security features for student safety.
Running lessons in Teams has always been secure, but Microsoft has introduced even more layers of security to ensure student and staff safety.
Teachers can now lock a class or meeting from any additional attendees. This helps the class stay focused and avoid unnecessary disruption.
You can find the Lock the meeting option in the Participants pane.
If you want to find out more about boosting security in your Teams lessons, check out this guide on dealing with unwanted guests in Class Teams.
Enhanced mobile experience.
Microsoft has been busy making some general improvements to the mobile experience of Teams.
Great news! We know a lot of students have relied on their mobile devices to stay connected to their classmates and learning resources during the pandemic.
In fact, according to the Children’s Commissioner, almost 10% of families in the UK do not have a laptop, desktop computer or tablet. So naturally, many students have been using shared mobile devices to access their lessons and homework.
Some important updates include a mobile version of Immersive Reader, which reads aloud posts and chat messages for users, and an easier-to-navigate Assignments tool.
Find out how this school is using Immersive Reader to support SEN and EAL students.
Teams is now also available on Android tablets and accessing files offline is also available on Android devices.
If you would like to learn more about how we can help your organisation achieve more with Microsoft, please contact a member of our team today.
