Empowering education systems, educators, and students to thrive in the AI-era.

Classrooms are places of possibility where curiosity meets knowledge, and potential becomes reality. At Microsoft, we’ve supported education systems, leaders, educators, and students for over 50 years, and remain dedicated to this mission as education is reimagined in the age of AI. Trustworthy AI, combined with practical skills for educators, can amplify teacher expertise making instruction more responsive, freeing time for human connection, and ensuring every learner can actively participate in the opportunities of this new era.

Today we’re excited to advance our offerings, bringing together secure, education-specific technology, supported by skill‑building programs to empower every school, educator, and student to thrive with confidence in an AI‑powered future. We’re announcing Microsoft Elevate for Educators, a program connecting educators with community, professional development, and AI tools to transform teaching. In addition, we’ve launched new AI-powered tools purpose-built for education, including Teach in the Microsoft 365 Copilot app to streamline lesson preparation. For educators that have Copilot+ PCs, Microsoft Learning Zone can provide rich, dynamic interactive experiences using on-device intelligence to engage students better.

The new Study and Learn Agent provides students with an AI-powered learning companion to understand concepts and practice skills. We’re also offering higher education students free 12-month access to Microsoft 365 Premium and LinkedIn Premium Career, supporting them from classroom learning to career readiness. These offerings are designed specifically for schools to help build capacity, develop essential skills, and create more engaging teaching and learning experiences.

Introducing Microsoft Elevate for Educators

The Microsoft Elevate for Educators program is part of the company’s broader Microsoft Elevate commitment to help schools and educators build skills, expand opportunities, and ensure everyone benefits from AI. Through Microsoft Elevate, Microsoft aims to help more than 20 million people gain in-demand AI skilling credentials in the next two years and advance AI education and workforce readiness globally.

The Microsoft Elevate for Educators program equips educators and school leaders with access to one of the world’s largest and most connected peer educator networks, offers free professional development resources and access to in-demand credentials to confidently integrate AI into the classroom. Microsoft Elevate for Educators is available today and includes:

• New global communities for K-12 educators and schools. Educators and schools worldwide face the challenge of integrating AI in ways that truly benefit every student. In response, Microsoft is launching significant updates to its global educator community to help educators strengthen skills, gain recognition, and collaborate globally on best practices in AI-powered teaching. The new Microsoft Elevate for Educators and Microsoft Elevate Schools communities build on our existing global community and now offer year-round membership, expanded training opportunities and resources, and a progressive achievement system for educators to advance as they learn. For the first time, school districts, systems, and ministries can gain special recognition for supporting educators’ professional growth and demonstrating measurable impact in classrooms and across education systems.
• Professional development for educators globally. Free professional development and associated credentials help educators earn recognition for demonstrated skills that can qualify for salary increases or career advancement. The AI Skills Navigator helps educators learn new skills through a suite of new self-paced courses, live sessions, and AI-powered simulations available in more than 13 languages. Also launching during Bett UK 2026, Microsoft is providing educators with a new AI in Special Education course to help enhance and customize student learning.
• Industry-recognized credentials for educators. Available at no cost, the new Microsoft Elevate for Educators Credential, developed in partnership with ISTE+ASCD and aligned to the AI Literacy Framework, helps educators gain confidence and expertise in integrating AI into their teaching and learning. Educators worldwide will also have access to study materials for other Microsoft certifications, including a new Microsoft certification in Instructional Technology which will be made available to educators in the coming months.

In higher education, we continue to partner with colleges and universities to integrate AI into classrooms, empower faculty, and equip students with future-ready skills. Through AI Skills Navigator, we support the entire campus ecosystem. Microsoft Learn for Educators and AI Bootcamps support faculty with ready-to-use Microsoft Official Courseware, making it easier to teach, learn, and apply AI responsibly. And our Microsoft Student Ambassadors program nurtures a vibrant student body and accelerates learning through skilling events, AI adoption, and credentials. Explore more with The Skills Hub Blog.

AI tools designed for education

AI can be a powerful complement to educator expertise. Many of our education tools are available at no cost for Microsoft 365 Education customers such as Teach and the Study and Learn Agent and can help educators save time, simplify planning, and engage students. Additionally, educators, staff, and students can advance their AI journey with a deeply integrated experience and the latest innovations through an academic offering of Microsoft 365 Copilot.

To provide leaders with guidance on responsible and effective AI adoption, we’re sharing a new IDC White Paper, sponsored by Microsoft, A Blueprint for AI-Ready Schools: Strategies from the Front Lines of K-12 Education.¹ It highlights lessons learned from early adopters, such as Brisbane Catholic Education in Australia, Broward County Schools in the United States, and Coquitlam School District in Canada, and outlines opportunities for integrating AI into schools.

Teach: Your AI assistant for instruction and more

Now available in the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, Teach helps streamline class preparation with intuitive, customizable features including lesson plan creation, quiz, rubric development, and adapting materials to different reading levels. With Teach, you can quickly generate lesson plans aligned to relevant standards, modify content for diverse learners, and adjust difficulty levels with simple prompts. Available at no additional cost for education customers, Teach helps you save time and stay focused on your students’ success.

Microsoft Learning Zone: Bringing the power of Copilot+ PCs to education

Copilot+ PCs are Microsoft’s most advanced laptops yet, combining the power of next-generation hardware with on-device AI and deep Windows integration. Microsoft Learning Zone is an AI-powered Windows app designed to use on-device intelligence on Copilot+ PCs to deliver real educational value. With this new Copilot+ PC app, educators can quickly create, share, and track personalized and interactive learning activities right from their device, instantly boosting student engagement. Students can engage with these activities on any Windows 11 PC to receive immediate feedback and personalized coaching. Microsoft Learning Zone has earned the ISTE Seal of Alignment for learning design, usability, and research-backed teaching practices.

The app draws on trusted content partners, including NASA, OpenStax, PBS NewsHour, the Nobel Peace Center, World Wildlife Fund, Figma, and Minecraft Education—to support high-quality learning experiences. New content additions include the Nobel Peace Center lesson collection, which explores peace, justice, and human rights through stories of laureates such as Malala Yousafzai and Wangari Maathai, alongside companion activities in Minecraft Education.

Educators can share Learning Zone content anywhere through Microsoft Teams, with learning management system (LMS) integration expected later in 2026. It currently supports English and Spanish, with Portuguese, French, German, and additional languages planned for 2026.

Study and Learn Agent: Supporting student growth

The Study and Learn Agent, built on learning science principles, is designed to help students ages 13 and older engage more deeply with academic concepts to develop critical and reflective thinking skills. Students can work to understand concepts, practice with adaptive exercises, explore topics through guided study, or engage with built-in activities like flashcards, matching exercises, and quizzes. Study and Learn will provide students with an AI-powered learning companion that supports their growth and independence.

Supporting students in higher education

Students are already using AI-powered tools for writing, research, creativity, and career planning. For a limited time, eligible higher education students can now get 12 months of Microsoft 365 Premium and LinkedIn Premium Career—two powerful subscriptions working together to support academic success and jump start careers. The offer is an all-in-one AI-powered plan to help students excel in every aspect of campus life, from writing research papers and organizing class notes, to creating standout presentations and applying for internships and jobs, available at no extra cost for eligible students.²

Trusted resources for education leaders

Security, trust, and accessibility are foundational in education. We’re proud to introduce the Microsoft Education Security Toolkit, a comprehensive resource designed to help education institutions simplify and strengthen their cybersecurity posture. It provides practical guidance for education leaders on everything from strategic planning and compliance to implementation scenarios and real-world case studies.

For organizations just getting started, the Microsoft Education AI Toolkit offers a practical starting point. It includes real-world customer stories, guidance for responsible AI adoption, snapshots of AI usage, and a wealth of information to help you on your AI journey! Read stories and best practices from other education institutions.

Join us in shaping the future of education together

Microsoft is committed to supporting education systems, leaders, educators, and students as learning is reimagined in the age of AI. With tools, skilling, resources, and programs, we aim to help you reclaim time for what matters most: inspiring students, fostering curiosity, and nurturing the next generation of thinkers, creators, and leaders.

Heading to Bett UK 2026 from January 21–23, 2026? Visit Microsoft at stand SM20 to explore our latest innovations. See our full program and explore the 2026 agenda.

¹ IDC White Paper, sponsored by Microsoft, A Blueprint for AI-Ready Campuses: Strategies from the Front Lines of K-12 Education, #US54034625, December 2025.

² With select market restrictions, check here for availability and details.

The post Introducing Microsoft innovations and programs to support AI-powered teaching and learning appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

We believe the future starts here at home. That’s why we’re investing in the people who live, learn, and teach in our own backyard. Our goal? To ensure the state of Washington benefits first from the innovations we are creating for the world. We want to ensure that Washington not only remains a national hub for technology and entrepreneurship but that our students are among the most prepared for the jobs of tomorrow.

Today, we see a troubling trend—one that could undermine our shared future. Analysis of Microsoft data by our AI for Good Lab shows a marked disparity in AI use across the state. In counties with the highest use of AI along the Puget Sound—Snohomish, King, Pierce, and Whatcom—AI is already used by more than 30 percent of the population. Snohomish leads with 35 percent. Yet in seven rural counties in eastern Washington, usage drops well below 10 percent. Ferry County ranks lowest, with just 2.5 percent of residents using AI—a tenfold gap compared to the state’s most connected regions. Download the full dataset.

As we’ve learned firsthand from working for a decade on broadband accessibility across the state, this isn’t just a technology gap; it’s an opportunity gap. Because in tomorrow’s economy, those who understand and use AI will do better than those who don’t.

Microsoft Elevate Washington: A homegrown commitment

That’s why today we’re launching Microsoft Elevate Washington—an important new initiative to help ensure that everyone across our home state can access AI technology and develop the skills to use it. We don’t claim to have all the answers, but we’ve shaped this effort in close collaboration with a broad coalition of voices from across Washington. Most importantly, we’re committed to working shoulder to shoulder with educators—because they are the driving force behind our shared vision for the future.

This new initiative will bring the world’s most advanced AI tools and training free of charge to every high school and community college student across our state, regardless of zip code. This is more than a program—it’s a promise to Washington’s 100,000 educators and 500,000 high school and community college students. A promise that they will be equipped with the very best technology to navigate—and help shape—this new era.

We’re backing this commitment with grants to accelerate adoption and innovation, support for early adopters of AI-powered teaching and learning, and professional development for educators to better engage students and lighten administrative workloads.

When we invest in our educators, we invest in our students. And when we invest in our students, we invest in the future of Washington.

What we’re offering

For school districts and community colleges

Starting January 2026, we’ll provide Copilot Studio to Washington State’s 295 school districts and 34 community colleges free of charge for up to three years.  This powerful tool allows administrators and staff to build custom AI agents—no coding required—to help transform how these districts and community colleges support learning.

With Copilot Studio, these institutions can use AI and AI agents to help streamline scheduling, enhance data analysis, support school year planning, and help teachers plan for classes—enabling faster, more informed decision-making and freeing up time for more meaningful student engagement.

In addition, Microsoft will provide up to 10 school districts and 10 community colleges with $25,000 in dedicated technology consulting to help them build and deploy AI agents tailored to their teaching and workplace needs. The company will then help these institutions spread what they learn to administrators and educators across the state to jump-start AI expertise more broadly.

For high school students (grades 9–12)

Beginning July 2026, high school students across Washington will receive free access for up to three years to Copilot Chat, Microsoft 365 desktop apps, Learning Accelerators, and Teams for Education. This will also include AI-powered learning experiences grounded in learning science to help foster critical thinking and engagement and will launch in the coming weeks and months.

These tools will help students build fluency in AI, boost productivity, develop digital literacy, and improve learning outcomes. They will help improve reading fluency and comprehension and build critical information literacy. By tailoring feedback and guidance to each student’s pace and needs, these new AI tools will support academic growth and critical thinking.

For community college students

Microsoft will offer all community college students in Washington State 12 months of free usage of Microsoft 365 Personal, including Copilot integration across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote. This offer, available through November 15, 2025, will help students manage coursework, collaborate on projects, and build digital skills with AI-powered tools. This subscription includes one terabyte of OneDrive cloud storage, Microsoft Defender for security, and creative tools, including Designer for image editing.

For educators

Microsoft will support state education agencies to help provide high-quality AI professional development to educators and administrative staff. Working with Washington’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), the Washington Education Association (WEA), and the National Education Association (NEA), Microsoft will support AI training programs focused on streamlining administrative tasks and enhancing operational efficiencies.

This initiative will make AI professional development available to all 295 public school districts and accessible to all certificated teachers, instructional assistants, and administrative staff. The company will also support the state agencies’ AI Innovation Summit—an in-person and virtual conference hosted by all K–12 agencies—we will help bring together over 1,000 educators, board members, and administrators to explore AI adoption, implementation, and best practices in education.

Additionally, we will deliver Generative AI for Educators training and role-based generative AI training across all 34 community and technical colleges. And we will collaborate with the NEA and WEA to strengthen AI readiness among their local affiliates.

We will back these efforts with cash grants to support Washington’s K-12 schools and community colleges to help educators integrate AI into their preparation and instruction, ultimately enhancing teaching, learning, and efficiency.

Building a movement

All this builds on our global July announcement of Microsoft Elevate, a new business unit focused on supporting schools, colleges, and nonprofits with technology, training, and funding. Through this new initiative, we’ll contribute more than $4 billion over the next 5 years in cash and cloud services to help these institutions around the world advance their missions.

We know that we can’t do this alone and that our success will require a statewide movement. That’s why we’re leaning in with state agencies, school districts, and community organizations to help us reach every corner of our state.

We are collaborating with nonprofits like Code.org to bring the Hour of AI to students across the state, including rallying our 50,000-plus employees in Washington to lead a workshop that showcases real-world applications and student-led innovation.

We’re supporting youth development workers, college and career navigators, and community leaders with tailored generative AI training to help them serve their communities more effectively.

And finally, we’ll launch an open call for innovators to partner with education institutions and build scalable, AI-enabled solutions that improve learning and career readiness. If you’re passionate about education and technology, we want to hear from you.

An enduring commitment to Washington’s future

Microsoft was born in Washington, and our roots run deep. As we look to the future, our commitment is unwavering: to empower every student, every educator, and every community in our state to thrive in the era of AI. Together, we can build a future where Washington leads the nation—and where every young person growing up in our backyard has the chance to achieve more.

We’re inviting every Washingtonian to join us in this journey—because the future of AI isn’t about machines. It’s about people. It’s about creativity. It’s about solving real problems and expanding opportunities broadly.

The post Microsoft Elevate Washington: World-class AI for every student and teacher, right here at home appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

While over 80% of respondents in the 2025 AI in Education Report have already used AI for school, we believe there are significant opportunities to design AI that can better serve each of their needs and broaden access to the latest innovation.¹

That’s why today, we’re announcing AI-powered experiences built for teaching and learning at no additional cost, new integrations in Microsoft 365 apps and Learning Management Systems, and an academic offering for Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Introducing AI-powered teaching and learning

Empowering educators with Teach

We’re introducing Teach to help streamline class prep and adapt AI to support educators’ teaching expertise with intuitive and customizable features. In one place, educators can easily access AI-powered teaching tools to create lesson plans, draft materials like quizzes and rubrics, and quickly make modifications to language, reading level, length, difficulty, alignment to relevant standards, and more.

Teach is rolling out in the Microsoft 365 Copilot app starting today at no additional cost for education customers with more functionality, including Learning Management System (LMS) integration, coming soon. Many of these features are also available in the daily flow of educators using apps like Microsoft Teams and OneNote.

Supporting students with Study and Learn Agent

By creating AI experiences grounded in learning science, we can more effectively support the process of learning for students and shift focus on the use of AI for quick content generation to nurturing the growth of skills over time. We’re bringing Study and Learn, an advanced agent, to students to provide adaptive experiences and help foster critical and reflective thinking. They can choose to work on their understanding, practice with exercises, study a specific topic, or simply chat and select from engaging built-in activities like flashcards, matching, fill-in-the-blank, or quizzes as they go. Study and Learn is coming to preview in November 2025 and will be available at no additional cost.

Learn more about all the latest updates in today’s Education Tech Community blog post.

New integrations in everyday apps for education

Millions of educators, staff, and students ages 13 and older are using Copilot Chat to personalize learning, enhance instruction, and reimagine administrative tasks. In Fulton County Schools, it’s helping to increase student agency and engagement and at Babson College it’s accelerating time to market for the next generation of entrepreneurs. Copilot Chat is included at no additional cost with Microsoft 365 and now available in apps like Outlook and PowerPoint to provide secure AI chat powered by GPT-5 with enterprise data protection and IT controls. Plus, coming to preview in December 2025, it will be accessible in LMSs such as Canvas, Schoology, Brightspace, Blackboard, and Moodle™ through the Microsoft 365 LTI.

Broadening access to the latest AI innovation

We’re excited to introduce an academic offering for Microsoft 365 Copilot in education at $18 (USD) per user per month for educators, staff, and students ages 13 and older starting in December 2025.² Deeply integrated into apps used every day, Microsoft 365 Copilot combines the power of AI with your data—documents, presentations, emails, meetings, chats, institutional knowledge, and more—plus the web to deliver relevant responses with sources. It also delivers cutting-edge capabilities like comprehensive agent access including Researcher and Analyst, Copilot Tuning for increased customization, and the Copilot Control System to protect institutional data.

Microsoft 365 Copilot has helped save significant time for our educators and staff, empowering them to focus on the reason they came into education—supporting student learning and personalizing education in ways that weren’t possible before.

Leigh Williams, CIO, Brisbane Catholic Education

At Brisbane Catholic Education, participating educators saved over 9 hours per week in administrative and planning tasks, allowing more time for enhancing student experiences and wellbeing. Eighty-four percent of users—including students—at the University of South Carolina reported saving between one and five hours per week, with 8 in 10 users reporting satisfaction with Copilot. Professors reported time savings and improved quality in academic output, allowing more focus on higher-value research and mentoring. Meanwhile, administrators reported reduced meeting prep time and improved decision-making through faster data synthesis, and communication teams increased their creative output without sacrificing quality.

Transforming education experiences with agents

Institutions are deepening the use of AI to advance their mission and prepare students for the future while also beginning to demonstrate the potential of agents to transform experiences across teaching, learning, research, and operations. Whether you’re looking to use pre-built solutions, quickly build your own, or develop advanced systems, we’ve made it easy to take the power of generative AI a step further with agents. Simply use natural language to create instructions and select relevant content to begin transforming experiences and processes with customized agents.

The University of South Florida is driving a comprehensive approach across the spectrum of agents. The IT team has built agents to enhance campus experiences and support for topics like travel policy, the IT help desk, or events such as student commencement. They’ve worked with the library, athletics, and are partnering with the College of Medicine to create custom solutions including an advanced accreditation system and interactive student handbooks.

Student Ambassadors built agents for several departments resulting in decreased manual reporting time, expedited inventory analysis, and improved content creation workflows. Their Microsoft 365 Copilot users are also already seeing efficiency gains with Researcher and Analyst to support tasks like annual report development, procurement, billing evaluation, and budget reviews. Next, they’re piloting the use of autonomous agents to drive IT process automation and an agent-driven contact center.

At Broward County Public Schools, academic leaders are creating innovative agents such as an interactive quiz engine to enhance student engagement, a resume and job description analyzer to support career readiness initiatives. They’re also exploring agent use cases like professional development planning, recruitment assistance, newsletter and report drafting, and more. To streamline operations, Broward is building agents to facilitate contract management and improve access to support information for users of their Student Information System.

More ways to get started on your AI journey

No matter where you are on your AI journey, we offer a place to get started, including many options at no additional cost. Educators can take advantage of our Learning Accelerators like Reading Coach to receive immediate feedback and insights powered by AI, Minecraft AI Foundations to build AI literacy in engaging ways with students and families, as well as Khanmigo for Teachers for a suite of standards-aligned tools with no prompting required and Khanmigo Writing Coach for students. GitHub Copilot Pro is available to educators and students for free plus access to dozens of learning resources in the Student Developer Pack.

Many students are not only starting to use AI tools in the classroom, but also at home and for purposes outside of schoolwork like trip or meal planning, shopping, and side hustles. Microsoft 365 Personal is available for use of productivity apps and credits for new AI features. Eligible college students can receive a 50% discount on Microsoft 365 Personal and can sign up for a free 12-month trial for a limited time.

¹ Survey Data – 2025 AI in Education Report

² All prices are in US dollars and accurate as of December 2025. Regional prices will vary based on foreign exchange rates at the moment of ordering SKUs.

The post Designing Microsoft 365 Copilot to empower educators, students, and staff appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella joined the meeting and outlined our commitments to empower teachers and students, build AI skills, and create economic opportunity in a video.

We believe delivering on the real promise of AI depends on how broadly it’s diffused. This requires investment and innovation in AI education, training, and job certification. We applaud the leadership of the First Lady and the White House’s AI Education Task Force. They’re helping to forge a national AI education strategy and partnering with companies across the tech sector and business community.

As we think about this national priority, we think it comes down to three things.

First, empowering teachers and students with the latest AI tools. 

Second, building AI skills. With AI moving faster than any technology in history, the only way to keep up is learning by doing and getting recognized for it.  

Third, creating economic opportunity by connecting these new skills to jobs. Every American should be able to showcase their AI skills and credentials to find new jobs and grow their career. 

Here’s what’s coming from Microsoft: 

• Free Copilot in Microsoft 365 for college students. Today, we are making Microsoft 365 Personal free for 12 months to every college student in the United States. This includes all students attending community colleges. Microsoft 365 Personal includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook with Copilot, our AI assistant, built right in. College students can sign up to access this free offer beginning today through October 31, 2025 (valid university email address required). Learn more.
• Expanded access to our AI tools in schools. Microsoft Elevate will soon build on today’s announcement with expanded access to Copilot to students and teachers in schools, keeping an eye on providing the right tools and education in a safe and age-appropriate manner.
• $1.25 million in educator grants. To celebrate and elevate outstanding teachers, Microsoft Elevate is funding $1.25 million in prizes through the Presidential AI Challenge—recognizing top educators in every state who are leading the way in AI-powered learning. 
• Free LinkedIn Learning AI courses for students and teachers. We’re unlocking free access to LinkedIn Learning courses for teachers and students that guide learners from foundational AI concepts to advanced skills—culminating in LinkedIn certifications that can be added to profiles to boost resumes and open doors to future careers.
• AI training for job seekers and certifications for community colleges. Through new and expanded partnerships with the American Association of Community Colleges and the National Applied AI Consortium, Microsoft Elevate will sponsor no-cost AI training and certifications for faculty and staff, who serve more than 10 million students nationwide, and is providing grants to more than 30 Community Colleges across 28 states to create a community of practice AI peer learning program. Faculty and staff can sign up for training at NAAIC.
• Free LinkedIn Learning AI courses for job seekers. With 70% of AI-related skills expected to shift by 2030, Microsoft will also launch almost 100 AI courses in 15 new LinkedIn Learning paths and host a nationwide AI Learning Challenge to help job seekers build in-demand skills and address the critical skills gap facing today’s workforce. Starting September 29, LinkedIn Learning will host an AI Learning Challenge offering 5 days of intensive, free AI education featuring expert instructors and a list of top AI voices to follow to continue learning every day.

Together, these initiatives represent a powerful investment in America’s future—ensuring that students, teachers, and job seekers across the country have the tools to thrive in the age of AI. 

The post New White House commitments empower teachers, students, and job seekers through AI skilling and learning appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

Back-to-school season is more than a calendar milestone—it’s a moment of anticipation, reflection, and opportunity. For educators, administrators, and staff, it’s a time to reconnect with purpose, reimagine what’s possible, and prepare to meet the evolving needs of students. But it’s also a time of complexity. Rising demands, limited time, and rapid technological change are reshaping education in real time.

At Microsoft Education, we believe AI in education is more than a technological shift—it’s a human opportunity. It’s a chance to empower inclusive, student-centered learning and help educators reclaim time for what matters most: creating impactful learning experiences for all.

Getting started with Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Chat, and AI-powered tools can be easy—and we’re here to support your journey with ideas, resources, and real-world examples to help you build confidence along the way.

1. Streamline your day with Copilot Chat

Educators and education leaders have a wide range of responsibilities—from instructional planning to strategic communications. Copilot Chat is designed to help you simplify those tasks with secure, AI-powered chat.

Not sure where to start? Here are ways to use Copilot Chat to assist you with everyday tasks:

• Create and differentiate lesson plans based on grade level, learning preferences, language needs, or curriculum goals.
• Design rubrics and formative assessments aligned to educational standards.
• Translate Individualized Education Program (IEP) accommodation justifications into plain language to help parents and caregivers understand complex concepts.
• Brainstorm ideas and build assets like agendas, communication strategies, and social media flyers for school events.
• Draft professional communications in multiple formats to keep faculty, staff, families, and school communities informed.
• Build onboarding guides and professional learning agendas to support staff transitions and skill-building goals.
• Write grant proposals and board presentations using clear, structured language for diverse audiences.

Whether you’re personalizing instruction, communicating with stakeholders, or rolling out new technology, Copilot Chat offers ways to reclaim your time and integrate AI into your daily workflow.

2. Empower teen students with Copilot Chat

Copilot Chat is available for students aged 13 and older, opening new opportunities for learning, creativity, and support in and beyond the classroom. With thoughtful implementation, you can empower students to explore ideas, ask questions, and build confidence using AI as a thought partner.

With clear guardrails and intentional integration, Copilot Chat can also support critical thinking, digital literacy, and curiosity—skills that are increasingly valuable in both academic and professional settings. By guiding students in responsible AI use, you can help prepare them to navigate a digital world with confidence.

3. Personalize learning with AI-powered Learning Accelerators

Every student learns differently. Microsoft Learning Accelerators bring AI-powered support into the classroom, helping you deliver more personalized learning experiences. These tools are designed to strengthen foundational skills—such as reading fluency and math proficiency—and promote future-ready skills. They also help simplify lesson planning and offer real-time coaching and feedback to support both teaching and learning.

Reading Progress, Reading Coach, Math Progress, Speaker Coach, and more are seamlessly integrated into Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams for Education, helping you and your students get started quickly. Learning Accelerators offer insights and data visualizations to track progress at both the student and class level—helping to make it easier for you to tailor your instruction to individual needs.

4. Build AI confidence with educator resources

With the right guidance, you can try new tools, build confidence, and use AI in ways that benefit you and your students. Use these free resources designed to support your growth and foster successful outcomes for everyone:

• Microsoft Education AI Toolkit – Get practical guidance on responsible AI use, implementation strategies, and professional learning. The AI Toolkit is designed to help K-20 educators, IT leaders, and decision-makers build confidence and clarity around AI use in education.
• Microsoft Education Resource Center – Explore a curated collection of flexible, easy-to-use technology quick start guides, how-tos, and expert tips to support your next steps with AI. Whether you’re building AI literacy, getting started with AI-powered tools, or scaling adoption, these resources can help turn momentum into meaningful progress.
• Microsoft Learn Educator Center – As part of Microsoft Elevate, we’re putting people first—equipping educators with the skills, knowledge, and tools to thrive with AI through professional development and training that prepares them to lead in a changing world.

5. Learn from schools innovating with AI

Across the world, schools and institutions are using Microsoft AI tools to reimagine learning, teaching, and operations. These real-world examples show how AI can support transformative change—helping education professionals individualize instruction, reclaim time, and operate more efficiently:

• Fulton County Schools, Georgia, in the United States, uses Copilot Chat to empower teen students, streamline lesson planning, and enhance collaboration.
• Education University of Hong Kong Jockey Club Primary School (EdUJCPS), in Hong Kong, developed chatbots and AI assistants that personalize educational materials.
• Tecnológico de Monterrey, in Monterrey, Mexico, created TECgpt, an AI-powered ecosystem built on Azure OpenAI Service, to transform learning experiences.
• Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, in the United States, uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to prepare students with career readiness skills.

What’s next: Enhancing instruction with AI innovation

Microsoft Learning Zone is now available in public preview—a free, AI-powered learning app built for educators to create personalized, adaptive learning experiences.¹ Launching on Copilot+ PCs, Microsoft Surface, and across the Windows ecosystem, this hub combines AI innovation, learning science, and educator feedback to support professional growth.

Microsoft Learning Zone offers tools for lesson creation, customizable learning goals, and data-driven insights to help boost student engagement. Learn more about Microsoft Learning Zone and explore updates to other Microsoft Education tools on the Tech Community blog.

Here to help you thrive with AI

A new academic year marks a fresh chapter—an opportunity to refocus, explore new possibilities, and prepare to meet the changing needs of students. Educators lead this journey with dedication and impact, and we’re committed to supporting your work through innovative tools that help make learning more engaging and outcomes more meaningful. Together, we can elevate education and empower every student to participate in the opportunity of AI.

¹ Microsoft Learning Zone is available with a Copilot+ PC and Microsoft Education license (A1, A3, A5). Initial availability will be English only.

The post 5 ways to use Copilot and AI tools to spark curiosity this school year appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

From small classroom changes to larger system-wide strategies, AI is becoming part of the future of education. The conversation is no longer “if” but “how” as institutions consider what that means for students, educators, and institutions. To better understand this shift, we conducted numerous studies and surveys and collaborated with academic institutions and organizations. The 2025 AI in Education Report explores current AI use, emerging opportunities and leading examples, and what’s next for its role in education.

Here are four key takeaways from the 2025 AI in Education Report:

1. AI adoption is accelerating across education, but training hasn’t kept pace.
2. AI can be a creative and collaborative partner, by complementing—not replacing—traditional learning methods.
3. AI fluency is a workforce imperative, with growing pressure on institutions to prepare students accordingly.
4. AI is helping reimagine learning experiences, but challenges around responsible usage and readiness must be addressed head-on.

We’ve also surveyed academic and IT leaders, educators, and students from around the world—explore the detailed AI in Education Report survey data for more insights.

1. AI adoption is accelerating across education

The report findings show that AI usage in education has surged, with 86% of education organizations now using generative AI—the highest rate of any industry.¹ In the United States:

• Student use of AI for school jumped 26 percentage points from last year.
• Educator use rose 21 percentage points.

From personalized learning in K-12 classrooms to AI-powered administrative tools in universities, institutions are rapidly integrating AI to improve efficiency, engagement, and outcomes.

But it seems that AI training hasn’t kept pace:

• Less than half of US students and global educators say they know a lot about AI.
• Internationally, 76% of leaders say that half or more of AI users at their institution have received AI training.
• Yet 45% of educators globally and 52% of US students say they haven’t received any training.

This mismatch signals a perception gap between what leaders think they’ve delivered, and what students and educators feel they’ve received.

Recommendations

• Share the AI for educators learning path to help educators build confidence and practical skills for using AI in their daily practice.
• Offer ongoing, differentiated professional learning using the AI Skills Navigator.
• Use the Microsoft Education AI Toolkit to guide strategic planning across your institution.

2. AI is a creative and collaborative partner

AI is helping students, educators, and education leaders think more creatively and work more collaboratively. The 2025 AI in Education Report shows that:

• Students are using AI to brainstorm assignments (37%), summarize information (33%), and receive feedback (32%).
• Educators are using it to brainstorm, create, and update lessons (31%), simplify complex topics (24%), and differentiate instruction (23%), freeing up time to focus on student engagement.
• Leaders are using it to streamline operations (35%), provide accessibility tools (33%), and identify opportunities for student growth (33%).

These uses help leaders and educators free up time for engagement, empower students to learn in ways that work best for them, and encourage creative exploration for all.

While AI use is growing, the report findings show that it’s more effective when used to complement—not replace—traditional learning methods. A study from Microsoft Research and Cambridge University Press & Assessment found that students who combined AI tools with note-taking and other methods learned more than those who relied on AI alone.

Recommendations

• Encourage experimentation with Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Chat to explore new ways of enhancing, not replacing, traditional learning methods.
• Use AI-powered Microsoft Learning Accelerators to complement instruction—giving students real-time feedback and supporting you in guiding their learning.

We use Copilot Chat as a brainstorming partner to ideate, but not to actually do our work for us. It helps us collaborate and expand our creativity to think of more ambitious ideas.

Pragya Modgil, student, Johns Creek High School, Fulton County Schools

3. AI fluency is a workforce imperative

AI fluency is becoming a top priority for new workers—alongside fundamentally human skills like conflict mitigation and adaptability. Together, these skills are going to be essential when students enter the new world of work. The report notes that:

• Upwards of 47% of leaders consider upskilling employees in AI is the top workforce strategy for the next 12 to 18 months.
• 66% of leaders say they wouldn’t hire someone without AI literacy skills.

Educators and education leaders acknowledge the need for more AI skills training, with 54% of global educators and 76% of global leaders viewing AI literacy as an essential component of basic education for every student. Today’s students will need to be able to:

• Know how to use AI as an assistant, not as a tool.
• Learn how and when to delegate to AI and when to involve people.
• Think like managers—since it’s likely they’ll be managing AI.

Recommendations

• Explore institutional approaches like the “Teaching with AI” course at Auburn University or the Waterloo Experience Accelerate Program at the University of Waterloo.
• Use the immersive activities in Minecraft Education AI Foundations to teach students both technical and human-centered AI skills.
• Transform teaching and support job readiness with Copilot Chat, available for students 13 and older.

4. AI is helping to reimagine learning experiences

Whether it’s supporting neurodivergent learners, facilitating multilingual communication, or acting as a brainstorming partner, AI is empowering students and educators to explore new ways of thinking and learning together. In a UK-based study, university students and educators said AI helped them overcome creative blocks, explore new topics, and clarify complex content—describing it as a collaborative partner available around the clock.

Yet while AI is expanding new possibilities in education, realizing its full potential requires addressing the concerns it raises. The 2025 AI in Education Report sheds light on the evolving landscape:

• Students are most concerned about being accused of plagiarism or cheating (33%) and becoming too dependent on AI (30%).
• Educators’ top concern is plagiarism (31%), followed by overreliance (21%), misinformation (20%), security (20%), and insufficient training (20%).
• Leaders are most concerned about ethical concerns (21%), lack of IT readiness (20%), and equitable access (18%).

Recommendations from the report to address these concerns include fostering open communication, leaning into always-on training opportunities, and creating space for your community to share and reflect. Together, these actions can help build a more informed, inclusive, and confident culture.

Recommendations

• Read the IDC White Paper, A Blueprint for AI-Ready Campuses, sponsored by Microsoft, for organizational, process, and technological recommendations to shape and advance AI strategy.²
• Explore real-world stories of AI in education from World Traveler School, Brisbane Catholic Education, and Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.
• Get started with AI solutions from Microsoft Education to expand possibilities at your institution.

Creating opportunity through AI in education

While AI familiarity and usage are high across all groups, gaps remain. The insights from this report point to four key challenges facing AI in education:

• Adoption without alignment – Widespread AI use is outpacing training and shared understanding among educators and students.
• Creative potential, cautious optimism – The possibilities with AI are inspiring but must be grounded in proven teaching and learning strategies to be effective.
• Workforce preparation needs – Institutions recognize the importance of AI literacy but need practical support to embed it meaningfully into curriculum and instruction.
• Reimagining learning responsibly – AI offers exciting potential, and realizing that potential will require engaging students and educators to build solutions together through open communication.

To move forward, educators, leaders, and students should work together, adapt in real time, and commit to responsible use of AI. Educators and leaders aren’t asking for bans—they’re calling for high-quality, job-embedded professional learning.

Teachers are saying, ‘I need training, it needs to be high quality, relevant, and job-embedded…’ In reality, people require guidance and that means teachers and administrators going through professional development.

Pat Yongpradit, Chief Academic Officer of Code.org and Lead of TeachAI

AI can be a powerful thought partner and force multiplier—amplifying ideas, streamlining tasks, and unlocking new possibilities for teaching and learning. As you navigate the opportunities and complexities of AI, Microsoft Education is here to support you with tools, training, and insights. Explore the full 2025 AI in Education Report to dive deeper into the data and use the resources in this blog to support your own AI journey.

¹ IDC InfoBrief: sponsored by Microsoft, 2024 Business Opportunity of AI, IDC# US52699124, November 2024. IDC’s 2024 AI opportunity study: Top five AI trends to watch – The Official Microsoft Blog

² IDC White Paper, sponsored by Microsoft, A Blueprint for AI-Ready Campuses: Strategies from the Frontlines of Higher Education, IDC# US53344625, May 2025. AI-ready campuses: Strategies from higher education frontlines | Microsoft Education Blog

The post AI in Education Report: Insights to support teaching and learning appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

To help students stay competitive in college and beyond, FCS realized that both students and staff needed proficiency and support in AI. But for FCS, AI isn’t just about keeping students competitive—it’s about challenging them to do more and empowering them to turn their ideas into reality. Students aren’t just learning how to use AI—they’re using it to push past limitations, break down complex challenges, and bring ambitious projects to life.

To support this vision, FCS set a clear goal: create more personalized, engaging learning experiences while reducing administrative workloads. The district also prioritized a structured and protective environment to help ensure data security and trust in AI adoption. Learn more about how FCS is turning this vision into reality—and what other schools can take from their approach.

From prompt to possibility: Copilot Chat expands student potential

When Copilot Chat was introduced in the school district, the first step was equipping educators and staff with the knowledge to use it effectively. After initial training, educators introduced Copilot Chat to students as a thought partner, provided coaching on topics like prompting, and quickly saw student confidence and curiosity increase.

Students used it to ideate, receive immediate feedback without judgment, design multimedia projects, identify and fix code errors, adjust content based on their preferences or pace, and manage their time. Educators are also now able to challenge them more than ever, and students are using Copilot Chat as a force multiplier to bring their ideas and passions to life in ways they couldn’t previously imagine or access.

We want AI to be as familiar as a textbook or a laptop—an everyday tool that enhances teaching and learning. Students have to be skilled in how to use technology properly before they ever get to college.

Dr. Joe Phillips, Chief Information Officer, Fulton County Schools

Copilot Chat is now generally available for students aged 13 and older, opening new opportunities for learning, creativity, and support in and beyond the classroom. With thoughtful implementation, schools can empower students to explore ideas, ask questions, and build confidence using AI as a thought partner. Learn how to enable and manage Copilot Chat access for students and get started today.

For schools looking to enhance student engagement and digital fluency, Copilot Chat offers a practical, classroom-ready solution. It’s a free, secure AI chat powered by GPT-4o and the ability to maintain IT control with enterprise data protection and management and is included with Microsoft 365. It also includes features like file upload, image generation, Copilot Pages, and agents. Learn more by reviewing our Copilot Chat documentation.

Preparing students for real-world success with AI skills

FCS’ Johns Creek High School has a diverse student body of approximately 1,800. The school’s career tech department provides students with training they’ll need to thrive in the modern workplace. For Jason Gonzalez, a senior at Johns Creek High School, Copilot Chat became more than a tool—it became a launchpad for possibility.

“Before, I had to limit my ideas to whatever I was sure I could do,” says Gonzalez. Now I can push past those limitations, break down complex challenges step-by-step, and apply new concepts in a way that makes sense. It helps me bridge the gap between ideas and execution. It’s not just about helping me build something—it’s about expanding what I believe is possible.”

When the school rolled out Copilot Chat as our official AI tool for students, I thought it was really forward thinking.

Jason Gonzalez, student, Johns Creek High School, Fulton County Schools

When students have access to AI-powered tools like Copilot Chat, they’re not just getting help with tasks—they can gain confidence to take on bigger challenges, think more critically, and begin developing skills that can support their future careers. When students are encouraged to go beyond the assignment and explore their potential, educators have an opportunity to do more than teach content—they can help students prepare for what’s ahead.

Helping students go further with Copilot Chat in the classroom

Using AI responsibly is essential in education, helping students develop critical thinking and digital literacy while maintaining data security and fairness. FCS’s integration of Copilot Chat demonstrates this approach by providing students with a disciplined environment to explore AI while learning about responsible usage.

AI is evolving rapidly, and learning how to use it responsibly now will give me a huge advantage.

Pragya Modgil, student, Johns Creek High School, Fulton County Schools

FCS students are using Copilot Chat to conduct research, create multimedia projects, such as podcasts on historical events, help with coding challenges, 3D modeling, design ideation, time management, academic planning, and accessible technology.

“We use Copilot Chat as a brainstorming partner to ideate, but not to actually do our work for us,” explains Pragya Modgil, a junior at Johns Creek High School. “It helps us collaborate and expand our creativity to think of more ambitious ideas.”

FCS offers an example of how AI can enhance—not replace—instruction. With thoughtful integration and clear guardrails, tools like Copilot Chat have the potential to support deeper learning and spark curiosity. It also has the potential to help students strengthen critical thinking and digital literacy skills that can be valuable in their future careers. By guiding students in how to use AI responsibly, educators can help prepare them not only for future jobs, but also for navigating a digital world with confidence.

Preparing students for the future with Copilot Chat

Students aged 13 and older are able to access Copilot Chat—with enterprise data protection and IT controls. When introduced responsibly and in partnership with educators, we believe that AI has the potential to enrich learning experiences by supporting established teaching practices.

A study from Microsoft Research showed that students often approach AI with strong curiosity, using it to ask deeper, more complex questions that enhance their understanding. Additionally, a LinkedIn report from April 2025 highlights the urgent need to prepare students for a workforce where AI skills—paired with uniquely human abilities—are in growing demand.

As a thought partner, using Copilot Chat in the classroom can help students tackle complex problems, turn big ideas into action, and build real-world AI skills they can apply to jobs and internships. Get your students ready for their futures—Copilot Chat is now available for students aged 13 and older, offering a more curious, creative, and empowered learning environment where AI enhances human potential. Try it today and see how Copilot can enhance teaching and learning in your classroom.

The post How Fulton County Schools use Copilot Chat to empower student innovation appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

We’re inspired by innovative teaching, leading, and learning and excited to share new insights, features for educators and students, and resources to help you get started. Join us in-person at ISTELive 25 and ASCD Annual 25, June 29 – July 2, 2025, in San Antonio, Texas to explore the latest from Microsoft Education with solutions that spark joyful learning and equip educators with AI skills.

Insights from the 2025 AI in Education Report

In times of change and innovation, the need for insights and examples of impact becomes increasingly important. That’s why we’re sharing the 2025 AI in Education Report which highlights key findings across AI usage, concerns, and opportunities alongside learnings and progress from global institutions.

According to the report, AI in education is advancing daily with over 80% of surveyed educators using AI this year, up 21 points from last year as its role expands from just an assistant to a thought partner and force multiplier. At the same time, approximately one in three surveyed United States K-12 educators still lack confidence in using AI effectively and responsibly and more than half of surveyed students report that they have not received AI training.¹

It’s critical to engage with students, educators, and all community stakeholders to address challenges, learn together, and co-develop the path forward. Further, we need to collectively prepare for an AI-powered future and support students in building relevant AI skills as every industry and discipline evolves. Read the report for an overview and explore the detailed survey data for even more insights.

Teachers are saying, ‘I need training, it needs to be high quality, relevant, and job-embedded…’ In reality, people require guidance and that means teachers and administrators going through professional development.

Pat Yongpradit, Chief Academic Officer of Code.org and Lead of TeachAI

Enhancing instruction with Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Learning Zone

Microsoft 365 Copilot delivers the latest AI innovations whether through reasoning agents like Researcher and Analyst, or advanced functionality like Copilot Tuning. Institutions such as Brisbane Catholic Education and Miami Dade College are saving time to reinvest into meaningful work and beginning to explore new capabilities like agents. We’re also collaborating with Learning Management System (LMS) providers like Canvas and Moodle to take the power of agents a step further by supporting integration with Copilot through open-source, customizable samples.

We told our staff: you have permission to try, and permission to fail. That opened the door for teachers to test Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Chat without fear of judgment or wasted time. And guess what? Most of the time, those experiments don’t fail—they spark new ways of thinking.

Shane Tooley, Assistant Principal Curriculum, St. Peter Claver College, Brisbane Catholic Education

We recently introduced the updated Microsoft 365 Copilot app, your hub for the latest functionality and later this year in preview, for AI-powered features for educators. In one place, educators will be able to easily create lesson plans, draft materials like quizzes and rubrics, and quickly make modifications like translation, adjusted reading levels, length, difficulty, alignment to relevant standards, and more.

We’re announcing Microsoft Learning Zone, a free, AI-powered learning app and the first Copilot+ PC experience purpose built for educators to create personalized, adaptive learning activities.² Formerly known as the code name Project Spark, the experience will launch in public preview later this summer on Copilot+ PCs, including Microsoft Surface, and across the Windows ecosystem. It’s powered by new AI innovation, learning science, educator input, and features like lesson creation, customizable tools to meet learning goals, and data-driven insights.

Microsoft Learning Zone is built on collaborations with organizations such as NASA, The Economist Educational Foundation, PBS NewsHour, Figma, and Minecraft Education to bring real-world relevance into the classroom. It also includes integration with Kahoot! to generate interactive games and OpenStax for content from vetted open educational resources.

Using Microsoft Learning Zone in the classroom has been an exciting opportunity to explore innovative ways to engage students. I was impressed by the app’s intuitive layout and how easily I could edit and share content with my class. While still in its early stages, Learning Zone shows great potential for helping teachers create AI-driven educational resources.

Terry Borko, Teacher of Social Studies and Media, Red Deer Lake School

Preparing students for academic and career success

Students at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and University of South Carolina are already seeing academic and career preparedness gains with Microsoft 365 Copilot. Copilot Notebooks are now included, and we’re looking forward to bringing even more value with a study guide experience, in preview later this year. Study guide creation is designed to help students, or educators, turn scattered materials into an organized study space with engaging learning activities and content like podcasts instantly. It will include flashcards, fill in the blanks, matching exercises, quizzes, and the ability to review progress.

In some job interviews recently, I’ve actually been asked about my experience with AI and if I know how to use it efficiently to help manage workflows. Copilot will really help students stay at the forefront of today’s changing world and make them more marketable.

Emma Ernst, Public Relations Student, University of South Carolina

In May 2025, we announced that teen student availability for Copilot Chat and Microsoft 365 Copilot would be coming this summer. We’re now sharing that general availability is expected in late July 2025. To prepare, administrators should review guidance to enable Copilot Chat for students and help ensure appropriate access.

Copilot Chat is included with Microsoft 365 at no additional cost and offers secure AI chat powered by GPT-4o with the ability to maintain IT control through enterprise data protection and management. It also includes features like file upload, image generation, Copilot Pages, and agents. We’re optimistic about the opportunities that lie ahead to help students increase their agency and build skills to prepare for future success. Read more about use cases, reflections, and advice from our global private preview educators and students in the announcement blog and from Johns Creek High School in the following video.

We’re looking forward to continuing to add education value to Microsoft 365 Copilot and you can review the details, learn about additional updates like the Microsoft 365 Education Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI®), and join our preview communities through the Education Tech Community blog.

As AI usage and innovation increases, so does the need for training resources that empower educators and students alike. We’re continuing to provide opportunities to build essential skills—from immersive activities in Minecraft Education AI Foundations, to equipping preservice educators with ISTE+ASCD, providing hands-on cybersecurity experience for students, and offering GitHub Certifications on Microsoft Learn and Pearson VUE.

We’ll also continue highlighting new evidence of impact such as the recent World Bank study in Nigeria, where a pilot program deployed Copilot, which stated that a “cost-effectiveness analysis revealed substantial learning gains, equating to 1.5 to years of ‘business as usual’ schooling, situating the intervention among some of the most cost-effective programs to improve learning outcomes.”

Additional resources

• Microsoft Education AI Toolkit – Designed to guide school leaders through the process of planning for and integrating AI across the institution.
• 2025 AI in Education Report – Learn more about the latest insights on AI in Education from Microsoft.
• AI strategies from the frontlines of higher education – Read the recent IDC White Paper, sponsored by Microsoft and explore perspectives from academic and IT leaders.
• AI Classroom Toolkit – Try this creative resource to introduce AI to teen students that blends engaging narrative stories with instructional information for an immersive and informative learning experience.
• Copilot Chat Adoption Kit – Review the collection of resources for IT, educators, and parents and caregivers to get started with Copilot Chat.
• Minecraft Education AI Foundations – Build AI literacy with Agent and Chicken! AI Foundations offers accessible on-ramps with lessons, immersive content, parent resources, and fun animated videos. Stay tuned for new content coming later this year and join the training cohort to learn more.

Learning from others

• Wichita Public Schools’ AI adoption: How it started, how it’s going
• From skepticism to success: How AI is helping teachers transform classrooms in Peru
• From Chalkboards to Chatbots : Evaluating the Impact of Generative AI on Learning Outcomes in Nigeria
• Crafting skills that matter with Minecraft Education
• Brisbane Catholic Education boosts agency and efficiency with Microsoft 365 Copilot
• Miami Dade College boosts student pass rates by 15% with Microsoft 365 Copilot
• How universities are tapping students and AI to fight the growing threat of cybercrime
• Safeguarding research and innovation: Singapore Management University’s cybersecurity transformation with Microsoft Security solutions
• More Education stories – Discover more examples of how institutions are achieving more with Microsoft Education.

¹ Survey Data – 2025 AI in Education Report

² Microsoft Learning Zone is available with a Copilot+ PC and Microsoft Education license (A1, A3, A5). Initial availability will be English only.

The post Empowering educators with AI innovation and insights appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

Wichita Public Schools (WPS), an early adopter of Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, has thoughtfully integrated AI into their district. Through this ongoing journey, they’ve uncovered practical ways that AI can support accessibility, personalize instruction, and help reduce administrative workload. Their experiences highlight both the potential, and the planning required—from aligning tools with instructional goals to helping ensure educators feel supported and prepared. In May 2025, WPS was honored with the ISTE+ASCD Distinguished District Award—a testament to the district’s ongoing leadership and innovation in education.

As you explore your own AI journey, WPS offers a valuable example of how sustained, intentional AI adoption can create meaningful impact. Try Copilot Chat today and discover the impact AI can have on your school.

Driving innovation through AI

Educators at WPS began their journey with Copilot Chat in 2023, using it in a variety of ways to support teaching and learning. This included creating instructional materials tailored to their students’ needs and translating content to support inclusive learning across the over 100 languages spoken by their diverse student body. This foundational work paved the way for a broader integration of AI throughout the district. 

Building on their early efforts, WPS has started using more advanced AI tools. That includes Microsoft 365 Copilot, which brings AI into apps like Word, Excel, and Microsoft Teams to help amplify creativity and boost productivity for educators, staff, and leaders alike. In addition, the district has developed custom agents tailored to meet specific needs across departments. 

The district also welcomed its first AI specialist, Katelyn Schoenhofer, whose role includes training staff, supporting AI policy development and responsible use, maintaining data integrity. She also helps district leaders, educators, and students understand the role of AI in the future of education. Her work helps ensure that AI is introduced with clarity, consistency, and accountability—and that it’s aligned with the district’s goals. 

Discover the potential of AI to help enhance learning, equip students for the future, boost efficiency and cybersecurity, and free up time for what matters most. 

Intentional AI integration

At WPS, AI adoption is not about chasing trends. It’s a deliberate strategy grounded in human-centered design and professional learning. For WPS, human-centered means prioritizing the needs, values, and well-being of students and educators throughout the process of AI integration, helping to ensure technology enhances—not replaces—human connection and judgment. Staff receive role-specific training before gaining access to Copilot Chat, supporting safe, responsible, and effective use. 

We just wanted to have that human approach. We want to make sure that it’s human centered, with human oversight.

Katelyn Schoenhofer, AI specialist, Wichita Public Schools, United States

When a school adopts Copilot Chat, educators and staff begin with practical training before gradually progressing to more advanced uses—a phased approach shaped by early experiences. This structured rollout helps to build confidence and encourages experimentation, especially in areas like special education and academic resource development. 

WPS’s intentional approach to AI literacy and professional development strategy helps empower educators and administrators to use tools like Copilot Chat confidently to improve instruction, streamline operational processes, and enhance student outcomes.

AI is going to enhance our lives. It’s going to change our lives. And so how do we make sure that we understand that and be methodical, and you know, just intentional about it?

Katelyn Schoenhofer, AI specialist, Wichita Public Schools, United States

To help your team build competency with Copilot, explore the AI for educators learning path. It provides guidance on how to use AI tools responsibly and effectively in educational settings.

Practical AI use cases in education

Lesson planning and instructional support

Educators in WPS have embraced Copilot Chat for the assistance it provides in efficient lesson planning and increasing student engagement. Copilot Chat supports differentiated instruction, facilitates creative brainstorming, and helps adapt content to student interests, supporting accessible learning. WPS educators are using Copilot Chat to customize lessons based on student interests—for example, using pop culture themes to make math concepts like ratios more relatable.

The WPS AI team has extended this even further by developing a collection of custom agents—AI assistants designed to help with specific tasks. These agents assist educators in innovating further by enhancing brainstorming and fostering dialogue to generate meaningful instructional ideas. They identified special education as an area of opportunity for innovation. Special education teams now use a custom agent to help Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) meet both legal requirements and each student’s unique needs.

In practice: Special education teams also use the custom agent to translate IEP accommodation justifications into plain language that educators can use to help parents and caregivers understand complex concepts—a game changer for supporting student success.

Explore more possibilities with the Copilot Scenario Library for education, a collection of real-world examples that demonstrate how educators and leaders can easily use AI to assist with everyday tasks.

Operational and administrative benefits

Outside of the classroom, administrators have also integrated Microsoft 365 Copilot into their workflow to help improve everything from daily tasks to communication to marketing. Leaders and staff throughout the district use Copilot for a range of tasks to help increase their creativity and efficiency—a more recent and evolving use case that extends AI’s impact beyond instruction. Here are some common ways that WPS administrators use Copilot: 

• Marketing material – Improve branding and storytelling for district marketing materials like press releases and flyers, while honing communication and marketing skills.
• Communication efficiency – Analyze emails and provide a list of prioritized action items.
• Data insights – Streamline online enrollment by merging different enrollments into one system, with finance and student information collaboration.
• IT efficiency – Accelerate development timelines for WPS app developers.

I’m seeing that principals love the fact that Microsoft 365 Copilot will read their email and give them action items. That alone, they are saying, wait, this is going to be so much easier.

Dyane Smokorowski, Coordinator of Digital Literacy, Wichita Public Schools, United States

In practice: Dickson, CIO, created a custom agent that drafts detailed Board of Education agendas by uploading simple notes or outlines, streamlining the process and ensuring that all important topics are covered efficiently. What seemed like a small innovation has led to enhanced time savings and eased the burden of this required, repetitive task for Dickson.

Community and family engagement

WPS is using Microsoft Education’s AI tools, including Copilot, to help deepen family and community connections by enhancing communication and collaboration. At one school, a principal used Copilot to brainstorm creative ways for educators to participate in a school talent show. Copilot worked across her institution’s Microsoft 365 environment and pulled together information from OneDrive, Microsoft Teams, and more to provide contextually relevant assistance.

A group of educators at another school used Copilot Chat to help brainstorm and plan engaging activities for an upcoming family engagement event. These are some of the newest ways WPS educators and leaders are exploring AI’s potential—using Copilot as a thought partner to generate ideas tailored to their needs and circumstances, while saving precious time and energy.

Additionally, the district AI leadership team is developing an agent that will help answer parent and caregiver questions around AI and its role in learning. They’re also exploring the use of custom agents to support enrollment, event planning, and policy questions—making it easier for families to stay informed and engaged.

In practice: Copilot Chat can help your team plan events, too. Use Copilot Chat to help brainstorm concepts, draft agendas, develop communication strategies, and design social media flyers for your event. 

Embracing the use of AI in education

At WPS, AI is more than a tool—it’s a catalyst to help improve educational, administrative, and operational processes. With a strong foundation in AI literacy and professional learning, WPS is enhancing staff communication and creating more personalized learning experiences. Their roadmap includes building custom AI tools to deepen insights into student learning, boost digital literacy, and improve accessibility for all students.

The district’s AI leadership team shares their practical tips to guide your own AI journey:

Start with the sticking points. Every school or district has unique challenges—identifying where breakdowns occur helps clarify where AI can make the greatest impact. “Look at the sticking points that you struggle with the most,” says Smokorowski, “Where’s the breakdown?” She encourages teams to focus on real, everyday challenges. “Addressing those sticking points gives the why on what we’re doing.”  

Build collective expertise. AI can play a pivotal role in helping teams build the skills and perspectives needed to tackle complex projects. Solving challenges around data, privacy, and analytics requires shared knowledge across your team. “When you can have a higher level of expertise for every person who works around you,” says Dickson, “[imagine] how much better we can make any organization.” Upskilling your team with AI can lead to meaningful improvements across your school or district.

I think what AI gives you is a perspective that you didn’t know before… and so you can constantly fail. I can ask questions that I might think are stupid, but AI is never going to tell me I’m stupid.

Rob Dickson, Chief Information Officer, Wichita Public Schools, United States

Recognize both the simplicity and significance. For any district exploring AI, it’s important to balance the ease of use with a thoughtful understanding of its deeper, long-term impact. “There’s a simplicity to the use of AI,” suggests Schoenhofer, “but that doesn’t mean the impacts are simple—they’re astounding, and we’re only beginning to understand them.” She recommends educators not to view AI as an “easy button,” but as a powerful tool with far-reaching potential in education and beyond.

Find joy in the journey. No matter the technology, education is ultimately about people—finding joy in helping students succeed makes every challenge worth it. “Find joy in the work,” says Smokorowski “Education is hard, but it’s rewarding. We get into this job so we can see young people exceed their own expectations. This tool helps me design [for] that.” 

AI is already making a difference in educational settings like Wichita Public Schools—enhancing learning, boosting efficiency, and supporting inclusive education. Start your journey with Copilot Chat today to uncover how AI can transform teaching and learning in your school.

The post Wichita Public Schools’ AI adoption: How it started, how it’s going appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

Designed for teachers, instructional leaders, and decision makers, these AI practice activities offer hands-on opportunities to build skills, spark innovation, and support thoughtful integration of AI into your everyday tasks. Download the latest version of the Microsoft Education AI Toolkit to get started.

What’s new in the Microsoft Education AI Toolkit

The Microsoft Education AI Toolkit offers a dynamic collection of resources to help educators and leaders confidently explore and implement AI in your institution. Our latest update includes:

• Refreshed AI Snapshots – Connect with role-based AI scenarios and use cases that reflect real classroom and leadership needs.
• Localized, translated versions – Access the toolkit in your preferred language.
• Updated research resources – Stay informed with the latest studies and strategies for responsible and effective AI use in education.

In addition to being part of the full toolkit, AI Snapshots are available as a standalone resource. This offers additional flexibility to explore practical, role-specific AI usage—whether you’re engaging with the full toolkit or seeking quick, targeted insights.

Educators, school leaders, and administrators can discover scenarios and ideas that align with their unique needs and contexts. Start by browsing the AI Snapshots to find examples that resonate with your role and get ideas for implementation.

Find inspiration in AI activities for educators

School breaks and quieter moments in the academic calendar can be a great time to explore new tools. These six activities are designed to help you build confidence with Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Chat while offering practical ways to build skills, streamline tasks, and spark fresh ideas.

Copilot and Copilot Chat offer unique features for your organization. Copilot Chat provides AI-powered web chat using the latest models, with built-in enterprise data protection at no extra cost. You can view links to sources, generate images, summarize or analyze files, and even use pay-as-you-go agents—all in one place. Microsoft 365 Copilot brings that same intelligence into the apps you use every day, like Word, Excel, and Outlook. It combines the power of AI with your institutional data—documents, presentations, emails, meetings, chats, and more—plus the web to deliver relevant responses with sources.

Activity 1: Celebrate memorable moments

Start your day with something unexpected. Use Copilot Chat to explore a fun or unusual event from that day in history—like a surprising invention, a little-known holiday, or a unique historical first. Then, turn that discovery into a quick classroom activity or conversation starter.

Copy and paste this prompt into Copilot Chat to get started:

What fun events happened on this day in history? Include things like national holidays, inventions, or unusual milestones. Suggest a simple classroom activity I could do with [grade level] students to explore or celebrate that moment.

Activity 2: Transform lesson plans with a twist

For educators new to using Copilot Chat, creating a simple lesson plan can be a great way to get familiar with its features. Start with a basic prompt, review the output, and refine your prompts to get more detailed and tailored responses. This iterative process helps to ensure that your lesson plans are thorough, engaging, and impactful for your students.

Opportunities for your team:

• Educators – Create custom lesson plans to reflect current topics or classroom needs.
• Instructional coaches – Develop templates and engaging resources to support educators.
• Curriculum developers – Design comprehensive standards-aligned materials.

Level up with Microsoft 365 Copilot: Use Copilot in PowerPoint to create a visually appealing presentation based on your lesson plan. Transform your lesson content into slides, incorporating multimedia elements and compelling visuals.

Activity 3: Curate custom reading lists

Design an inclusive book club experience that excites your students—or even your colleagues. Ask Copilot Chat to suggest books based on a theme, grade level, or reading goal. You can go further by prompting it to include discussion questions, vocabulary highlights, or companion activities.

Opportunities for your team:

• Literacy specialists – Prepare resources for home practice that reflect student interests.
• Librarians – Plan a seasonal or themed reading event in the library.
• Paraeducators – Create inclusive book club experiences tailored to students’ interests and reading goals.

Copy and paste this prompt into Copilot Chat:

Design an inclusive book club experience for my [students/colleagues] based on a [theme, grade level, or reading goal]. Suggest a list of books and use evidence-based strategies like Universal Design for Learning (UDL), cognitive diversity, and accessibility best practices. Include discussion questions, vocabulary highlights, and companion activities that support diverse learning needs.

Level up with Microsoft 365 Copilot: Use Copilot in Word or PowerPoint to generate a polished reading guide using your past lessons, student data, or curriculum themes. Copilot can pull from your existing documents to format the list, add parent or caregiver communication, or align suggestions with current instructional goals.

Activity 4: Design your own professional learning adventure

Build new skills with a plan tailored to your goals. Use Copilot Chat to help you design a learning plan based on your timeline and focus areas. Whether it’s tech tools, leadership, or curriculum design, Copilot Chat can break it into steps and adjust as you progress.

Opportunities for your team:

• Instructional technology coaches – Create an engaging implementation plan.
• Educators – Set learning goals that align to your teaching focus.
• Grade level team or department – Identify shared skilling needs and build new skills together.

Level up with Microsoft 365 Copilot: Use Copilot in Word or PowerPoint to turn your growth plan into a professional artifact—like a skilling roadmap, reflection summary, or team presentation—drawing from your past professional learning records, meeting notes, or goal-setting documents. Let Copilot help you structure and polish it for use in performance reviews or team planning.

Activity 5: Tidy up your digital files

Managing digital files can become overwhelming, making it difficult to find essential resources when you need them. Copilot simplifies this process by helping you organize and streamline your files effectively.

Opportunities for your team:

• Educators – Organize lesson plans, student work, and resources for easy access.
• School leaders – Manage important documents and reports efficiently.
• Counselors – Organize student records, counseling notes, and resources to provide timely and meaningful support to students.

Copy and paste this prompt into Copilot Chat:

I’m an educator organizing files like lesson plans, slide decks, handouts, assessments, and grading sheets. Suggest a consistent, scalable file naming convention that includes subject, grade level, date or term, and version.

Level up with Microsoft 365 Copilot: Use Copilot in OneDrive to categorize and tag files, making them easier to search and retrieve when needed.

Activity 6: Discover, share, and inspire with your favorite prompts

Explore the Copilot Prompt Gallery to find practical ideas for using AI in your role—whether you’re in the classroom, coaching, or leading a team. Then, use what you’ve learned to inspire others. Ask Copilot Chat to help you share your favorite tips, prompts, or strategies in formats like newsletters, team updates, or social posts.

Opportunities for your team:

• Educators – Find new use cases tailored to your daily responsibilities and share innovative AI prompts with fellow educators.
• School leaders – Inspire colleagues with practical, ready-to-use ideas.
• IT professionals – Build momentum for AI adoption across your school or team.

Level up with Microsoft 365 Copilot: Use Microsoft 365 Copilot to build a resource or campaign—combine key prompts, outline a rollout plan, and tailor content for your audience.

These AI activities for educators are just the beginning. By trying even one or two, you’ll get a feel for how Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Chat can support your day-to-day work—while helping you build skills for the future.

Ready to elevate your teaching with AI tools? Bookmark this post and download the Microsoft Education AI Toolkit to enhance your educational strategies.

The post 6 inspiring, real-world AI activities for educators appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

A blueprint for AI-ready campuses

IDC identified six common foundational characteristics of advanced AI strategies in Higher Education:

Differentiators – Rather than only focusing on AI-powered automation for efficiency and cost savings, institutions are identifying unique areas where AI can help differentiate and innovate. According to Michael Barker, Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and CIO at UNC, “Our goal is to use AI to enhance our research capabilities and make groundbreaking discoveries that highlight our strengths and differentiate us.”

Guardrails – Institutions are initially focusing on creating guidelines for responsible use and moving toward governance in parallel. Jill Albin-Hill, Deputy CIO of Auburn University, notes, “Our guidelines allow for flexibility and innovation while ensuring that ethical standards are upheld.”

Collaborative Communities – Fostering collaboration, a culture of experimentation, and knowledge sharing helps drive AI initiatives forward. Ruben Mancha, Associate Professor of Information Systems at Babson College, states, “At Babson College, our AI Generator group is a key driver of innovation, providing a platform for our community to collaborate, share best practices, and explore new AI applications.”

Vendor Partnerships – Partnering with a diverse set of technology vendors with advanced AI capabilities and offerings helps institutions access cutting-edge AI tools and expertise. For example, the white paper cites, “Georgia Tech’s AI strategy is deeply intertwined with its partnerships, particularly with major industry players such as Microsoft, OpenAI, and NVIDIA.”

Change Management and Training – Providing comprehensive, ongoing training programs to ensure that all stakeholders, at all levels of the institution, are comfortable and proficient with AI tools is essential. Dr. Asim Ali, Executive Director at Auburn University, remarks, “Our goal is to provide the best environment on campus for students, professional staff, and faculty to learn about different resources, tools, and ideas and to think critically about their impact on society.”

Leadership – Effective AI leadership requires both top-down and bottom-up, grassroots innovation. Christopher Clemens, Provost and Chief Academic Officer at UNC, says, “We want to set the example of what we want AI to do for our institution and give them the tools, skills, and encouragement they need to bring that vision to life.”

Recommendations for advancing AI strategy

The white paper also outlines critical strategic, organizational, process, and technological recommendations to shape and advance AI strategy in higher education. A few highlights include:

• Align AI investments with the institution’s broader strategic vision – Patty Patria, CIO of Babson College, noted, “We have intense interest and demand coming from all areas of the institution. So, we take care to work very closely with everyone to gather feedback, understand what their needs are, and build tools and solutions for them. AI is a strategic capability in our broader toolset to achieve our larger goals.”
• Invest in AI for all – democratize access to diverse AI tools by ensuring all have access to AI resources and innovation.
• Create a flexible and adaptive strategy – adopt an iterative approach, allowing for quick pivots and adjustments based on what works and what doesn’t.
• Measure impact and success – establish clear metrics to ensure alignment to institutional goals and delivery of desired outcomes.
• Foster inclusive decision-making and stakeholder engagement – encourage collaboration across departments, including those who may be skeptical of AI, and ensure that diverse perspectives are considered.
• Allow time and space for AI adoption – Pascal Van Hentenryck at Georgia Tech shared, “We need to balance the urgency of adopting AI with the need to provide a supportive environment where everyone can learn and experiment at their own pace.”
• Ensure AI-ready data – establishing a robust data management strategy is essential for effective AI implementation. As Leo Howell said, “Building strong data engineering teams is crucial for ensuring that our AI models are trained on high-quality, reliable data.”
• Prioritize privacy and security – implement data protection measures, ensure compliance, design AI systems that safeguard sensitive data from the outset.

Explore more insights from leading institutions

Enhancing learning, research, and operations with Microsoft 365 Copilot

The Kelley School of Business at Indiana University is exploring AI to advance business education, career services, and academic research. In an initial study, professors found that students using Microsoft 365 Copilot saw performance improve by 10% and time to complete the task at hand was reduced by 40%.² Students felt that Copilot helped build confidence and prepare for their future careers. Career coaches agreed and have used Copilot Chat to provide more tailored guidance and spend more time engaging students on a one-to-one basis.

At Miami Dade College, leaders implemented AI-powered assistants through Microsoft Copilot Studio, which led to a 15% increase in pass rates and a 12% decrease in dropout rates. They’re also exploring opportunities at every level of the institution and finding benefits for staff in removing administrative burdens, improving work quality, and increasing productivity. Read the Miami Dade College story.

Leaders at the University of South Carolina knew that AI was going to be life changing, but knew they needed to better understand the opportunities first and began working with their first cohort. They received an eight out of ten satisfaction score on surveys, expedited literature reviews, provided more support for students, and prioritized data protection. Watch the University of South Carolina video.

Since our initial story on the University of South Florida, they’ve continued to improve services and efficiencies with AI. Watch their latest video on how they’re using AI tools like Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Studio to spend more time on solving important challenges, reducing the number of help desk tickets, ensuring immediate support, and making their information AI-ready.

Unlocking new opportunities for AI innovation

Institutions like Oregon State University, Auburn University, and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville are employing Microsoft Security Copilot and their students in their security operations centers (SOCs) to combat cybercrime. This approach offers students valuable hands-on experience while helping universities address cybersecurity workforce shortages and the need to build deeper expertise. These initiatives are part of their ongoing journeys as AI-ready campuses.

At Singapore Management University (SMU), Microsoft Security Copilot has led to a significant increase in efficiency, decrease in response times, and greater automation in containment efforts. It eases the workload for SMU’s security teams through AI-powered log correlation, automated playbooks, and real-time threat detection. Edward Panangian Pasaribu, Head of Cybersecurity at SMU, also noted that the “interface is intuitive, which makes everything easier for our security analysts when interacting with the system.” Learn more about their approach to Zero Trust and safeguarding research.

Microsoft Research is pioneering the integration of AI into research processes, driving innovation and efficiency. By using, infusing, and diffusing AI, they are transforming traditional workflows, accelerating scientific discovery, and enhancing AI-human interactions. Their initiatives, such as the Accelerating Foundation Models Research program, aim to democratize AI research, ultimately benefiting both academic researchers and society.

Northern Arizona University is using Willow’s digital twin technology to increase facility efficiencies, manage consumption of resources, and move their sustainability goals forward. They’re now able to bring data together from thousands of sensors to see what’s going on at any given moment and optimize traffic, facilities, and energy with measurable traction.

Building advanced solutions with Azure AI Foundry

Macquarie University developed Virtual Peer, an AI-powered chatbot, to provide students with real-time, around-the-clock academic and administrative support. They conducted a pilot study with 1,400 students and found that 80% of messages were sent outside of standard university operating hours, with a dramatic spike in usage before the final exam. Results also showed students’ exam scores went up by nearly 10% and 72% of survey respondents stated they would be very disappointed if they lost access to Virtual Peer.

The University of Waterloo introduced JADA, short for Job Aggregator Digital Assistant, to streamline the job search process for co-op students. JADA helps consolidate job boards and provides real-time support to enhance student access to job opportunities and ease the application process. It also uses AI to determine strong matches with their skills and knowledge, and tools like JADA are paired with training programs to help students build the skills they’ll need in the future of work.

Leading universities—including UCLA Anderson School of Management, London Business School, California State University Fullerton, the University of Maryland, and Case Western Reserve University—have already adopted Cloudforce’s nebulaONE® platform, deployed securely on Microsoft Azure, to anchor their campus-wide AI strategies. By wrapping Azure OpenAI Service in a private, institution-controlled environment, nebulaONE lets each school spin up custom-branded chatbots, research assistants, and administrative agents while satisfying stringent Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements.

Cloudforce backs the technology with workshop-driven design services, guiding institutions to launch “AI for everyone” environments or zoom in on high-value pilots. Their flexible architecture also lets stakeholders toggle among leading foundation models—from OpenAI’s GPT-4o to Meta’s Llama 3—so faculty, staff, and students can select the ideal engine for nearly every academic or operational use case.

Get started with Microsoft Education

• AI in Education – Learn more about AI in Education including relevant products, stories, resources, FAQs, and more.
• Microsoft Education AI Toolkit – Designed to guide school leaders through the process of planning for and integrating AI across the institution.
• Cloud AI Adoption e-book – Structured guidance that prepares organizations to adopt AI at scale, beginning with key operational processes for creation of a holistic AI strategy. 
• More Education stories – Read additional examples of how institutions are achieving more with Microsoft Education.

¹ IDC White Paper, sponsored by Microsoft, A Blueprint for AI-Ready Campuses: Strategies from the Frontlines of Higher Education, #US53344625, May 2025

² Dennis, A., Kim, A., & Yan, G. (2024, November 20). Copilot in Education: Impact on the Student Learning Experience. Kelley School of Business, Indiana University.

The post AI strategies from the frontlines of higher education appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

Enhance classroom instruction and student engagement

Copilot availability for students 13 and older

Copilot Chat and Microsoft 365 Copilot availability for students aged 13 and older is coming this summer with enterprise data protection and IT controls. A study from Microsoft Research found that most students demonstrated remarkable curiosity when using AI, asking sophisticated questions that extended beyond their task at hand and led to deeper understanding.

Feedback from schools in our preview emphasized the value of training, clear guidelines, and space for students and educators to learn together. As we move forward, we’re focused on providing tools and support that help schools use AI in ways that work best for their communities. We’re optimistic about the opportunities that lie ahead to help students advance their learning and build skills to prepare for success in their future.

Empowering everyone with agents in Copilot Chat

Specialized AI assistants, known as agents, expand the capabilities of generative AI by allowing customization and the ability to work for you or alongside you. Agents can be tailored to support you with expertise in instructional design, unique student preferences, institutional data analysis, and many other tasks. You can build an agent using natural language and additional configuration in Copilot Chat or get started with an agent template.

With Copilot Chat, agents can be accessed and managed directly in the chat and enterprise data protection helps keep your experience safe and secure. Whether you’re building a custom agent or taking advantage of agent templates, there are numerous ways that agents in Copilot Chat can make a positive impact on your day-to-day activities. Get started and discover how agents in Copilot Chat can enhance the way you learn and teach.

New educator features in Reading Coach

Reading Coach, a Microsoft Learning Accelerator, now includes features designed to support educators in guiding and monitoring student reading practice. Educators can create and share custom reading practice, set time-based reading goals, and select passages from the built-in ReadWorks library or allow students to choose from AI-generated stories.

Here’s what’s new:

• Create and share reading experiences – Share your own passages or choose from the robust ReadWorks library to bring high-quality content designed to improve effectiveness and student achievement to your students. They’ll also have the option to explore AI-generated stories that match their interests.
• Encourage independent practice – Encourage students to increase their reading endurance by setting personalized, time-based goals.
• Simplify access – Students can join practice sessions using a link or code, depending on what works best for your classroom.
• Stay connected to progress – Teacher mode offers visibility into how students are engaging with each practice and how their reading is developing over time.
• Use data to guide support – Track time spent reading, passage completion, correct words per minute, and reading accuracy to help inform instruction.

These features are available to educators and students using school-issued Microsoft credentials. Explore the new features and get started today.

Professional learning opportunities

A collection of AI literacy resources

Educators across the world are using AI to streamline lesson planning, personalize instruction, and enhance accessibility. There’s a strong opportunity to boost understanding and use AI more intentionally through professional learning and thoughtful practices. Whether you’re just getting started or looking to refine your AI capabilities, we have free training and resources to help you build AI skills and integrate AI in meaningful and responsible ways.

These resources will help you build confidence in using AI and discover innovative ways to support student learning and save time. Continue growing your expertise by experimenting with AI tools and collaborating with peers to share best practices. Explore our collection of AI skilling resources for you and your students.

Equipping learners with essential AI skills

Over the past few years, companies around the world have seen a paradigm shift in how individuals consume content and attain new skills—changes that will only continue to accelerate and evolve. This shift highlights the need for continuous adaptation to emerging technologies and collaborative efforts to bridge the AI skills gap. Microsoft and Pearson, the world’s lifelong learning company, announced a strategic collaboration to help organizations realize the full value of AI through reskilling.

The partnership extends the efforts of both Microsoft and Pearson to provide AI skilling to people across the globe. Whether you, your team, or your students are just getting started or looking to refine your capabilities, discover learning opportunities to support your journey.

Possibilities for innovation

Become an MIE Expert or Showcase School

The opportunity of AI is here, empowering educators and institutions to drive innovation and redefine possibilities in education. We recognize and support leading educators and schools through the Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Experts and Showcase Schools programs. If you’re leading education innovation for your students, this is your opportunity!

Nominations for the 2025-2026 academic year are open until July 31, 2025. Learn how you can empower your entire community—students, educators, and staff—to achieve better outcomes today and prepare for the opportunities of tomorrow.

Defend against cyberthreats with student SOCs

The Microsoft Student SOC (Security Operations Center) initiative aims to bridge the significant skills gap in the cybersecurity sector and education. This initiative includes the Microsoft Student SOC Toolkit and implementation guide as free resources, along with training and certification to assist leaders at high schools and universities in addressing the cybersecurity challenges faced in education.

Student SOCs are becoming increasingly popular across the US, largely because of the need for an extra set of hands on security teams. With a student SOC, educational institutions can strengthen their cybersecurity defenses while also offering students invaluable hands-on training that equips them with the skills to step confidently into the workforce.

Optimizing AI strategy in higher education

As generative AI is increasingly embraced in higher education, school leaders are rethinking how they teach, conduct research, and support students and staff—driving innovation that’s reshaping the future of higher education. Define your institutional strategy and innovate with confidence by using the Cloud AI Adoption for Higher Education e-book. It offers structured guidance that helps prepare organizations to adopt AI at scale.

To fully harness AI’s potential, it’s important to develop cohesive strategies that align AI adoption with the core mission of your institution, ensuring long-term impact and responsible evolution. Get started with the Cloud AI Adoption for Higher Education e-book to develop an AI strategy and implementation plan.

These are just a few of the latest updates and features available—and we’re not stopping there. Microsoft Education supports educators with tools, features, and resources designed to simplify workflows, enhance student engagement and professional learning, and foster innovation. Explore these tools and updates today—and check back often for more ways to reimagine education with Microsoft.

The post Extend your teaching toolkit with the latest updates from Microsoft Education appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.