Microsoft Teams in Education

[Commander_Data]

Hello everyone,

I am working on a project revolving around using Microsoft Teams in the classroom for the academy that I work for which covers 2 secondary schools. I am currently doing a course on the subject on LinkedIn learning, does anyone have any experience on the subject?

[MartinT]

I too am rolling out Teams in conjunction with Office 365, OneNote, Forms etc. We've got AD sync working so are now able to add all our users to product licences and Teams.

 

It's all new here so I'm not sure I can help much, but very happy to swap ideas.

[Dos_Box]

You can view the session Microsoft did for us on Teams in education here which was quite an informative 45 mins -

 

[Commander_Data]

Thanks will do, my only concern so far is how to actually create teams and change teams around on a mass scale. For example, we use SIMS so I am thinking is there a way to export the class list from SIMS to Teams.

I am actually useless with SIMS, but we do work with a helpdesk and they provide support on SIM Issues. I will let you know how I get on. However, it mostly boils down to the network manager.

 

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Thanks I will view it after I finish the Linkedin Learning course

[robyholmes]

Thanks will do, my only concern so far is how to actually create teams and change teams around on a mass scale. For example, we use SIMS so I am thinking is there a way to export the class list from SIMS to Teams.

I am actually useless with SIMS, but we do work with a helpdesk and they provide support on SIM Issues. I will let you know how I get on. However, it mostly boils down to the network manager.

 

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Thanks I will view it after I finish the Linkedin Learning course

Have a look at sds.microsoft.com Export from SIMs, change format a little and import. It then creates all your classes as teams. There's a year end process as well.

 

I found some useful report definitions on here as well so have a search for them before you make your own.

[MicrodigitUK]

My suggestion would to work with a partner with expertise in all things Office 365 Teams. Cloud Design Box have a very customisable off-the-shelf package to meet all your needs and the expertise in ongoing support and maintenance. https://www.clouddesignbox.co.uk

[Commander_Data]

Thanks I will try it out, right now I am trying to construct a basic outline so I can present to the network manager. I will let you know how I get on.

[Driftingforlife]

One thing to note which is a problem we are having is that even with the machine wide installer, teams installs 400+MB of junk into the profile of each user which is a killer if you have roaming profiles and even worse if you have quotas on them.

[Commander_Data]

I have found a couple of things which I am looking through:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVtxHfzyr8I

 

https://id.sims.co.uk/support/wiki/41#Introducing-API-based-automatic-provisioning-to-Microsoft-SDS

[mavhc]

Do you need to install the app if it works in the browser anyway?

[DrCheese]

Do you need to install the app if it works in the browser anyway?

 

It moans at you everytime you open it to install the native app (& Unless you've applockered/whitelisted it will allow users to install it)

[HPlum78]

Three tips on teams:-

Make sure you have outlined what data is allowed to be stored in a team space, this should be stright forward as you can use your data classification policy to inform your teams policy. (nothing with any degree of sensitivity in a team)

 

Life cycle management is an absolute must, make sure that teams that are no longer relevant or required are cleaned up and those that are have at least two owners and anything else that you are going to require as a minimum for the team to stay compliant. Scripts and the REST API are your friends here.

 

Make sure that you are clear that teams are not a permanent record store.

[mavhc]

But of course they're going to be a permanent record store. If your class has done a lot of work in a team, why destroy it?

[HPlum78]

So when a class/ department or project that leverages a team dispands you are suggesting that there is no life cycle management for it?

 

We run teams and are clear that after the team has dispanded then any output needs transfering to our permanent record store(s) and the team is then deleted as it would be a GDPR/ information assurance nightmare is how the information assurance department put it. I am not suggesting that your IAS departments would have the same views if you could develop a solution around every minute detail of what comes with running long lived unmanaged teams.

Edited August 9, 2019 by HPlum78

[mavhc]

Classes are ended every term/year, 100s of them. What's going to happen to the evidence that the students worked on things? Or used the system for bad purposes.

 

Much less of a GDPR nightmare as it's structured data, easy to find what John Smith said, rather than John Smith, the student with the same name.

[HPlum78]

So those records go on the student record system teams is not a student record system from what I know. There has been some inroads in to governance (I have just been reading) and is probably worth a review thing is as I have just noted its not your primary student record system. We use it to run projects in IT Services but the output is not kept in the team its move to our service catalogue.

[mavhc]

Normally the record system is the books the students have written in, that's their notes for revision etc. If they've written in Teams then the teams need to still exist to refer back to.

 

How do students, and teachers, and parents, find their work?