This past week, our Microsoft Education team was in London for the annual Bett conference, the world’s biggest education technology event and an unmissable gathering of educators, ideas and edtechsolutions.
Microsoft knows teachers are in a constant race to get their learning out every day. And that’s just meeting the standard, before more hard-fought time has to go into personalizing learning for each student. Here are the top new tools and programs to empower inclusive, personalized learning:
Transform Classroom Time with Microsoft Teams and Flipgrid
Microsoft Teams and Flipgrid are proving to be a powerful way to help students find their voice and develop critical social emotional skills, while also giving teachers new platforms for peer-to-peer professional development.
- Grade Syncto connect Teams to your SIS! Say hello to Grade Sync, which automatically sends grades from Teams Assignments directly to your Student Information System (SIS), saving teachers lots of time. Grade Sync will be coming to systems like PowerSchool, Infinite Campus, Capita SIMS and many others soon.
https://youtu.be/OlfdzqDNsE8
- Mobile grading.You asked and Microsoft answered. Now, teachers can grade Teams Assignments from anywhere on an iOS or Android device using the Teams app!
- Turnitin integration. Turnitin allows teachers to check student submissions for multiple forms of plagiarism and helps teach the value of academic integrity, proper attribution, and authentic writing. With our new integration, coming soon, Turnitin subscribers will have access directly within Teams Assignments!
- Free Computer Science Curriculum in Teams with MakeCode! This month, Microsoft will kick off a beta which will allow teachers to access MakeCode, a free platform for creating engaging computer science activities directly within Teams Assignments. Teachers can help students get started building their own programs using drag-and-drop block coding or JavaScript. You can even provide feedback to students and grade.
- Assignments is faster and easier to use.Coming soon, you’ll see a new and simplified assignments experience. With the latest updates, you’ll be able to grade faster than before and save time creating new assignments.
Learning Tools adds live translation in over 60 languages
Today’s classrooms are extremely diverse, and teachers have the incredible responsibility of reaching every student. Since communication is key, Microsoft is including Translator features in more of our Office tools!
Translator in Immersive Reader will be available in Word Online, OneNote Online, OneNote for Windows 10, OneNote iPad, OneNote Mac, Outlook Online, Teams, and Flipgrid. Check out the list of over 60 supported languages.
Whiteboard for EDU now available worldwide
Taking the magical simplicity of an analog whiteboard and adding interactive, collaborative technology, Microsoft Whiteboard for EDU gives the whole class a new space to engage, ideate, and create in real time. Teachers and students can brainstorm and grow ideas on this infinite canvas, coming together on lessons, projects, and more on Windows 10 devices and now iPad. Teachers can also pick up where they left off and never waste time getting back into a lesson, by securely saving boards to the cloud. There they can share them as live links or export them as images.
Research: The importance of student well-being and positive mindsets on achievement and success
Microsoft announced and shared insights from the latest body of research with the Economist Intelligence Unit and our latest vision for education. The research process involved gathered insights from education professionals (teachers, principals, school assistants, librarians) in 15 countries to better understand how positive mindsets and well-being – especially emotional well-being – impact outcomes for students, communities and economies.
The study reinforced that the development of social-emotional skills continues to be a huge priority for schools, with more than 70 percent of schools working on intentional practices that recognize social-emotional SE skills as fundamental, not ornamental. The study also reinforced that emotion is the gatekeeper of cognition and that positive emotional states are linked to both academic achievement and well-being.
Read about additional devices and tools announced here.
Sources:
https://educationblog.microsoft.com/2019/01/whats-new-in-edu-bett-edition/
https://educationblog.microsoft.com/2019/01/whats-new-in-edu-live-bett-day-1/#bettday1-b
https://educationblog.microsoft.com/2019/01/whats-new-in-edu-live-bett-day-2/
https://educationblog.microsoft.com/2019/01/whats-new-in-edu-live-bett-day-3/