Skip to main content

Teaming up for Teaching

 

Microsoft Teams: A complete bunch for online remote teaching

 Recently the Education Department of Gujarat has announced ‘Microsoft Teams’ as a mandatory platform for teaching and learning for all government and grant-in aid schools and colleges across the state. In fact, it is a welcome decision by the authority as Microsoft Teams provides so many interactive features for online education. In time of Covid-19 pandemic, Education has become a kind of emergency remote teaching process which require a perfect online teaching-learning platform. ‘Microsoft Teams’ is such a boon to the teachers and students that they can interact with each-other very effectively.

         After released in 2017 in New York, Microsoft Teams has become one of the most useful Educational packages for many users. It has gained more than 7.5 billion users by April 2020. It is noted that 4.5 million minutes work was done every day in April 2020 by using Microsoft Teams (Wikipedia). So many countries have opted Ms Teams for online education in this pandemic for the reason that it provides not only video conferencing facility but also so many features for educational activities. In short   Ms Teams is a complete bunch to make emergency remote teaching interactive and interesting. Here we will see an over view of features of Ms Teams which make it an educational package.

List of some educational facilities in Microsoft Teams

·         Institutional sign up for 365 A1 educational packages

·         up to 1 TB cloud-based storage facility

·         Classroom creation for different standards or subjects

·         Channel creation in classroom for easy interaction

·         Add and manage faculty and students any time

·         Calendar view for management and monitoring

·         Live class meeting with some important features like attendance, recordings, chat, raise hand, meeting notes, screen share

·         and much more

·         Class Notebook for collaborative writing

·         Adding third party applications like YouTube, Karma, Wikipedia, Insight etc

·         Assigning or scheduling of MCQ test and written Assignment

·         Auto grading of MCQ test, Grading facility for Written Assignments

·         Records of Grades and assignments which can be exported in Excel

·         Record of Faculty-Students activities on MS Teams from Admin centre.

·         Daily or monthly reports on Teacher-students work and activities

These are some of the key features of Ms Teams for the educational activities. In its recent update, Ms Teams has been so much improved for it. It has launched ‘Together Mode’ video meeting so that the students can be seen sitting on chair in front of teachers. This feature really gives look of a real classroom.

The above features are rarely provided by any video-conferencing app being used for online classes in Gujarat nowadays. These facilities prove Ms Teams to be a perfect bunch for online education. In fact, it is an education package itself which can run the remote teaching-learning effectively.

Looking at Ms Teams and its facilities, presently no other app can be better option for remote teaching. The way it avails features for different educational activities like live meetings, collaborative notes, content sharing, assessment, data records, daily reports and much more, it is not less than any classroom itself.

To conclude this, we should never thank Covid-19 for anything but yes it has given us some chance to deal with ICT for education. It has opened doors of online education overnight and forced us to work from home. And by doing so, it has developed some ICT skills in our teachers and students. The platforms like Microsoft Teams have updated their features and facilitated some effective stuffs for online teaching and learning.  We must thank technology for being with us in this critical situation, for being a bridge between students and teachers and keeping education a continuous process.

(Published in 'Sutirth' -a journal by IITE-Gandhinagar OCT-2020)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is Bloom's Taxonomy Still Relevant in 21st Century Education?

Bloom's Taxonomy, a stalwart framework in education since its introduction in 1956, has long been a guiding force in shaping learning objectives and instructional strategies. However, as we navigate the complex landscape of 21st-century education, educators and researchers are raising critical questions about its continued relevance. In this blog post, we'll explore the enduring strengths of Bloom's Taxonomy, the challenges it faces in today's digital age, and the evolving educational landscape that prompts us to reassess its applicability. Bloom's Taxonomy, with its six hierarchical levels ranging from remembering to creating, has provided a structured approach to defining and categorizing cognitive skills. It has been instrumental in curriculum design, assessment development, and instructional planning for decades. 21st Century learning and Bloom's Taxonomy Digital Age Skills: One primary critique is the perceived misalignment with the skills demanded by the
Post a Comment
Read more

Flipped Classroom Mode of learning- Feedback from students

  T he traditional classroom model where the teacher lectures and the students take notes is no longer the only option for delivering quality education. With the advancement of technology, educators are experimenting with new methods of teaching and learning. One such method that has gained popularity in recent years is the Flipped Classroom Model. In this approach, students are introduced to the content outside the classroom, usually through videos or other digital resources, and class time is used for hands-on activities, discussions, and problem-solving. This model has been shown to have many benefits, including increased engagement, improved critical thinking, and better retention of information. In this blog post, we will explore the results of a feedback survey from students who experienced the Flipped Classroom Model and examine its effectiveness in enhancing the learning experience.     In the recently ended 4th semester of B.Ed 2023, I used Flipped classroom model in teaching-
Post a Comment
Read more

Quotes from 'Ikigai- Warm up before the start

  Recently I read a very interesting book named 'Ikigai- The Japanese secret to a long and happy life.' It introduces some inspiring cases and examples of a happy and fit lifestyle that make people live longer and healthier in Japan. The  centenarians of Japan tell so many things about their healthy life in the book that can guide people for the proper way of living. Besides, the book also deals with the issues, problems, and challenges of the present time and suggests some worthy tips and solutions. Here, I am presenting some of the best quotes from the book which can inspire us. But first of all, Let's see the meaning of the word 'Ikigai'. The Japanese word  ikigai i s formed of two Japanese characters, or kanji: 'iki' meaning life, and  'gai'  meaning came or worth. Ikigai, then, is the value of life, or happiness in life. Put simply, it's the reason you get up in the morning.” Quotes- Only staying active will make you want to live a hundred y
6 comments
Read more