Communicate in MS Teams
This guide explores various modes of communication integrated into Microsoft Teams. The choice of mode will depend on many factors including class size, desired outcome, and technical confidence. For effective communication, it is important to set guidelines and expectations with students regardless of the platform used.
Let students know where to find updated communication for assessments, class times, classwork, class queries, and live chat with academics. Set community guidelines for the use of the different modes of communication such as the following example:
The community guidelines are the rules that apply to the whole site. The main rules to stick to are:
- Be friendly - This forum is a friendly place. Let’s keep it that way by treating everyone with respect.
- Keep it clean - This site is for everyone, so please make your posts suitable for people of all ages.
- Stay on topic - The conversation flows better if you keep your posts relevant and constructive.
- No advertising - Please don’t make posts that are purely for promotional purposes
- Nothing illegal - If you’re unsure whether your post might fall foul of the law, please err on the side of caution!
Credit: Dr Jess Co, Lecturer, Department of Management
Communicating in channels
There are several ways of communicating with students in the channels. In this section we will describe how to make and edit posts and to make announcements.
Sharing email with Teams
If you want to share an email with your class, you can use the same Posts wall in the channel.
Educator Tip: Having multiple modes of communication is important in case there are technical issues. However, try to avoid spamming students with too many emails as they will be managing multiple units.
Video meetings
Teams allows video or audio calls with live instant messaging, recording and content sharing.
Educator Tip: Use the video record feature in place of an announcement. This will personalise the message and help students feel more connected. You may want to have your pet make a cameo during the message or have props to add interest and intrigue.
Start a video meeting
Share your screen during the meeting
Use Breakout Rooms in your meeting
Record video meetings and posting them to the channel
Delete a recording
Group chats and Private chats
Educator Tip: If students are working in groups, show them this feature as they may want to set up a group chat outside of synchronous lessons. Having students set up their group chats will reduce the manual workload of adding members.