Here are a range of ways I have used Microsoft Teams in my secondary school classroom when I have needed to implement remote learning in the past to help guide you on how you can make the most of technology in these challenging times.

1. I’m a Microsoft Teams newbie

If you don’t have much experience with Microsoft Teams and are looking to use it to communicate with your pupils when they are not in school, the ‘Files’ section is a great place to upload documents for the pupils to access.

I use the ‘Files’ section in Teams when I want pupils to complete past exam paper questions by uploading the past paper as a PDF to the class materials folder. Pupils cannot edit files in the class materials folder. I then post a comment in the chat to let them know the file has been uploaded and tell them which questions I want them to complete.

My pupils will complete the work and later that day, I post the file with the answers so pupils can self-assess their work.

Pupils can also upload a picture of their work and ask for help at any point during the day.

Here are some other things you could do:

• • In your class Team click on the ‘Files’ tab and upload files from your computer/OneDrive.
  • In the ‘Chat’ tab at the top, post a comment to tell pupils what file you want them to access and what you want them to do.
  • Pupils can respond by commenting in the chat or uploading a photo of the work in their notebook

2. I’ve mastered the basics

If you have mastered the basics of using Teams and have been sharing files with pupils, you may want to start setting assignments for them using Teams too.

For me, this is an easy way to distribute a file to each pupil in the class and have pupils work on a task with a specific deadline. The file could be a Word document, PowerPoint, Forms quiz,  or even a OneNote page amongst other formats.

My senior pupils recently had to complete a lab report for an experiment they did in class. In the assignments tab in Teams, I inserted a blank Word document, added the headings for each section (aim, method, results, conclusion) and sent this out for pupils to complete within 2 days.

Straight away I could see who has viewed the assignment and who had completed it. I could view each pupil’s work without leaving Teams and was able to give them feedback with next steps. Pupils were then able to make changes and resubmit their work.

By setting assignments in Teams your pupils will be able to easily check when their assignments are due, you’ll be able to see who has viewed and completed their assignments, and you are both able to check on progress and feedback throughout. You will also only have to upload one copy of the file which can then be distributed to all pupils.

Here are some other things you could do:

• • In your class Team click on the ‘Assignments’ tab
  • Select ‘create new assignment’ and add your file
  • Add a date and a time for the assignment to be completed
  • You can view the progress of your students at any time by clicking on that specific assignment
  • Once pupils have submitted you can look at each one and return it to the pupil along with your feedback.

3. I’m an advanced Teams user

Once you have mastered ‘assignments’ in Teams, you may want to host a live lesson for your class. You can use the ‘meet now’ feature or you can schedule a meeting at a particular time. This may seem daunting at first but it is a great way for students to know lessons will carry on, with the expectation of everyone attending in a virtual classroom.

The first time I tried a live lesson, I turned off my camera before joining the live meeting and shared my desktop with the pupils. I was then able to take them through a PowerPoint presentation, work through a biology question in OneNote, and even show the pupils how to create a graph.

Offline, I have used my phone as a visualiser and uploaded the video to the files section in Teams so pupils can watch on demand at a time that suits them. This worked very well when pupils were unable to meet at the specific time. You may even want to record the live lesson so pupils can watch later.

Here are some other things you could do:

• • In the chat section, select ‘meet now’ (the small video camera button at the bottom of the page)
  • To schedule a meeting go to your calendar and select ‘new meeting’ then a specific time.
  • Once in the meeting the toolbar has various option (share desktop, record meeting and blur background, live captions and there is a chat panel for students to type questions)

Whether you are an experienced Teams user or not, there are a variety of options available to you to ensure learning doesn’t stop because you and your students cannot be at school. I have found these tools very beneficial in my science class and pupils have found them easy to use on a computer or on their phone.

I would recommend testing it out with students first if you can.  Have them join the Teams site and download the app to their phone so they can receive notifications. My students us the join code (generated in settings) to access the site initially and I task them with taking a photo of their work on their phone and uploading it to the site so I can check they are comfortable using it.

There is a wealth of resources available online to help with remote learning and the product teams are always on Twitter to help when needed, check them out using #msftedu and @DominicWillit

Find out more

4 tips to make the most of remote learning and deliver an uninterrupted student experience

Remote teaching and learning in Office 365 Education 

About the author

The post How to use Microsoft Teams for remote learning: tips for all abilities appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

Fast forward to this year and I was the one presenting at the Training Academy. Alongside Alan Crawford, we showed the impact that OneNote Class Notebook is driving for teachers, students, and classrooms everywhere.

1.      Making organisation easier

As a planner, my OneNote contains my daily schedule and learning intentions/success criteria for each lesson. I have my layout set as a template so when I add a new page, it’s all done for me. To this, I add any resource files or weblinks that I need.

Because it works on any device, I can check my planner on my phone before school, on my desktop in school, or even during the lesson on my Surface as I move round the class. My teacher OneNote also has the school events calendar, department timetable, policy documents, and teaching resources. Basically everything I need across the whole year is at my fingertips wherever and whenever I need it, meaning I can work smarter and be more productive.

2.      Increasing student collaboration

Class Notebook is the tool I use to share all resources with my pupils no matter what type. It keeps all the resources organised so that students can easily find them. These are all stored in the content library and thus are accessible to students so they can take control of their learning but not editable for them.

Students are encouraged to download the OneNote app on their devices so they can access these resources outside of school. It’s now easy for a student to find the right resources they need to complete homework.

They are also given a personal section which can only be viewed by the teacher and themselves. In there, I distribute notes. They can annotate and highlight key words using the drawing tools tab.

All biology essays are completed in OneNote as assignments in Teams. This makes it easier for me to check how students are progressing with an essay. When completed, I can easily add a screenshot of the marking scheme and give them written or audio feedback.

3.      Distributing and reviewing work

Distributing work to students is quick and easy in Class Notebook. Select the Distribute Page button and it gets sent out to each student’s own personal notebook section. Quick and simple and saves all those trips to the photocopier.

To review work, I select Review Student Work and I can go through each student’s page to mark and give feedback.

4.      Encouraging student voice

I also use OneNote as my school whiteboard. I use this to record the teacher notes we refer to in class. This ensures that all students can revisit the class notes. If they are absent, it’s easier for them to catch up before they return to class.

PowerPoint files are inserted as printouts so I can annotate over to add additional information.  I can screenshot an image from the web for labelling.  Also, using the Insert Picture feature I can take a picture of a page from the textbook to explain something or a question as we work through the answers together.

I often insert pictures of pupil work and they often lead the learning. They then talk through their work and share with the rest of the class. Student voice is so important in my class. With OneNote, they have the opportunity to share their written work digitally with everyone and explain their thinking behind it.

5.      Improving maths comprehension

My students fully embrace Maths Tools in OneNote. I don’t use it often in my classroom, but they tell me it is a very useful tool.

If they are working on an equation they can use the Lasso button in the Draw tab to select the equation and see the steps to solve it. This is useful when they need some help to see how to solve the equation and the teacher is not available to explain, such as working at home.

It even insert a forms quiz for the students based on that equation. So they are not only seeing how to solve the problem, and then apply this to various questions generated in the form. This is also a great teacher time saver as the students are self-marking.

6.      Improving student and teacher communication

I really like the variety of ways that feedback can be added to OneNote. I type feedback, write it in digital ink, but also can insert audio feedback too. If work requires an extended response it is far quicker for me to record what I have to say and insert it into the OneNote.

This means face-to-face feedback with the students doesn’t stop. I can add this type of feedback at a time when the students aren’t in class. They can listen to it many times if needed as it’s saved in their notebooks. Also, for pupils who find reading feedback a more difficult task, audio feedback is far more effective for them, even for short comments.

7.      Improving accessibility

Immersive Reader is available to teachers and students across so many of Microsoft’s tools for the classroom. It ensures all pupils can access the learning content and has a huge impact.

In the View tab, select immersive reader. A new window will appear for the text on the page. Here, you can change the page colour, text spacing, or highlight grammar specifics. But what amazes people the most is the read aloud feature. Not only can this read out text, but it can translate it into another language and read it out!

Helping students reach their potential

For the last four years I have been using OneNote Class Notebook in my classroom and each year my use of it evolves and changes. I have seen first-hand how using OneNote can help teachers and students. It saves me time so I can focus on my students. It allows me to make my classroom more accessible than ever before. For students, it’s helped them gain vital digital skills, improved their collaboration, communication, and empowered them to increase their learning potential.

Find out more

Discover more with OneNote

Organise your classroom with OneNote

About the author

Sarah Clark is a Teacher of Science and Biology at Queen Anne High School in Fife. She is an MIE Fellow Scotland and a OneNote Avenger – she even has the cape to prove it! She has been teaching for 16 years and is passionate about integrating technology in the classroom to help enhance learning and enable students to gain digital skills.

The post 7 ways to unleash students learning potential with OneNote appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.