What’s new for schools in Microsoft Teams in spring 2023? 

Welcome to your guide to what’s new in Microsoft 365 for schools. This blog looks at some of the updates to Microsoft Teams Assignments, the Reading Progress tool and meetings and introduces the new Classwork and Search Coach apps in Teams. 

Welcome to your guide to what’s new in Microsoft 365 for schools in spring 2023. This blog looks at some of the updates to Microsoft Teams Assignments, the Reading Progress tool and meetings and introduces the new Classwork and Search Coach apps in Teams.

Microsoft 365 is a popular tool for many customers, so we’ve created a regular roundup of the most useful new updates for teachers and educators.

Inactive Assignments in Teams.

Teachers can now mark assignments as “inactive”, which has been a popular request among educators who wanted a way to hide specific assignments from the main assignments list. For example, optional assignments and ones not completed by all students.

Simply find and open the Assignment you want to hide, tap the three dots (…) and select Mark as inactive.

The task will be hidden from the assignment list, but you can still access its content in the completed assignment list and your grade book.

Weighted grading in Assignments.

Teachers now have the option to set up weighted grading for assignments in Teams. For example, homework assignments could make up 30% of a student’s final grade, while work in the classroom makes up 50% and weekly quizzes 20%.

Our partners Cloud Design Box have created a video guide, walking you through exactly how to set this up in Teams.

The new Classwork App.

Microsoft is launching one solution to create and organise all class content in Teams.

Classwork allows teachers to organise their resources, assignments, files, links, channels and Class Notebooks into modules that are aligned with their curriculum structure.

We expect more information to be revealed by Microsoft in the coming months.

Search Coach in Teams.

Identifying reliable resources can be tricky for students, but Microsoft has created a new tab app that helps them develop key literacy skills.

The app – dubbed a “search engine with training wheels” – provides real-time coaching to support students in searching the right questions and using advanced search techniques.

Comprehension questions in Reading Progress.

Reading Progress is already a popular tool in Microsoft Teams, supporting educators to monitor and improve their students’ reading fluency.

A long-awaited feature that many teachers have requested is the ability to add reading comprehension questions to Reading Progress assignments… and now Microsoft has announced it’ll be launching this year!

Teachers can add Microsoft Form-style questions to the assignments and monitor both the classes’ reading fluency and comprehension.

Teams meeting templates for education.

Setting up new meetings in Teams can be time-consuming and tedious. Plus, you often need to make sure the meetings have the right settings to ensure the safety and privacy of students.

Microsoft has added some new education-specific Teams meeting templates that allow schools to set up meetings for specific scenarios quickly and safely.

You can find out about the new Class Template and Lecture Template here. 

Our Salamander Integration Suite allows teachers and students instant access to everything they need to teach and learn in Microsoft 365. We sync data from your school or trust’s MIS data to automatically provision user accounts in Microsoft, ensuring that everyone has access to their classes, learning resources and tools. Talk to a member of our team today to find out how we can support your school or trust.