With another school year beginning, we thought it would be a great time to talk about using Microsoft 365 in the classroom. This suite of productivity apps is constantly growing and improving, and new accessibility features and educationally focused improvements are constantly being added. Especially with the unique challenges that we are faced with in 2020, virtual learning has never been more essential, and Microsoft 365 has improved greatly in its ability to provide students and teachers with an accessible, dynamic, and user-friendly learning and productivity platform.
With that in mind, we’ve put together a list of tips, links, and resources to help you get the most out of using Microsoft 365 in the classroom:
Collaborate With OneNote + Class Notebook
OneNote is one of our favorite note-taking/productivity apps because it’s easy to use, syncs across all devices, offers lots of accessibility options, and it presents information in a highly structured format. The Class Notebook add-in makes this app even better for teachers as it adds a personal workspace for each student, page and section distribution, a content library, reviews of students work, and a space to collaborate on lessons and other group activities. To learn more about the Class Notebook add-in, click here(new window).
Communicate With Teams
Teams is a powerful communication tool that allows teachers to collaborate and communicate with colleagues and students, create and share assignments, track grades, and much more. Teams also integrates with other Microsoft 365 apps, so it serves as a convenient central platform for everything related to Microsoft in the classroom. Teams also supports screen readers and other accessibility features(new window). To learn more about using Teams in the classroom, check out this very handy Quick Start Guide(new window) for teachers.
Create With Microsoft Apps Including Sway
Microsoft’s tried and true core productivity apps are still going strong with new accessibility features being added all the time. PowerPoint offers real-time closed captioning, so students with hearing challenges can follow on. Word now features a built-in Immersive Reader function, so students of different learning styles can stay productive while writing. And, with Windows 10 offering built-in dictation, students can take advantage of free text-to-speech and speech-to-text functionality.
Sway is a relatively new entry into the Microsoft Office suite, and it offers some interesting possibilities when it comes to presenting classroom content in a unique and dynamic way. Sway is a multi-media presentation tool that allows users to combine text, images, video, and audio into a unique, accessible, and visually striking product. A “Sway” looks and acts a lot like a web page, and it serves as a good introduction to the fundamentals of entry-level website design. And because Sway supports text, images, videos, and audio, users can easily create content that is accessible for virtually any learning style. To learn more about creating accessible content with Sway, including how to enable alt-text or closed captioning, check out Microsoft’s Sway Accessibility guide here(new window).
Access More Resources
Microsoft has done a great job of making online resources available to teachers. If you’re struggling with using Microsoft 365 in the classroom, or you just want to learn more, take a look at the resources below.
Microsoft Educator Center(new window)
Take a look at the Microsoft Educator page for teacher-designed courses, webinars, lesson plans, and much more.
Microsoft Resource Center(new window)
Click here for a larger collection of classroom-oriented resources including case studies, links, educational frameworks, and more.
Remote Learning Resources(new window)
Check out this page for links, guides, and other at-home learning resources.
