Microsoft has unveiled a new set of features for its video conferencing service Teams designed to support educators and learners. These features are set to create a “holistic learning environment for the next chapter of education.”

Microsoft Teams will now begin to provide for personalised learning for every student, organise the online classroom experience and make assignments more engaging. Teachers will also be able to better understand student engagement and the emotional wellbeing of their students. This is while encouraging class participation during synchronous learning for better hybrid and remote classes.

The features will now include:

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• Reading Progress – a new free tool for Microsoft Teams for Education that gives students a less stressful way to improve their reading skills, while helping educators save time, guide class progress and identify areas for one-on-one attention. Whether learning how to read, improving reading fluency or learning a new language, Reading Progress supports students of all ages.
• Supervised Chat in Teams for Education – supports students’ safety in both digital and physical spaces.
• Additional collaboration tools for Teams for Education – these new free tools will make it easier for educators to streamline group work, issue assignments from a variety of third-party apps and help students easily see when assignments are due.
• New updates for Minecraft: Education Edition – including Minecraft for Camps and Clubs, which allows learners to use Minecraft: Education Edition outside the classroom.

“For the past year, teachers have leveraged technology in innovative ways to keep students engaged. Technology went from being a temporary lifeline to facilitate a connection in remote and hybrid learning, to a fully integrated part of many virtual and in-person classrooms,” says Barbara Holzapfel, Microsoft’s Vice President for Education.