Microsoft Teams - What we've learnt

We've been busy testing different ways of creating teaching sessions in Teams and the figure below outlines some of our findings. We've also explained some of our criteria.

Beneath that is also some updates from ICTD on some of the common issues they are seeing and how they can be resolved.

Students receive Outlook invitation

Important if you'd like to send your students an invite that can go into their Outlook calendar

All students can view recording

This allows all of the students who are linked to that Team the ability to watch the recording of the session even if they were not able to attend.

Organiser can manage meeting permissions

This allows the meeting organiser to change the roles of participants. Switching them to attendees which removes their ability to shar their screen or start the recording.

Doesn't require manual entry of email invites

Either scheduling to a channel or using the Meet Now option means you don't have to manually invite all students using their email addresses.

Works in private channels

If you are using private channels to manage seminar groups, the Meet Now option is the best way to ensure all student sin that channel can access the session and recording.

Can download attendance report

It's possible to download an attendance list during a teaching session or afterwards if the session was recorded.

Recording saves to

This indicates where the recording is saved and who has access. For the Meet Now and Scheduled for a channel options, the recording is saved within the Team and all students have access. If you use the outlook version, it is saved in the Chat section of Teams and is a bit trickier to find.

Our Recommendation

So having said all of that, we're currently recommending using the Meet Now option and here's why:

• Quick and easy to set up - Simply click the Meet button within the channel and encourage students to click the Join link that appears in Teams
• Works across all channels - This approach works in both Private and Standard channels

Scheduling for a channel also works really well but as every member of the Team receives the invite (including all teachers) this may not be the best for you.

As ever, if you'd like to discuss which option would work best for you, just get in touch.

Updates from ICTD

Quick Access to Office 365

Firstly, the best way to access Office 365 is to go via the link 365.hull.ac.uk. Not only is it a shorter, more easily remembered link, it also has the benefit of not requiring the user’s email address to be type, it goes straight to our single sign on service (or directly in if you’re using a university managed PC). This should be promoted where ever possible.

Free Office for all students (and academic staff)

It is recommended that students install the Microsoft Teams app on their device (a computer give a better experience than using a mobile phone) and sign in with their University of Hull credentials. Students (and academic staff) are also entitle to install and use Microsoft Office for the duration of their time with us. To install, go to 365.hull.ac.uk and click the “Install Office” button at the top right. Installing Office should also install Microsoft Teams. Further info: KI 0136 How to install Microsoft Office 365 Desktop Applications

Recording meeting in Teams

If you record a meeting in Teams, it automatically uploads to Stream. By default Stream grants any authenticated user the ability to view the recording (i.e. anyone that logged in to Teams and didn’t join as a guest), however, anyone who didn’t attend or joined the session as a guest does not have access. The easies way to resolve this is to grant the module group access to the recording. To do this, go to the Video Details, within the permissions panel search for the module code and add the group. Full details are available at: KI 001182 Microsoft Stream

Team membership queries

ICT have received a number of queries about team membership (mainly about tutors being on a team). Membership of teams is based on the information in SITS and within the timetabling system. If a tutor is not within a team that they are teaching, then they should ensure that they are listed as the module tutor on SITS or that they are timetabled to teach the course. A full explanation and contact details is available here: KI 001230 Microsoft Teams that are automatically created

Removing Teams

As staff are listed as owners of teams, they have the ability to delete them. This is bad, we have seen examples where staff have delete a team, which removes it from all other staff and students. This has a detrimental impact on the student experience and staff must not do this. Instead they should ensure that the systems that are used to populate membership of the team are correct. Again, a full explanation and contact details is available here: KI 001230 Microsoft Teams that are automatically created