Microsoft Teams for Education, when used efficiently, empowers teachers to create a connected, centralised learning environment and collaboration hub. Whether you’re leading a school, teaching in the classroom or managing IT behind the scenes, Teams can bring real benefits, as part of Microsoft for Education, from simplifying communication to improving how lessons and admin are organised.
In this blog, we’ll share top tips and best practices adapted to school leaders, teachers and IT administrators. We’ll cover everything from structuring your Teams environment for clarity to using digital tools like Class Notebooks and Assignments for improved lesson delivery. We’ll also look at ways to cut down on email overload, boost engagement with integrated apps, and ensure digital safeguarding is front and centre.
Microsoft Teams for Education: Top Tips for Teachers
Microsoft Teams for Education is flooded with features that support more than just lesson delivery. It boosts collaboration, encourages independent learning and makes daily school life more efficient for educators. Below, we’ll explore practical tips and best practices to help teachers maximise their use of Teams.
Organise Teams and Channels Effectively from the Start
A well-structured digital environment lays the foundation for everything else. When Teams and Channels are set up with a clear purpose and organisation, it’s easier for teachers and students to stay on track, communicate effortlessly, and find what they need quickly.
Prioritising Well-Organised Teams
Rather than creating multiple Teams for every new school initiative, aim to keep things streamlined. Fewer, clearly labelled Teams make it easier for educators to stay involved, avoid duplication, and use the platform with confidence. Once teachers are familiar with the structure, they’ll find it simpler to carry that organisation over into their classroom Teams.
Understanding Team Types
Microsoft Teams for Education offers four distinct team types, each designed for a precise purpose within a school setting. Choosing the right one helps educators and staff collaborate more effectively, whether you’re managing a classroom or running a professional development group.
Here’s a quick overview of what each team type offers:
Category | Class | Professional Learning Community (PLC) | Staff | Other |
Purpose | Designed for educators and students to collaborate on group projects, assignments, and other academic activities. | Built for educators to collaborate within a professional learning community, such as a department, grade level, or working on a shared goal. | Intended for staff leaders and members to collaborate on school administration and development. | For general collaboration among students and school employees in various interest groups or clubs. |
Membership | Educators serve as team owners, and students are added as team members. | Educators form the team, with other educators joining as members. | Staff leaders act as team owners and can add other staff members as team members. | Any combination of students and school staff can form the team and add members. |
Access Control | Educators have moderation capabilities for student conversations and posts. Students are restricted to writing permissions only in specific areas. | Educators share equal permissions for reading and writing. | Staff leaders manage posting settings. Other staff members have writing permissions only in designated areas. | Team members generally have equal reading and writing permissions unless altered by the team owner(s). |
Key Features | Includes a Class Notebook, Assignments, Conversations, Files, Video and audio calls, Chat (if enabled), and the ability to pin new tabs with documents or sites like Microsoft Forms. | Features a OneNote notebook, Conversations, Files, Meetings, Video and audio calls, Chat (if enabled), and the ability to pin new tabs with documents or sites. | Provides a Staff Notebook, Conversations, Files, Meetings, Video and audio calls, Chat (if enabled), and the ability to pin new tabs with documents or sites. | Offers a OneNote notebook, Conversations, Files, Meetings, Video and audio calls, Chat (if enabled), and the ability to pin new tabs with documents or sites. |
Educational Use | Facilitates assigning, tracking, and reviewing student work; exporting grades; collaborating and communicating within the classroom; making announcements; administering quizzes and polls; working in student groups; sharing and organising rich content; and inviting virtual experts into the classroom. | Supports collaboration within professional learning communities; communicating and making announcements; sharing work; organising virtual or face-to-face meetings; working in smaller groups; and sharing and organising content. | Enables overseeing professional development, staff, and administrative goals; communicating and making announcements; sharing content and progress reports; working in smaller groups; and organising virtual or face-to-face meetings. | Allows for collaboration and communication with team members; making announcements; sharing content; organising virtual or face-to-face meetings; and working in smaller groups. |
By selecting the appropriate team type from the outset, educators can ensure their Teams spaces are well-suited for their needs, saving time and avoiding confusion down the line.
Starting with Staff Teams and Channels
A great way to ease into Microsoft Teams is by starting with staff Teams. This gives school leaders and educators the opportunity to explore the platform in a more relaxed, internal setting before introducing it to the classroom. Whether it’s for managing school improvement projects, planning events, or coordinating safeguarding processes, Staff Teams provide a flexible space for collaboration and staying aligned.
You can set up different Channels within each Team to separate topics or responsibilities, like curriculum planning, CPD, or parent communication. It also lets team leaders invite members from across the school or trust, making cross-department collaboration much more unified. Once staff are comfortable using Teams for their day-to-day work, transitioning to classroom use becomes a much smoother process.
How Staff Teams and Channels Work
Staff Teams are a smart way to organise collaboration around specific school initiatives, whether it’s curriculum development, pastoral care, or a new digital strategy. These Teams can be set up for projects, committees, or ongoing processes, with team leaders inviting the relevant staff members to join.
Within each Team, Channels help keep things orderly and focused. You might create separate Channels for safeguarding, staff training, or parental engagement, each with its own space for conversations, shared files, notes, and useful tools like Microsoft Forms or Planner.
Every Team comes with a “General” Channel by default. This is perfect for announcements, team-wide updates or storing key documents everyone needs quick access to. You can even make the General Channel read-only to avoid clutter and keep important info front and centre.
Organisational Hierarchy and Naming Conventions
Getting your Teams naming structure right from the start can save a lot of time and confusion, especially in larger schools or multi-academy trusts where staff need to navigate multiple Teams daily. When your Teams reflect the school’s organisational hierarchy, it becomes much easier to manage reporting lines, locate information and maintain steadiness across departments.
If you’re using School Data Sync (SDS), this process becomes even smoother. SDS automatically pulls roster data from your MIS and applies consistent naming conventions across the board. But if you’re setting things up manually, it’s worth launching a clear naming system early on.
- For Department or PLC Teams, consider formats such as Subject + Year + Location (e.g., “Physics 2024 Pineview”) or Building Code + Department (e.g., “PHS Science”).
- For all-school Teams, start with your school’s initials (e.g., “PHS Staff Hub”) to keep things easily searchable.
- Class Teams can follow a pattern like School Code + Subject Code + Year Group (e.g., “PHS 11ENG2 24-25”) or simply begin with the teacher’s surname to make them easier to find.
Clear, consistent naming isn’t just organised, it makes navigating Teams more intuitive for everyone involved.
Streamlined Assignment Management
The Assignments tool in Microsoft Teams is a game-changer for classroom organisation. It provides teachers with an effective way to distribute, track, and review student work across all subjects, many of which are accessible through the free Microsoft 365 for Education plan, eliminating the need for a paper trail.
without the paper trail. You can set assignments for the whole class or tailor them to individual learners, making it easier to differentiate tasks and provide meaningful, personalised feedback.
Assignments can include due dates, instructions, and reference materials. Teachers can also allow multiple submissions for formative tasks, supporting a more flexible approach to learning and progress tracking. Customisable rubrics make marking transparent and help align grading with your school’s teaching strategies.
At a minimum, each assignment must have a title, but you can also add tags to help filter and find past assignments quickly. Whether you’re managing homework, coursework, or project-based learning, the Assignments feature keeps everything efficient and centralised, so you can spend less time chasing paperwork and more time teaching.
Learn how to create and manage assignments in Teams.
Control Meeting Settings for Safety and Focus
When it comes to online lessons or virtual meetings, keeping control of the digital classroom is essential. Microsoft Teams provides a range of meeting settings that enable educators to create a safe and focused learning environment.
Start by scheduling meetings within a Team Channel whenever possible. This allows for better visibility, access control, and continuity. Before the session begins, adjust the presenter settings, by default, all students are set as presenters, which can lead to unwanted interruptions. Change the “Who can present” option to “Only me” to prevent students from sharing their screens or muting others. If needed, you can assign the presenter role to specific students later.
To keep order during the session, set “Allow attendees to unmute” to “No,” ensuring students join muted and can only speak when permitted. You can also tighten security by setting “Who can bypass the lobby” to “Only me,” which stops students from entering the meeting unattended.
Managing chat settings is another crucial consideration. You can disable chat entirely, restrict it to “In-meeting only,” or keep it open, depending on the purpose of your session. For more structured sessions, you might want to reduce distractions by turning it off altogether.
Finally, use meeting roles to your advantage. Assign co-organisers or presenters if you need colleagues to help control the session. Attendees have more limited permissions, making it easier to maintain control during lessons or assemblies.
Learn more about Teams meeting roles and settings here.
Ensure a Safe and Controlled Learning Environment with Teams Policies and Policy Packages
Beyond classroom settings, ensuring a safe digital learning environment starts at the admin level. Microsoft Teams policies give IT administrators control over which features, like meetings, messaging, and app access, are available to different user groups. These are managed centrally in the Teams admin centre using admin credentials.
By creating custom policy definitions, schools can tailor Teams settings to suit their specific needs. For example, you might set stringent permissions for students while giving staff more functionality. The “Global (Org-wide default)” policy automatically applies to all new users and should be configured with the most secure settings, ideal for student accounts.
Policies can be assigned in different ways:
- Group policy assignment is the most efficient method for schools, as it automatically applies the right policies when users are added or removed.
- Batch assignments work well for larger organisations with bulk user changes.
- Individual assignments offer a more hands-on approach for smaller schools or tailored updates.
Managing Teams with these policy tools ensures safer, more focused use of the platform across your school or trust.
Monitor Engagement and Provide Feedback
Keeping students engaged and on track is straightforward when you have the right data. Microsoft Teams for Education includes an Insights tab that gives teachers a clear view of student activity, from assignment submissions to participation in conversations.
Insights present spotlighted data points and visualisations to highlight trends in student engagement, helping educators promptly spot who might need extra support. Combined with timely, personalised feedback through the Assignments tab, it creates a more responsive and supportive learning experience.
Explore the Educator’s Guide to Insights in Teams.
Leverage Interactive Tools
Microsoft Teams isn’t just a communication hub; it’s a hands-on teaching tool. During live lessons, utilise screen sharing and the digital whiteboard to bring ideas to life and foster group collaboration.
To check understanding or collect quick feedback, build quizzes and polls using Microsoft Forms, which integrates directly into Teams. For more in-depth activities, breakout rooms allow students to split into smaller groups for discussions or projects. Just note that the meeting organiser must be present to open or close these rooms, and pre-assigning students isn’t currently supported.
These features provide teachers with additional ways to interact, assess, and engage with students, making online lessons more engaging and effective.
Final Thoughts
When set up thoughtfully and used with purpose, Microsoft Teams for Education becomes far more than just a communications tool; it’s an influential digital workspace that supports teaching, learning, and school-wide collaboration. With the right structure, policies, and teaching practices in place, Teams can streamline daily tasks, enhance student engagement, and provide educators with more time to focus on what matters most: teaching.
From classroom management to staff coordination, it brings everything together in one secure, easy-to-use platform, making it an invaluable resource for both teachers and students.
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Looking to enhance teaching with Microsoft Teams? Discover how Qlic’s expert IT support services can help your institution make the most of it.
Microsoft Teams for Education FAQs
How can Microsoft Teams be used for Education?
Microsoft Teams for Education is a powerful communication and collaboration platform designed for schools and universities. It integrates video meetings, chat, file sharing, assignments, class materials, and notes in one place. Educators can create virtual classrooms, distribute assignments, provide feedback, and communicate with students—all for free with a valid school email address.
Does Microsoft Teams have a learning management system (LMS)?
Microsoft Teams does not have a full-featured Learning Management System (LMS) built in. Still, you can simulate one using the Classwork feature and integrated apps, such as Assignments, Grades, and OneNote Class Notebook. However, it lacks features such as progress tracking based on assignment completion or sequential unlocking of tasks.
What is the structure of Teams channels?
Each Team is made up of channels, which help organise discussions and content. There are two types:
- Standard channels – Visible to everyone on the team, used for general collaboration.
- Private channels – Accessible only to a select group within the team, ideal for focused discussions and collaboration.
How do you use Microsoft Teams effectively?
- Avoid duplicate team names to reduce confusion.
- Set up naming conventions for consistency.
- Use chats for one-to-one conversations and channels for group collaboration.
- Make important groups private to reduce distractions.
- Create separate teams for each project or class.
- Encourage the use of the Files tab and organise documents in folders.
- Set up and customise notifications to stay informed without being overwhelmed.
What are the best practices for Microsoft Teams?
Optimising channel organisation can boost productivity and collaboration. Best practices include:
- Reordering Teams for easier access.
- Hiding Teams and channels you don’t frequently use.
- Pinning important channels for quick navigation.
- Creating Teams from existing Microsoft 365 groups to save time.
- Using large Teams for cross-department collaboration.
- Exploring advanced features such as Class Notebook, Reading Progress, or integrated apps like Forms and Flip.
