{"id":111831,"date":"2020-04-21T18:28:07","date_gmt":"2020-04-21T18:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.microsoft.com\/?p=437240"},"modified":"2020-04-21T18:28:07","modified_gmt":"2020-04-21T18:28:07","slug":"whats-new-in-edu-free-resources-to-support-engaging-accessible-remote-learning-lessons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2020\/04\/21\/whats-new-in-edu-free-resources-to-support-engaging-accessible-remote-learning-lessons\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s New in EDU: Free resources to support engaging, accessible remote learning lessons"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/whats-new-in-edu-free-resources-to-support-engaging-accessible-remote-learning-lessons.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p>As you settle into remote teaching and learning, we\u2019re devoting this episode of What\u2019s New in EDU to sharing free resources that can support you as you lead virtual lessons, foster collaboration and engagement, and focus on accessibility.<\/p>\n<h3>Connect, communicate, and collaborate with Microsoft Teams <\/h3>\n<p>In this episode, we take a look at how <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/education\/products\/teams?&amp;OCID=AID2000043_SEM_z6KveJHL&amp;utm_source=bing&amp;msclkid=4a1bb94b0fe110d2f7e4e7dc17f2df34&amp;ef_id=Xk1PtgAAAi642MQc:20200415142012:s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Microsoft Teams (opens in a new tab)\">Microsoft Teams<\/a><\/strong>,&nbsp;included with Office 365 Education, can serve as a great digital learning platform during distance learning. With Teams, you&nbsp;can create video calls and invite your entire class, set up small-group discussions, hold office hours, post assignments, and much more. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s easy <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/education\/products\/office\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"to sign up for an Office 365 account (opens in a new tab)\">to sign up for an Office 365 account<\/a><\/strong> if you don\u2019t already have one. Students and educators at eligible institutions can sign up for free and get Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and now Microsoft Teams, plus additional classroom tools. Use your valid school email address to get started today. <\/p>\n<h3>Professional learning through the Microsoft Educator Center <\/h3>\n<p>We\u2019ve also created a <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/education.microsoft.com\/en-us\/learningPath\/37f9ef62\/course\/e02f490e\/0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"learning path (opens in a new tab)\">learning path<\/a><\/strong> on the Microsoft Educator Center focused on using Teams and other free resources to support remote learning. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"first course (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/education.microsoft.com\/en-us\/learningPath\/37f9ef62\/course\/0a00aa73\/overview\" target=\"_blank\">first course<\/a><\/strong> centers around connecting with your students using Teams and additional Office 365 tools and provides ideas for establishing a remote learning plan and tracking progress. <\/li>\n<li>The <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"second course (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/education.microsoft.com\/en-us\/learningPath\/37f9ef62\/course\/cf2943e4\/overview\" target=\"_blank\">second course<\/a><\/strong> spotlights student engagement and building strong connections with help from Microsoft Teams; <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Microsoft Stream (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/products.office.com\/en-us\/microsoft-stream\" target=\"_blank\">Microsoft Stream<\/a><\/strong>, the intelligent video service in Office 365; <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"OneNote Class Notebook (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.onenote.com\/classnotebook\" target=\"_blank\">OneNote Class Notebook<\/a><\/strong>, an app that helps you set up OneNote in your class; and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/info.flipgrid.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Flipgrid (opens in a new tab)\">Flipgrid<\/a><\/strong>, which allows students and teachers to create and share videos. <\/li>\n<li>The <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"third course (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/education.microsoft.com\/en-us\/learningPath\/37f9ef62\/course\/e02f490e\/0\" target=\"_blank\">third course<\/a><\/strong> is focused on ensuring that the needs of students with learning differences are met. The course provides an overview of accessibility tools in Teams, Office 365, Windows 10, and other apps. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Learning Tools and accessibility<\/h3>\n<p>Everyone is working hard to adapt to remote learning, and as Mark Sparvell said in the video above, this may present particular challenges for&nbsp;students with learning differences. This is a great time to become more familiar with Microsoft <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/education\/products\/learning-tools\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Learning Tools (opens in a new tab)\">Learning Tools<\/a><\/strong>, free resources that implement proven techniques to personalize learning and improve reading and writing for students. <\/p>\n<p>These include tools such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Immersive Reader<\/strong>, a full-screen reading experience that improves the readability of content. It has a read-aloud function, enables students to tailor fonts and spacing, supports grammar and writing by identifying parts of speech, and more. <\/li>\n<li><strong>Dictation<\/strong> allows people to type with their voice. It\u2019s available in Office 365 tools and can be helpful for learners with dyslexia, dysgraphia, or mobility impairments.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Closed captions<\/strong> help people who are hard of hearing, speak multiple languages, and who use captions to help focus and retain information. We recently rolled out a preview&nbsp;of OneNote that allows students to connect OneNote to Microsoft Translator captions. You simply use a&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/support.office.com\/en-us\/article\/Joining-a-conversation-in-Microsoft-Translator-bfaee73a-71df-4f67-8de7-e8571090bc63\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Join Code<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;receive the captions and&nbsp;translation stream.&nbsp;This allows captions&nbsp;from the teacher who is speaking&nbsp;to&nbsp;flow directly&nbsp;into OneNote&nbsp;for reading, while still allowing the student to take notes.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Assessment strategies<\/h3>\n<p>We know you\u2019re probably working through how to best assess student learning in this environment. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/support.office.com\/en-ie\/article\/Microsoft-Forms-for-Education-8580c114-fae7-4f3c-9c18-9db984f3d547\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Microsoft Forms (opens in a new tab)\">Microsoft Forms<\/a><\/strong> can help. You can use it to easily create quizzes and surveys, and you can share Forms with your students from any browser or mobile device.<\/p>\n<p>Forms has built-in analytics that allow you to see student progress immediately. For more on using Forms and creating quizzes and other assessments within Microsoft Teams, check out this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lqv2oDCQJQg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"You Can in :90 video (opens in a new tab)\"><strong>You Can in :90 video<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Keeping students engaged<\/h3>\n<p>As Mark emphasized in this month\u2019s episode, Flipgrid is a great student engagement tool. We\u2019ve heard many stories from educators who are using Flipgrid as part of their distance learning strategy to coach students on reading, help them learn history and science, and even run theater rehearsals.<\/p>\n<p>Students can view each other\u2019s videos and respond to them. The latest update from Flipgrid also allows you to record your lessons and share those with students through the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/help.flipgrid.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/360045940833-Screen-Recording-How-to-record-your-screen-using-the-Flipgrid-camera\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Screen Recording feature (opens in a new tab)\">Screen Recording feature<\/a><\/strong>. This enables you to record what\u2019s happening on your screen directly in the Flipgrid camera and guide readers through content on your device and more.<\/p>\n<p>Other ideas from educators around the world include scheduling 1:1 time with students, assigning students to work together in small groups within Teams, and using tools like Microsoft Whiteboard for Education, the freeform digital canvas, to boost engagement.<\/p>\n<h3>For families<\/h3>\n<p>We know a lot of parents are asking for high-quality resources that they can use to help support their children during this challenging time. One way we\u2019ve responded is by launching a <a href=\"https:\/\/education.microsoft.com\/en-us\/resource\/755e5a8b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Family Learning Center (opens in a new tab)\"><strong>Family Learning Center<\/strong><\/a>. Geared toward families with children ages 3-12, it offers a collection of free resources on topics ranging from art, coding, spelling, and more. Please share it with your students\u2019 parents and guardians.<\/p>\n<h3>Taking a moment<\/h3>\n<p>As Mark notes in the video above, the current situation we find ourselves in is creating enormous educational challenges. The shift to remote learning has been sudden and disruptive. For teachers, remote lessons aren\u2019t going to be the same as you planned and led when you were in the classroom with your students. And that\u2019s okay. You\u2019re making a big difference in kids\u2019 lives every time you connect with them, even if it is virtually. They need you. But for you to show up for them, it\u2019s important to take time for yourself too.<\/p>\n<p>With that in mind, and because we all could use it, we\u2019ve created a new You can in :90 video on mindful breathing led by Mark. Check it out, and consider sharing it with your students. <\/p>\n<p>We love hearing from you, especially now. We value your feedback and want to know how we can help. One way to let us know what you think of this episode of What\u2019s New in EDU, and the tools we\u2019re highlighting, is through Twitter by tagging @MicrosoftEDU. <\/p>\n<p>And if you haven\u2019t done so already, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.office.com\/Pages\/ResponsePage.aspx?id=v4j5cvGGr0GRqy180BHbR2c4qMfVhOdCngYnH0quosFUNUw1SjdQQ1FBSEw0WUlPTkcyOEVXUEFMTSQlQCN0PWcu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"please sign up to join our Remote Learning Community (opens in a new tab)\">please sign up to join our Remote Learning Community<\/a><\/strong> and connect with other educators and Microsoft Education experts who are sharing ideas around best practices in distance learning. <\/p>\n<p>Stay safe and stay in touch. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As you settle into remote teaching and learning, we\u2019re devoting this episode of What\u2019s New in EDU to sharing free resources that can support you as you lead virtual lessons, foster collaboration and engagement, and focus on accessibility. Connect, communicate, and collaborate with Microsoft Teams In this episode, we take a look at how Microsoft [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111832,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[96,50],"class_list":["post-111831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-microsoft-news","tag-education","tag-recent-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}