Microsoft has announced a series of updates to its Teams collaboration platform designed to enhance the online learning experience for students and teachers. While the company will be making a number of significant changes, one feature is likely to particularly grab students' attention: an extension to Minecraft: Education Edition, which will now “seamlessly integrate” with Teams. According to Microsoft, the integration will allow teachers to add quizzes, assessments, and Flipgrid themes into Minecraft play sessions, though it's unclear exactly what that would look like. As part of the update, Microsoft will also introduce a new subscription package, called Minecraft for Camps and Clubs, designed for teachers who work outside the 4 walls of the classroom. "Starting this summer, camps, clubs, homeschooling organizations, and nonprofit organizations can purchase licenses for Minecraft: Education Edition to support critical thinking, cooperation, and game-based learning for any and all ages," Microsoft said. TechRadar Pro requested additional clarification on the details and scope of the new Minecraft integration for Microsoft Teams.
Online learning with Microsoft Teams
In a weblog post dedicated to Teacher Recognition Day in the US, Microsoft laid out its vision for the future of online learning, including the tools it hopes can help teachers deliver "the next chapter of learning." “Over the past year, teachers have used technology in innovative ways to keep students engaged. Technology has gone from being a temporary lifeline for simple plug-and-play in distance and hybrid learning, to a fully integrated part of many virtual and in-person classrooms,” wrote Barbarase Holzapfel, vice president of Education at Microsoft. “To continue to support teachers and students, today we are introducing new tools and updates designed to support the 5 key areas that help teachers create a holistic learning framework and further education: learner-centered, skills-focused , social learning, security and protection. . and scalability. " Beyond the new Minecraft integration, Microsoft also introduced a new tool for Teams for Education, developed to help teachers assess their students' reading progress. With the service, educators can create reading assignments for classes or well individuals, which can be used to assess data points like accuracy rate and words right per minute.Teams for Education also has new collaboration tools that Microsoft hopes will help improve teamwork, integrate audio and video into work and make it easier for students to keep track of pending assignments.These enhancements should be available already before the start of the next school year.Finally, the company announced a new security feature for the platform, called Supervised Chat.Free to Later this month, the feature prevents students from starting arguments unless a designated "appropriate educator" is present to inspect. Hozapfel completed the announcement by thanking the teachers for their herculean strength throughout the pandemic and celebrating the innovations that have been made possible. “When schools went online last year, teachers made superhuman sacrifices to help each and every student continue to engage in learning. They identified and filled in the gaps, found ways to connect with everyone in their classes, worked together to address challenges, and developed strategies to turn education into a new era,” she stated.