Microsoft Teams is a Microsoft application that brings people together to work as a group. All members within the team will be able to have conversations, meetings, share and collaborate on files, and use apps together all in one place. Because it’s built on Office 365, familiar Office apps and services are integrated into Teams.
Usage Policy
Teams is recognised as a useful tool to facilitate group work, deliver and record content and encourage socialisation. It is essential that you follow the University’s Usage Policy for using Microsoft Teams.
You must make sure that you add another lecturer or manager to your Team as an owner. This video will show you how to do this.
Microsoft Teams permits you to add or invite any member of staff and student to join your Team. This gives maximum flexibility. However, you will need to consider how you are going to structure your Team sites, for instance, by module, by year group, by task or project. Adding and using channels within your Microsoft Team will help with this.
It is important to note that students have the option to join your Microsoft Team, they are not automatically enrolled onto it, like other University sites eg. Course Resources (Blackboard) they can also leave your Microsoft Teams site as and when they choose. So you will need to put a mechanism in place to ensure students are accessing and engaging in your Microsoft Team.
You should agree a consistent programme approach to using Teams. There should be a link from your Course Resources (Blackboard) module to the Microsoft Teams site and you should make it clear to students what the Microsoft Teams site is being used for and expectations of use.
How to set up a Team
Teams can be set up for groups made up of only staff members, student and staff members or only student members.
- See this guide on how to set up a Microsoft Team
- Sharing a Team code with people to join your Team
- How to join a Team with a Teams code
Functionality within Microsoft Teams
Channels: Help you to organise your Microsoft Team. You could create channels for each topic or project that you are working on together. They give you additional sections for your Team. Overview of Teams and Channels
Private Channels: Channels can also be set to private, so only the person/people that you permit can see that channel and the information within it. Create and use private channels
Posts: Team members can have conversations with one another, all in one place and visible to all Team members in the Posts area Create and format a post
Files: You can upload, share and collaborate on the same files together, attach files to the Posts area or upload them to the Files area. Note in the files area you can organise your files into folders.
Chats and Calls: Within Microsoft Teams, you can use chats and calls to talk to any staff or student. This could be a 1 to 1 call or text chat or a group call or text chat. This can be a video or audio call or text chat. You can also share your screen with one other.
You do not need to be in a Microsoft Team with the person/people you want to communicate with to do this. If you are in a Team with this person/people then chats and calls permit you to talk to Team members away from the main posts area.
Online Meetings: You can meet Team members and invite external members to meet online. Within the meeting all members can share their PowerPoint and present to those in the meeting. All members can also share their screen and you can record the meeting, so that everyone can recall and review it later.
It is possible to set up a meeting instantly or schedule a Teams meeting for a later date.
TIP: It is a good idea to mute your audio (microphone icon should be crossed out) if you are not talking, to limit the background noise and feedback. Etiquette for successful online Microsoft Team meetings (from UCLAN)
- How to create an instant meeting with your Team
- Schedule a Meeting with your Team
- How to join a meeting
- Show PowerPoint slides in a meeting
- Show your screen
- How to mute others microphones in a meeting
- Recording your meeting and calls
- Meeting notes and chat pane
- How to stop people from muting or kicking others from a meeting (and allow specific people to be presenters)
- Create and manage Break out rooms during a meeting
Apps: Are available within Teams, so you can integrate them into your Teams site, so you don’t need to exit your Team to use them. There are a range of apps that you can select from, such as Trello and Polly.
Teams on a mobile device
You can access Teams on a mobile device by downloading the Microsoft Teams app. You will need to log in with your University of Derby username and password.
Setting up ‘Quiet Hours’ on your mobile device
Student Guides: Students can access Office 365 and Microsoft Teams from UDO, they will need to sign in with their University of Derby username and password. They can also download the app to use on their mobile device. Students are also able to make their own Teams to communicate with one another. Help information for students is also available through the Office 365 tile on UDo.
How students can join a Microsoft Team with a Team code
You may also find the following from IT Services useful