Microsoft Teams Guide

Class Team Quick Guide Introduction Microsoft Teams offers some great functionality to help teachers support pupils during their home learning. These include: 

Text conversations with the class including the use of announcement’s, emojis and gifs.

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Teachers can create and share videos with the class.

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Assign work to individuals, groups and the whole class.

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Mark work and provide feedback to pupils.

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Give pupils their very own digital notebook that includes private areas only the pupil and teacher can see, areas where all pupils can work together and areas that only the teacher can modify but pupils can read.

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Voice and Video conferencing with a pupil, a group of pupils and even the whole class.

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Share teachers’ screens, applications and even use a whiteboard with the class.

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Utilise separate subject areas and groups of pupils using channels, allowing all the features of a team in a separate “mini team” environment.

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Include YouTube videos in the conversation with the class.

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Expand teams through additional apps to give even more functionality.

This guide is designed to help teachers quickly gain an understanding of Microsoft Teams.

HOW DO I ACCESS MY TEAM? Online via a browser To access Teams directly please visit: https://teams.microsoft.com Alternatively, you can login to your email in a browser (https://outlook.office365.com) and access Teams by clicking

->

Staff Login School team - Staff can login using your usual school email address and password as required.

Class team – staff use the generic teacher account sent in initial welcome email

Pupil Login Pupils can login using their school network account followed by @school domain. (e.g. 9992013IM@schoolabc.bolton.sch.uk) and their four digit network password.

Download an App For ease of use and better functionality you can install the Teams app on any Windows or Mac computer via the following link:

https://products.office.com/en-gb/microsoft-teams/download-app#desktopAppDownloadregion Click Download Teams and install in the standard way (clicking Next and Finish as appropriate).

Run Teams from the Start menu and login using your usual school email address and password as required.

Using a mobile device Microsoft Teams can be used on mobile and tablet devices. Both Android and Apple have a Microsoft Team app which allows Team use on the go. Search your app store for Microsoft Teams and install. Run Teams on the device and login using your usual school email address and password as required.

Navigating Teams

Activity – Highlights any activity relevant to you, such as personal mentions, file shares, voice/video calls.

Teams – Where you access all the Teams you are a member of. New Teams cannot be created directly but you can email contact@sict.bolton.gov.uk to request additional Teams you may require.

Assignments – Allows the creation and distribution of assignments to individuals or groups of pupils. This area can also be used to mark assignments and provide feedback to pupils.

Calls – Make Audio and Video calls with one or more pupils in the class. You will need a microphone to make audio calls or Webcam to make video calls.

Pupils will need the same to participate but are able to observe without a Microphone or webcam.

Files – Teams includes a file store that is similar to what is found on a school server. Files and folders can be created, uploaded and stored securely. The Microsoft online Office suite (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) are available to everyone in the team to create Office documents and work on them together.

A class materials folder is created by default and is read only for pupils, allowing teachers to share class materials with the class.

A pupil will see a subset of navigation links similar to those below.

A pupil won’t have access to the Calls functionality as they are not able to make calls, however they are able to participate in calls the teacher instigates.

The Assignments area is where pupils can access all their assignments and work on them.

Files provides pupils with access to the files in that Team area/Channel. By default, pupils have readwrite access to all files in the Teams area accept for class materials, but this can be locked down further as required.

Teams Area The Teams area allows you to select any Team you are a member of.

Pupils are likely to only see one, but over time additional Teams could be used.

On your first access to Teams you should see a Welcome to the team! message and it should show you who has been added to the team.

Communicating in the Teams Channel Area

Use this field to communicate with the Team,

Button

Function

Default Access (can be changed)

Expands the text area to allow you to type multiple lines.

Pupil and Teacher

Allows you to add an attachment, which can be selected from the Teams File area or uploaded from the local computer.

Pupil and Teacher

Add smiley gifs.

Pupil and Teacher

Add animations.

Pupil and Teacher

Add stickers.

Pupil and Teacher

Start an Audio/Video conference and share screen, apps or use a whiteboard.

Teacher only, but pupils can join a conference started by teacher

Add a stream (Microsoft version of YouTube).

Pupil and Teacher

Praise someone.

Pupil and Teacher

Add a YouTube video.

Teacher only, but pupils can see the video in team conversations

Add additional apps.

Both, but very limited for pupils

Submit a post.

Pupil and Teacher

Use @ to mention someone directly.

Pupil and Teacher

Using the Top Navigation menu in a Team

The top navigation menu provides quick access to areas within the Team.

The Posts link takes you to the conversation area of the Team/Channel and the Files link takes you to the file store.

Other links can be modified by teachers but the default class team includes:

Class Notebook The Class Notebook is one of the additional features of the Class Team to assist a teacher to run a virtual class.

It consists of 3 areas with different permissions for pupils and teachers. Please see the image below for details.

Additional guides will support the creation and use of a Class Notebook.

Assignments and Grades Assignments enables teachers to create, monitor, mark assignments and provide feedback to pupils. Pupils use the Assignment link to access and complete the assignments.

Grades provides a quick overview of a pupil’s grades and a complete overview of all the grades of the pupils for the teachers.

Further guides will support the creation and use of Assignments.

Clicking

on

allows users to add additional links to areas of the Team. These can include links to

specific files, websites and other apps.

Channels

Channels is a critical part of Teams as it allows the creation of separate areas to allow groups of pupils and teachers to work together on areas just relevant to them. For example, they could be used for subject areas or intervention groups. Access to Channels in located between the left navigation pane and the main conversation area.

Hidden Channels Channels created by other users that you have access to may be displayed as hidden channels. To display them in your Channel area, simply click the hidden channel text,, hover over the Channel you wish to display and click

Adding a Channel To add a new Channel, click

next to the Team title, followed by

Enter a Channel name.

Enter a Description for the Channel.

Privacy A Channel can be assigned as: Standard making the Channel public so everyone in the team has access; or, Private – making the Channel accessible only to specific people. If you don’t have the relevant permission you cannot see or access the channel.

It is recommended to click the check box adjacent to Automatically show the channel … to ensure the channel appears for all users (not hidden).

Select Add to add the Channel.

Important information regarding the Chat functionality Microsoft Teams has the functionality to start 1-1 chats separate to the Team or Channel.

We have disabled this feature for everyone as we could not prevent pupils from using this feature.

A work around for teachers is to utilise Private Channels to include only the pupil and teacher in that Channel.

Please note a Team can have a maximum of 200 Channels which includes any Channels which have been deleted.

What to do first - Teachers The following are a few suggestions a teacher may want to try at the launch of a class Team.

Use a test Channel Its recommend a test Channel is created for staff to experiment with, the Channel can be made private to just the teacher so pupils cannot see it.

To add a new Channel, click next to the Team title, followed by Select private in the options and do not add any members to the channel to make it private to the teacher.

Change Team Picture To personalise the Team it is good practice to change the image as follows: Hover over the Teams icon, located at the top left of screen, select Change team picture and select an image from those available or upload a new picture.

Change Teacher Picture Personalisation helps utilisation and the first step is to change the profile picture as follows: Click the initials located at the top right of the screen followed by clicking the initials again to change the picture.

Ensure all pupils are in the Team Whilst every effort has been taken to ensure all pupils are in the Class Team, it is a good idea to double check.

Access to members is via clicking next to the Team

name, followed by

.

If you cannot see the pupils click to expand the list. If any pupils are missing please email deb.lyons@sict.bolton.gov.uk with the details and we will ensure the missing pupils are added.

Using the process.

button may not work due to the pupils not having been created during the setup

Create any Channels required Using Channels allows the Team to be broken down into areas such as subjects or specific groups of pupils.

Whilst Channels can be created at any time it may be worth giving this some consideration at the start.

Upload Class Materials The Class Materials area is read-only for pupils and allows staff to share files with the class which pupils cannot edit.

Click Use the

or

and browse to the

folder.

button to upload files to the class materials folder.

Whilst this method is limited to files, you can upload complete folders using Windows Explorer.

To upload folders and files within the folder: Click

to enter the Teams file area.

Open Windows Explorer, left click and drag the folder from Windows Explorer to the Teams file area.

Announce the Team in the Chat Click

followed by

and change to

Enter an Announcement and Description, click you want the pupils to follow in the Description.

.

to post to the Chat. It may be useful to include any rules

Use a simple test assignment or task to test the features Create and share an assignment or task with the pupils for them to attempt. Additional guides will support this process.

Try Audio and Video Conferencing with the pupils Test the features of audio and video conferencing with a few pupils before attempting a large group or whole class.

What to do first - Pupils Pupils can be encouraged to do the following first: Change Pupil Picture

Changing the pupil’s picture allows pupils to add personalisation to their profile. Click the initials located at the top right of the screen and click the initials again to change picture

Understand the rules Teachers will discuss with their pupils how to be good Digital Citizens, including keeping personal information safe and the importance of taking regular screen breaks

Children are encouraged to report any concerns they may have to a member of staff Children will conduct themselves in a manner that is conducive to learning

Complete the test assignment or task Once assigned, pupils should be encouraged to complete a simple assignment or task to help become familiar with Teams.

Notes created and supplied by the Schools ICT Unit If you require any further assistance, please email contact@sict.bolton.gov.uk