What’s New in Microsoft EDU – October 2024
Welcome to our monthly update for Microsoft Education and thank you so much for being part of our growing community! We’ve been working on some great new updates that we’re excited to share with you, so here’s what’s new this month. Enjoy!
October Topics:
- Classwork Module generation with AI
- Learning Accelerators/Assignments LTI General Availability
- Speaker Progress updates
- Microsoft Reflect updates – Check-in reasons
- Teams for EDU updates
- Minecraft Education updates
- Figma EDU and Microsoft EDU partnership
- Introducing the Turnitin Feedback Studio Integration with Microsoft Teams
1. Classwork Module generation with AI
Using generative AI to create modules in Classwork
Classwork is a built-in app for classes using Teams for Education that helps you manage your curriculum and lets educators create and organize class resources such as Assignments, Files, Links, Channels, Class Notebook pages, and more. With AI enabled Classwork module generation, educators can get assistance creating a course outline and drafting modules and descriptions based on the subject, student grade level, and class learning objectives. The educator is always in the driver’s seat and can choose to edit, delete, or regenerate modules before adding them to Classwork.
When: Globally available now
2. Learning Accelerators / Assignments LTI General Availability
We are pleased to announce general availability of the Teams Assignments integration for Canvas and PowerSchool Schoology Learning! The Teams Assignments integration brings the power of Microsoft Learning Accelerators and generative AI educator tools to your LMS, along with other engaging activities such as Flip videos, Auto-graded Forms, MakeCode projects, Whiteboards, and Reflect check-ins. Grades and feedback are automatically returned to the LMS gradebook.
LMS admin resources for deployment
NOTE: If you have already deployed the Preview for Teams Assignments in Canvas or Schoology Learning you do not have to re-install – just keep enjoying the app!
Educator resources for readiness:
Using Microsoft Teams Assignments in Learning Management Systems
Achieve More with Assignments in your LMS
The new Teams Assignments integration brings unique new capabilities into your LMS, saving educators time, and providing powerful tools to accelerate learning. For example, with Teams assignments you can:
- Leverage AI during assignment creation to rapidly draft assignment descriptions and rubrics
- Accelerate student learning and provide educator insights with Reading, Math, Search, and Speaker Progress assignments
- Deliver auto-graded quizzes with Microsoft Forms
- Access unique assignment types such as Microsoft Whiteboard, MakeCode, and Flip video
- Use Reflect exit check-ins to gain insight into student sentiment related to assignments
Teams Assignments are seamlessly integrated with LMS assignments via the Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) ® v1.3 Advantage standard. As an educator, you can create new Teams assignments or link existing Teams assignments in your LMS course. Once linked, you can view and access those assignments as you would any other assignment in the LMS course. Your students can view and access their Teams assignments in the same way as their other LMS assignments. Assignment grades in Teams are automatically imported into the LMS gradebook. You can now use the best that Teams assignments and your LMS offer working together, instead of working alongside each other.
Create and link Teams Assignments in the LMS course.
Grades and feedback automatically post back to the LMS gradebook.
Leverage Microsoft Education for more than Assignments in your LMS
The new Teams assignments integration is the latest advancement in our continued efforts to bring the full value of Microsoft Education to users of learning management systems. You can already use the capabilities of Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, OneNote Class Notebooks, Microsoft Reflect directly within LMS courses. You can learn more about these integrations with leaning management systems such as Blackboard Learn, Brightspace, Canvas, Schoology Learning and Moodle in our previous overview, and our support page.
When: Available now
3. Speaker Progress updates
The top request for Speaker Progress has been to add support for students adding PowerPoint decks for their assignments. We are excited to announce that we will soon be adding support for Screen Recording and PowerPoint sharing in Speaker Progress. Students will be able to share PPT decks, navigate through them, see their speaker notes, and see Speaker Coach notifications all at once. The screen recording of the entire PowerPoint and student video experience will be recorded and shared back to the educator for review.
When: Rollout beings in late October
New language support coming for Speaker Progress
We are excited to announce that new languages are coming to Speaker Progress! Currently, only English is supported, but later in October and into November, new languages will be rolling out, including Spanish, French, Portuguese (Brazil), German, Polish, Norwegian, Swedish, Dutch and Finnish. Later in the year, we anticipate adding even more languages.
When: Preview begins in late October, global rollout in November
4. Microsoft Reflect updates – Check-in reasons
Elevate your learners’ voices by letting them share the reasons behind their emotions during check-ins, using research-backed options tailored to the specific question. When a student responds, they select their emotion and, if enabled, provide one or more reasons behind their feelings.
Once responses are collected, you can view them in a way that aligns with your focus—whether it’s understanding the overall class dynamics or identifying specific students who need extra support. To help you take action, the reasons are categorized into focus areas, each offering strategies backed by years of research from experts at the Stanford Graduate School of Education.
Reflect check-in reasons empower you to understand why students feel the way they do, view responses in ways that prioritize what matters, and use research-backed strategies to make a positive impact.
Try these new capabilities of Reflect right in your browser, in the new Windows app, in your Microsoft Teams class, or integrated into your LMS. To learn more, visit Reflect website.
When: Available now
5. Teams for EDU updates
Formatted feedback support
We’re excited to introduce Formatted Feedback for Teams Assignments, offering enhanced options for feedback to your students! Now, you can provide detailed and visually engaging feedback with support for bold, italic, underline, bullet points, font color, highlights, and even emojis (Windows + . shortcut).
With up to 10,000 characters of space, teachers have plenty of room to give comprehensive feedback. Need more space? Switch to Expanded View for a larger text input, making it easier than ever to craft detailed responses.
When: Available Now
Screen Recording in Flip Camera for Teachers and Students
We’re expanding the capabilities of Flip Camera with a new Screen Recording feature! Now, both teachers and students can easily record their screen while explaining concepts or demonstrating tasks. Whether a student is walking through a project, or a teacher is guiding through an example, this new tool brings even more interactivity and clarity to assignments.
When: Rolling out in October.
Refreshed grid view experience
Microsoft Teams for Education now has a new refreshed grid view, wherein you will directly be able to get your assignments or classwork for your classes in grid view. This feature will make it easier and faster to get to your assignments, classwork or channels.
When: Rolling out in October.
6. Minecraft Education updates
AI Foundations curriculum
Minecraft Education just released a new set of AI literacy materials called AI Foundations. This program is designed to help students, educators, and families explore AI together and understand how to use AI tools responsibly. Read more about this content in this blog post.
- Watch the AI Adventurers animated series, created with Microsoft’s Democracy Forward team to spark conversations and demystify AI. Download free teaching materials, parent’s guide, and printable poster.
- Fantastic Fairgrounds is a new immersive world that introduces students to ways AI helps us solve problems in the real world. Make career connections in this engaging, essential learning experience available in Minecraft Education and Minecraft Bedrock.
- Learn how to integrate AI Foundations into any classroom with this downloadable curriculum guide which maps this Minecraft AI literacy content to standards.
When: Available now
Teach space science with the James Webb Telescope
Minecraft Education just released a new world and teaching materials to engage students in the wonders of the James Webb Space Telescope, building on Minecraft’s Artemis collection and inspired by NASA. Students can discover NASA’s groundbreaking work in understanding star formation, planet characteristics, and galaxy structures then dive into a creative build challenge to create their own solar system.
When: Available today
New Minecraft Hour of Code
We are celebrating 10 years of Minecraft Hour of Code with a new tutorial in partnership with Code.org and Microsoft. Get ready for Minecraft’s most show-stopping coding lesson yet!
Hour of Code helps anyone learn coding basics in the engaging Minecraft world, with onramps for educators to teach Computer Science, AI and Cyber across the curriculum. Minecraft Hour of Code has reached more than 230 million sessions since 2016, and we are excited to continue this momentum. Stay tuned for the new tutorial, trailer, and supplemental teaching materials coming later this month.
When: Rolling out in late October
7. Figma EDU and Microsoft EDU partnership
It’s back-to-school season, and we’re thrilled to announce our partnership with Figma to bring their professional-grade design and collaboration tools to Microsoft 365 schools! Administrators and school leaders can apply here to get started.
In today’s fast-paced world, skills like collaboration, creativity, and problem solving are more essential than ever. That’s why we’re offering free access to Figma and FigJam enterprise tiers for all K-12 educators and students within Microsoft schools. Figma and FigJam are design and collaboration software used by professional designers, engineers, and makers of all kinds. They can support students in building together—in a fun, interactive space that simultaneously prepares them for future career opportunities.
Here is a list of the 10 great ways to use Figma in the classroom!
When: Applications open now
8. Introducing the Turnitin Feedback Studio Integration with Microsoft Teams
Turnitin Feedback Studio is now integrated with Microsoft Teams, offering a suite of advanced features to enhance your teaching and grading experience.
This integration allows you to leverage Turnitin’s full capabilities for academic integrity, feedback, and grading. You can access best-in-class similarity checking directly within Teams and use intuitive, time-saving tools for formative feedback and grading. This helps students develop writing excellence, critical thinking skills, and career readiness.
Explore these new features in Microsoft Teams today and transform your teaching experience.
Get Started Today
Ready to integrate Turnitin Feedback Studio with Microsoft Teams? Visit Turnitin’s updated help guidance pages for comprehensive admin and instructor FAQs, along with step-by-step instructions on how to install the integration from the Microsoft app store.
And finally, just to recap all the news we have for you this month, here’s a quick review of all the features that are generally available or are rolling out now:
- Classwork AI
- Learning Accelerators and Assignments LTI integration
- Speaker Progress updates
- Reflect updates
- Teams for Education updates
- Minecraft EDU updates
- Figma EDU and Microsoft EDU partnership
- Turn-in-In Feedback studio integration
Have any feedback to share with us? As always, we’d love to hear it!
Mike Tholfsen
Group Product Manager
Microsoft Education
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/education-blog/what-s-new-in-microsoft-edu-october-2024/ba-p/4263123 https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/education-blog/what-s-new-in-microsoft-edu-october-2024/ba-p/4263123 2024-10-08 13:10:16Z