As a digital technology lead in a school, you have the exciting opportunity of ensuring that your students are engaged in their learning process. Microsoft provides a range of software licenses that can help you achieve this goal.
The current Microsoft agreements provide schools with software licenses that include Microsoft 365 and Minecraft Education Edition. In this blog post, we will discuss some of the Microsoft products that can help you effectively implement digital learning to enhance student engagement in your school.
Microsoft Teams Assignments: Learning Accelerators
Microsoft Teams Assignments is a powerful tool that can help you create and manage assignments for your students. It provides two learning accelerators: Reading Progress and Search Progress.
Reading Progress allows you to track your students’ reading progress and provide feedback on their reading skills. You can upload your own text or choose from the library, and Teams will mark this for you! Storing the recording and feedback are all neatly packaged inside of Teams.
Search Progress helps you track your students’ search skills and provides feedback on their search strategies. These learning accelerators can help you identify areas where your students need more support and provide targeted feedback to help them improve.
Minecraft Education Edition
Minecraft Education Edition (M:EE) is a modified version of Minecraft designed for use in schools. M:EE is a game-based learning platform that promotes creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving in an immersive and secure digital environment. Educators worldwide use the platform to engage students across various levels and curriculums to bring abstract concepts to life, making learning interactive and fun.
M:EE is a great tool for digital technology leads in schools who want to enhance student engagement in their school. By using M:EE, you can create a fun and engaging learning environment that encourages creativity and problem-solving skills in your students.
Here are two examples of using Minecraft: EE to improve student learning:
Design a garden: Students can use Minecraft: EE to design a garden that is 25% carrots, 50% wheat, and 25% beetroot. This activity can help students practice fractions, area, and perimeter, as well as learn about plants and agriculture.
Build a monument: Students can use Minecraft: EE to build a monument to commemorate a historical event. This activity can help students develop research, creativity, and presentation skills, as well as learn about history and culture.
There are over 50 lessons already in Minecraft EE so you can use some of Microsoft’s templates including material covering the STEM curriculum and project-based learning ideas.
Screen recording using Microsoft Stream
Screen recording is a great way to create instructional videos for your students. Microsoft Stream is a video streaming service that allows you to record your screen and share it with your students. You can use it to create instructional videos, tutorials, and other types of content that can help your students learn more effectively.
Screen recording can be especially useful for creating content that is difficult to explain using text or images. The array of features found within Stream will boost engagement levels as it has much of the same functionality as Flip so you can switch up backgrounds and add icons to really hook your students. And best of all, these videos can be easily shared with others or attached to posts in your class team.
Embedding Live Forms into PowerPoint
Microsoft Forms is a tool that allows you to create surveys, quizzes, and polls. You can embed these forms into your PowerPoint presentations to create interactive content for your students. This can help you engage your students and make your presentations more interesting and informative.
Students absolutely love watching the results appear live on the screen and, as an educator, all the results store in your M365 account so you can analyse in more detail at a time that suits. You can also use Microsoft Forms to create assessments that can help you evaluate your students’ understanding of the material. Hit that insert button in PowerPoint and click Forms to check it out for yourself.
In conclusion, Microsoft provides a range of software that can help you effectively implement digital learning to enhance student engagement in your school and we at UTB, can help you get more out of that software and support you and your team of dedicated educators to make a bigger impact inside the classroom.
Start engaging your students with technology you’ve already got access to. Discover new ways to leverage technology to boost student engagement and see their intrinsic motivation soar. Want to chat about how? Jump on a call with our team today.
