Higher Education Remote Learning Support Centre

By Microsoft Education Team Posted on April 7, 2020 at 5:17 am

Average full article read: 15 minutes

We’re here for you

Microsoft is standing by to support Australian Higher Education institutions with their online learning journey during the COVID-19 crisis.

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Higher Education Remote Learning Series

How do you move beyond basic videoconferencing to create an engaged online learning community? Leading Australian academics discuss their approach.

Dr Magdalena Wajrak,
Edith Cowan University
View webinar

Associate Professor Gary Grant,
Griffith University
View webinar

Professor Michael Sankey,
Griffith University
View webinar

Dr David Kellerman,
UNSW
View webinar

Dr Amanda White,
UTS
View webinar

Associate Professor Bardo Fraunholz,
Deakin Business School
View webinar

Download FREE Microsoft Teams

Teams is free for higher education institutions and perfect for remote learning. Easily set up online learning hubs for a faculty, course or intake with live video/audio conferencing, whiteboard, file sharing, chat, apps and real-time collaboration.

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Download the Quick Guide >

Your Questions Answered

Check out our FAQs and resources designed to make remote learning easier for…

Faculty

Where can I get a guide for remote learning?

Remote teaching and learning in Office 365 – A guide for educators and students who are learning remotely. Plan classes, share files, meet virtually and keep up with assignments from your virtual classroom.

How can students get more out of Teams?

Access our Microsoft Educator Centre resource: Microsoft Teams for university students.

What is the easiest way to meet virtually with Microsoft technologies?

The easiest way to stay in communication with students is through Teams. This can be synchronous (real time) or asynchronous (over time).

You can create Teams for classes or groups where you can chat, post messages and files, and video conference from any device. You can create a Class Team where you can schedule online meetings or start an instant meeting, @mention students to get their attention, post announcements, and meet online with to share your screen or collaborate in the whiteboard.

Can I record my classes?

You can record meetings as well as play and share the meetings which also include automated close captions and transcripts.

How can I share content with students?

You can share files in Channels (collaborative) or the Class Materials folder (read-only for students). You may also choose to set up the OneNote Class Notebook for collaboration and individual student work. All of your files, conversations and collaboration are automatically saved in Teams in one central location.

How do I assign assessments?

Your class assignments can be delivered and even graded online using the Assignments tool. Make an assignment as simple or complex as you need, whether you want to send out a quick comprehension check or lay out a research paper with a grading rubric and multiple resources. Assign Office files and quizzes directly within Teams that students can work on and turn in, without needing to leave the app.

What other tools besides Microsoft Teams can I use for engaging remote learning?

Bring the class whiteboard online with Whiteboard or ask your students to weigh in on Flipgrid. Check out the guides for using most Office 365 tools here.

Is there any online training?

You can access the Microsoft Educator Centre for a range of free professional learning courses to help you deliver remote learning using Microsoft technologies for education.

IT Pros

How can I learn more about Teams?

Designed for IT professionals and decision makers, Teams Chalk Talks provide a unique opportunity to learn best practices and practical guidance around some of the most popular and compelling scenarios in Teams. Facilitated by subject matter experts, these online interactive workshops will arm you with insights to enhance your Teams implementation and provide additional value for end users. Get started

Is there a community I can join?

Join the Microsoft Enabling Remote Learning Community, a community for educational institutions around the world looking at remote learning programs with M365 and Teams. Share resources, get your questions answered, and connect with Microsoft engineers about your remote learning needs. Learn more and sign up

What information can I provide to staff who are planning remote learning programs?

The Teams Quick Start Guide for Education – downloadable PDF showing what Teams can do for remote learning. This might be worth sharing with key staff members involved in planning for remote learning.

How do we get Teams set up at our university?

Get started with Teams

How do we set up and get started with using Azure Lab Services?

Access our Azure Labs Services accelerated set up guide

Students

How does a student get set up for learning remotely?

Any student with an eligible institution email can access Office 365 for free at office.com where they can access Microsoft Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and so much more. From here they can open Office apps in their browser or they can select Install Office to download the desktop versions to their own devices including PC, Mac and mobile devices.

How do students carry out remote learning?

Microsoft Teams is a digital hub that brings conversations, content, and apps together in one place. If your lecturers are using Teams, students can collaborate in class and connect with classmates, ask the lecturer questions, work on homework, and track upcoming work.

How does a student study, work and complete tasks in Teams?

Lecturers will use Microsoft Teams differently to facilitate remote learning. Typical activities include class discussions through typed posts or video/audio discussion, in-class quizzes, group work in collaborative files, reading PDFs and websites, and watching pre-recorded videos on specific topics.

If the lecturer uses Teams meetings students will be able to join the call and turn on background blur.

With the assignments app built into Teams, students can see the work their lecturer has assigned, complete and submit the work, and see their grades and feedback. For ongoing day-to-day work their lecturer may use OneNote Class Notebook where students have their own private notebook to take notes, complete tasks, and even practice math equations.

How does a student join a Team?

Institutions and lecturers may manage the Teams setup process differently. Students simply sign in at teams.microsoft.com to see the Teams they have been added to.

If you’re not part of any Teams students can still use their OneDrive to create files and share them with classmates. They might also use the Microsoft Whiteboard app to collaborate on ideas with the class or group.

How do students stay on top of assignments?

If your lecturer uses Teams assignments then students will be able to navigate, turn in, view the grades and even manage assignments on mobile. If students need support with reading, comprehension and written expression you can access Learning Tools across a number of Office and Windows tools.

Students can write great reports and essays with Microsoft Word, stage your story in PowerPoint or captivate the classwith a narrative in Sway. If your lecturer is using OneNote Class Notebook then there are a range of guides you can access to learn more.

Where can we go for more help?

Students have a Help Centre made just for them! It shows how they can use Office 365 for learning, engagement and creativity, with help on everything from the basics of using Teams to ideas for working on group projects. Visit aka.ms/StudentHelpCentre to see how students can work best in Office 365 for remote learning.

Leading learning from home?

Watch and learn with our helpful webinars

From streaming lectures with live captions and translations to using interactive online whiteboards we’ll help you go beyond basic videoconferencing to deliver engaging student experiences.

Microsoft Teams webinar playlist