{"id":234029,"date":"2020-03-11T11:30:18","date_gmt":"2020-03-11T18:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/?p=234029"},"modified":"2022-06-29T07:46:53","modified_gmt":"2022-06-29T14:46:53","slug":"helping-teachers-students-switch-remote-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/microsoft-365\/blog\/2020\/03\/11\/helping-teachers-students-switch-remote-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping teachers and students make the switch to remote learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the past <\/span>two weeks<\/span>, we<\/span>\u2019v<\/span>e published a series of blog posts aimed at helping our customers <\/span>during <\/span>the COVID-19 outbreak. In <\/span>one of them<\/span>, I shared <\/span>a letter from Lily Zheng<\/span><\/a>, our <\/span>friend and coworker<\/span> in Shanghai<\/span>. Lily\u2019s letter<\/span> included lessons<\/span> <\/span>she\u2019d gathered<\/span> from <\/span>China-based E<\/span>ducation customers who<\/span> moved to 100 percent remote learning <\/span>back in February<\/span>.<\/span> <\/span>Faced with delaying the term, these schools sprung into action, quickly migrating their entire curriculum online. <\/span>A<\/span>nd a<\/span>s countries around the world are impacted by the outbreak, many more educational organizations will<\/span> need to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\n

We want<\/span> to help<\/span>.<\/span> <\/span>My colleague <\/span>Barbara Holzapfel and her team <\/span>focus on creating technology for schools and universities<\/span>,<\/span> and they count a number of <\/span>remote-learning <\/span>educators<\/span> among their customers. <\/span>S<\/span>he has <\/span>asked <\/span>some of these<\/span> <\/span>experts<\/span> to <\/span>share<\/span> the<\/span> remote-learning <\/span>tips <\/span>that <\/span>they\u2019ve gathered over the year<\/span>s<\/span>. <\/span>From <\/span>preserving student-teacher 1:1s<\/span> to bringing lessons to life in the virtual classroom, it\u2019s <\/span>rich with useful advice for <\/span>any <\/span>educational organization <\/span>that may soon be moving online<\/span>. <\/span>Take it away, Barbara.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Making remote learning effective and engaging with Microsoft for Education<\/h3>\n

In the weeks since the COVID-19 outbreak first hit China, our Education customers in the region have done amazing things to keep students learning while they transition to learning remotely. From e-learning innovations<\/a> to keeping students\u2019 spirits high with photo and cooking challenges<\/a>, teachers and students have shown extraordinary resilience during this difficult time.<\/p>\n

Now, as countries around the world take steps to contain the virus, many schools and universities globally are moving classes online. Teaching and learning from home is a big change for most students and educators. Without a physical classroom, how can you check that students are engaged and progressing? How do educators and faculty stay connected?<\/p>\n

We want to help ease the transition, so we have asked experienced online educators\u2014including Catholic Education Western Australia (CEWA)<\/a> and O’Dea High School<\/a> here in Seattle\u2014to share the tips they\u2019ve gathered over years in remote education.<\/p>\n

But we also want to do more. Microsoft Teams is available for free to educational institutions through the Office 365 A1 offer<\/a>. This provides a completely free customized hub for class teamwork with Teams that includes video meetings, online versions of the Office 365 apps, as well as compliance tools, and information protection.<\/p>\n

Moving to a virtual classroom<\/h3>\n

As schools move to a remote learning environment, Teams can provide an online classroom that brings together virtual face-to-face connections, assignments, files, and conversations into a single platform accessible on a mobile device, tablet, PC, or browser.<\/p>\n

To help make this process as simple as possible, we have created a best practices<\/a> guide for school leaders and IT<\/strong> to get up and running quickly, so their students and staff to begin communicating remotely.<\/p>\n

Once Teams is set up, educators and staff<\/strong> have the ability to create their own class in Teams<\/a>, add selected students, share lessons, create assignments, collaborate virtually in real-time, and do grading and provide personalized feedback all in one hub.<\/p>\n

A few quick tips from expert educators<\/strong> to help you get started:<\/p>\n