Microsoft Teams can enhance communicating and collaborating with your students in a variety of ways. The app provides a collaboration platform which integrates with the other Microsoft 365 applications, facilitates private and group chatting, meeting online, sharing files, and collaborating on projects. This round up of resources will help you get started using Microsoft Teams in your class.
Adding Microsoft Teams to Canvas
The Microsoft Sync integration in Canvas creates a new class team for your Canvas course. The integration keeps the team’s membership and your class’s roster synchronized.
- In your Canvas course, in the course navigation, select Settings.
- Select the Integrations tab.
- Turn on the Microsoft Sync Toggle.
- Select the Navigation tab.
- Find Microsoft Teams Classes in the list and drag it to the top of the list
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and select Save.
- From your course navigation, select Microsoft Teams Classes to launch the app.
- To allow students to access your team, go into the new team and select Activate
Microsoft Teams chat and channel conversations
Using the Teams Chat app, you can have one-on-one chats, small group chats, and full class conversations. One-on-one and small group chats use the Teams Chat app and full class conversations occur within a channel in your class team.
Private and small group chats
Even if you are not using the Microsoft Sync Integration you can make it easier for your students to have one-on-one or small group chats with you using the Redirect Tool in Canvas. Once the Redirect Tool is added to your course navigation, your students can use it to initiate a chat with you in the Teams Chat app. This will initiate a one-on-one chat with the student. To learn how to initiate a group chat, see the "Start and name a group chat" section of Chat with others in Microsoft Teams.
To take advantage of this feature you use the following URL (replacing username with your username):https://teams.microsoft.com/l/chat/0/0?users=username@iu.edu
- Select Settings, and then select Apps.
- Search for the Redirect Tool.
- Open the Redirect Tool and select Add App.
- In the Add App dialog:
- In the Name field, enter the name of the web resource you want to appear in the course navigation.
- In the URL Redirect field, enter the URL:
https://teams.microsoft.com/l/chat/0/0?users=username@iu.edu
Note: remember to replace username with your username - If desired, check the Force open in new tab.
- Check the Show in Course Navigation
- Select Add App.
- To see the web resource link in the course navigation, refresh the page and select the link to test it.
Channel conversations
Inside a teams channel both you and your students can have a class-wide conversation. Each conversation takes place as a thread on the channel’s Posts tab.
- Go to the channel in Microsoft Teams where you want to post.
- Click the Start a post button.
- Type a subject for your post
- Add your message.
- To post click the Post button.
Announcements only channel
If you want to be able to send announcements to your students that will not get lost in a conversation, you may want to convert your General channel to a channel where only team owners can send messages.
- Click More options to the right of the General channel.
- To change the name of the General channel to Announcements.
- Click Edit.
- In the Channel name, type Announcements.
- Click Save.
- Click Edit.
- Under Moderation select Only owners can post messages
- Click Back on the channel.
Create a new channel
If you would like to organize conversations by specific topics, or projects—or whatever works for your class—you can create up to 200 additional channels.
- To create a new channel, Next to the team name where you want to add the channel, click More options.
- Click Add Channel.
- In the Channel name field, type Announcements.
- In the Description field, type a description.
- From the Choose a channel type dropdown, select Standard - Everyone on the team has access.
- Check the Recommend that people show this channel in their channel lists
- Click Create.
- Click More options to the right of the Announcements channel.
- Click Manage channel.
- in the Change Channel moderation dropdown select On.
- Deselect all the Team member permissions.
- Click Back on the channel.
Meeting with your students
There are two situations where you may need to meet with your students online: a regularly scheduled meeting that is a part of your class schedule and if, for some other reason, you cannot meet in person.
Scheduled remote class meetings
For regular online class meetings, you can schedule a channel meeting. When you create the meeting, you can opt to send all your students an Outlook meeting invitation.
- From Microsoft Teams, navigate to your class team
- If necessary, create a channel you want to use for meetings.
- Select the channel where you would like to host the meeting.
- Click the dropdown arrow next to the Meet Now (the camera icon).
- Select Schedule a meeting.
- Add the details of your meeting (meeting title, date, recurrence, etc.)
- To invite all your students while scheduling the meeting, toggle the Send personal invites toggle.
- Click the Send button.
Scheduled meetings will send your students a notification when the class session starts if they already have Microsoft Teams open or have it installed on their mobile device.
Unscheduled Meet Now meetings
From time to time, you may encounter a situation where you cannot hold class in-person. In those situations, you can still hold class by using the Meet Now capability of Microsoft Teams. Meet Now instantly starts a meeting in the active channel that anyone in your class team can join.
- Go to the channel where you want to start the meeting.
- Select Meet Now (the camera icon) on the upper right of the screen.
A Meet Now meeting in Microsoft Teams does not send notifications like scheduled meetings. It’s important to inform your students ahead of time (e.g., at the start of the semester and in your class syllabus) about the meeting method your class will use. Be sure to practice a Meet Now with your students, so they know how to join.
Canceling a scheduled channel meeting in Microsoft Teams
Meetings scheduled in a channel cannot be canceled in Microsoft Outlook.
- Open Microsoft Teams and navigate to the Teams Calendar app in the application bar.
- Locate the meeting you wish to cancel in the calendar view.
- Double click the meeting.
- Click Cancel meeting (if necessary, then click Cancel occurrence.)
- Add a cancellation note, if necessary.
- Click Cancel meeting or Cancel occurrence.
Additional Resources
These are just a few of the things you can use Microsoft Teams for in academic classes. Here are some additional resources where you can learn more:
- About the Microsoft Teams Classes integration in Canvas at IU - Learn how to add Microsoft Teams to your course.
- Add a web resource to your course navigation - Learn how to add a web resource to your course.
- Send a message to a channel in Microsoft Teams - Learn to send a channel message.
- Chat with others in Microsoft Teams - Learn more about chatting in Microsoft Teams.
- Use Microsoft Teams Meetings as part of the Microsoft Teams Classes Canvas integration - Learn how to use Microsoft Teams Meetings.
- First things to know about chats in Microsoft Teams - Tips on using chats.
- Get organized in your class team - Tips on organizing your class team.
- Share and organize class team files - Share files in conversations and add class materials for your students.
- Choose a background and class view - Learn how to change the background displayed on your video and how to change the view of your class.
- Manage student participation - Learn how to limit chat in channel meetings.
- Organize class meetings - Learn how to add details to a scheduled meeting, create a whiteboard canvas and record class meetings.
- Tips for an inclusive class meeting - Learn how to join a meeting with a screen reader, turn on live captioning, blur your camera's background and create a transcript of a meeting.
- Use the toolbar - Learn how to use the toolbar before class and see an overview of the meeting controls.