Welcome to our monthly update for Microsoft Education and thank you so much for being part of our growing community!  As many countries are getting ready for back to school, or already started, we have a set of updates to make your school day easier and more productive. Also, if you haven’t explored the 34 “Quick Guides” from MIE Expert Heather Aird, this blog had a ton of useful 1 page PDFs that are great for professional development.

 

August 2024 Topics:

1. Copilot
2. Copilot for M365
3. Learning Accelerators
4. Teams EDU and AI
5. Teams General
6. Clipchamp

Copilot with Enterprise Data Protection

For users signed in with an Entra account (except for students under 18), Microsoft Copilot will offer enterprise data protection. EDP will be available for these users at no additional cost. EDP refers to controls and commitments, under the Data Protection Addendum and Product Terms, that apply to customer data for users of Copilot for Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Copilot. This means that security, privacy, and compliance controls and commitments available for Copilot for Microsoft 365 will extend to Microsoft Copilot prompts and responses. Prompts and responses are protected by the same terms and commitments that are widely trusted by our customers—not only for Copilot for Microsoft 365, but also for emails in Exchange and files in SharePoint. 

 

With EDP in Microsoft Copilot:  

• We secure your data: We help protect your data with encryption, at rest and in transit, rigorous physical security controls, and data isolation between tenants.  
• Your data is private: We won’t use your data except as you instruct. Our commitments to privacy include support for GDPR, ISO/IEC 27018, and the Data Protection Addendum.
• Your access controls and policies apply to Copilot: Prompts and responses are logged, retained, and available for audit, eDiscovery, and advanced Microsoft Purview capabilities. The specific controls will vary depending on the underlying subscription plan. 
• You are protected against AI security risks: We help safeguard against AI-focused risks such as harmful content and prompt injections.   
• Your data isn’t used to train foundation models: Prompts and responses are not used to train foundation models.  

 

When: Rolling out Mid-September.

 

Copilot for M365 – Forms and Quiz updates

Quiz generation through Copilot in Forms

Copilot in Forms now will support quiz generation. Educators can tell Copilot what they want to test, such as specific topics covered in class, and Copilot will create a well-crafted quiz draft with correct answers. Educators can then review the questions, remove any they don't want, add new ones, and finally keep the draft for use. Copilot also provides step-by-step solutions for each question, which educators can check and modify if needed or ask Copilot to regenerate.

Once the quiz is ready, Copilot will suggest assigning it to the corresponding Teams "Class," and educators can send it to students with one click. After students complete the quiz, educators can check the responses on the result page.

 

When: Available Now

 

Additionally, Copilot can draft quizzes based on pasted content or attached reference files educators provided.

 

 

When: Available Now

 

 

Quiz Creation in Assignments

Are you using Quiz in Assignments, you can now also use Copilot to create the quiz directly in Assignments. Just click on New Quiz and you can now use Copilot to automatically help you generate the quiz for you.

 

When: Available Now

 

Learning Accelerator updates

Speaker Progress general availability

We are so excited to announce that Speaker Progress, our newest Learning Accelerator, is now rolled out worldwide! Speaker Progress helps students develop confidence in their presentation skills and reduces anxiety by providing AI-powered real-time coaching and feedback on their public speaking skills like their pace, pitch, filler words, and more. Speaker Progress can also save educators time and create more opportunities for independent practice for in class presentations.

 

Educator Creation Experience:

Educators can create Speaker Progress assignments and customize the Speaker Coach tips shown to students. They can also set a time limit, number of attempts, and customize other settings.

 

Student Presentation Experience:

Students can record a presentation and get real-time feedback from Speaker Coach on their content, delivery, and audience engagement. If allowed by the educator, students can see a rehearsal report of their top strengths and opportunities.

 

Educators can then review the report, the speech, insights about the students progress, and leave feedback in the SpeedGrader.

Learn more here:

Educator Get Started: Getting started with Speaker Progress for educators - Microsoft Support

Student Get Started: Getting started with Speaker Progress for students - Microsoft Support

 

When: Available now

 

Math Progress private preview- Register your class
The wait is finally over! We're thrilled to announce that Math Progress has entered private preview for members of the Microsoft Math Community (request a free invitation here). Math Progress brings the power of Learning Accelerators to the numeracy space by simplifying the creation, review, and analysis of math practice assignments. It offers visibility into the “why” of each student's incorrect answers, along with actionable insights to track progress at both an individual and a class level. As a powerful tool for formative assessment, Math Progress can play a core role in effective lesson planning and the improvement of student outcomes.

Educators can use an AI-powered problem generator to create high-quality, relevant math problem sets, where incorrect “distraction” answers are based on common misconceptions for each problem.

 

Once learners submit their work, educators can review the automatically graded assignment and rich insights on learners' progress over time, including the mistakes and misconceptions demonstrated in this and other assignments. Once returned, learners get step-by-step solutions to the problems in the assignment.

To learn more about Math Progress, check out the Microsoft Learn Course: Support building mathematics skills with Math Progress – Training | Microsoft Learn

 

When: Available in private preview today! Request your invitation to the Microsoft Math Community at aka.ms/MathCommunity.

 

Reading Coach Rewards

Did your students use Reading Coach this summer? We want to celebrate your students' summer reading progress! Fill out this form by Sept 10 https://aka.ms/readingcoachrewards to receive special edition stickers, and the opportunity to be featured in Microsoft Education blogs! Coming this fall: Multiple language support

When: Reading Rewards - Sept 10, 2024

 

New Reflect app for Windows

Create check-ins, take class brain breaks, and stay connected with the same Reflect you know and love—all from the convenience of your start menu or taskbar.

 

To get started, just download the free app from the Microsoft Store.

 

When: available now

 

Reconnect and refocus: new brain breaks for back to school

Discover the new brain breaks in Reflect, perfect for the start of the school year. The Focus Timers feature original music inspired by the four seasons, helping learners stay on track with calming melodies and visuals. The Connection Wheel fosters meaningful connections with staff, students, and peers, offering conversation starters to help everyone reconnect after the break. And there’s even more—check out the What's New page in Reflect to explore all the updates.

When: available now

 

Teams for Education – AI updates

Classwork Module creation

We're thrilled to announce that the Classwork AI Module Generation feature is now available in preview and will be coming to general availability this Fall!

This innovative tool empowers educators to save time and find inspiration for designing their Classwork Modules. By providing some basic information about their class, educators can use AI to generate complete modules and descriptions. The Classwork AI Module Generation leverages generative AI to help educators create an entire course outline from scratch or enhance existing courses with additional modules. Additionally, educators have the flexibility to adjust and regenerate modules by modifying the description length and style.

Generated Modules are based on the following inputs:

• Subject
• Grade Level
• Language
• Learning Objectives
• Module Count

 

When: Coming this September

 

Recap of the 4 Teams AI features currently available

• Rubrics creation with AI
• Assignment instructions creation with AI
• Reading Progress passage generation with AI
• Reading Comprehension passage with AI

When: Available now

 

Teams for Education – general updates

Add text in PDF in Assignment

We know a lot of users are using PDF within Assignments. Before the summer we added the ability to distribute and edit PDF directly inside Assignments for Student and Teachers , and we now have added the ability to type directly inside the PDF as well, in addition to ink and highlight text.

 

When: Available now

Keep up to date with Tips

Educators wants to learn about new functionality, tips and training on their own time. We have now added an easy accessible Tips Pane. That allows you to learn about new features, productivity tips and practical training.  We will updated with new tips throughout the school year.

 

When: Available now

 

Class team templates

Education users of Microsoft Teams admin center will now be able to create team templates for their organization. A team template in Microsoft Teams is a definition of a team's structure designed around a business need or project. As an admin, you can use templates to easily deploy consistent teams across your organization. With templates, your users can quickly create rich collaboration spaces with predefined settings, channels, and apps.

 

When: Rollout starts on September 2nd, 2024, completes September 12th 20244

Add parents to class without SDS

With this release, we’re providing a way for schools to ingest parent contact information without setting up SDS. Educators now have an option to add or edit parent contact details for each child inside the Parent app, and request the school admin for approval. The changes are not reflected until the admin approves it. To learn more, please visit this link.

When: Available now

 

Parents can access School Connection via their phone number

The School Connection app in Microsoft Teams (mobile) empowers parents and guardians to stay informed about their child’s classroom progress in real-time, with no extra work required from educators. So far, parents were granted access to School Connection if they logged-in to Teams (mobile) with their personal email. With this release, we’re glad to announce that a parent can choose to login to Teams (mobile) with their phone number and get access to School Connection! Please note that these parent contact details need to be saved by the school first for access to be granted to the child’s school records. You can learn more about School Connection by visiting this link.

 

When: Available now

 

Clipchamp rolling out globally

After successfully launching Clipchamp for work, and after further innovation in Clipchamp for personal users, we’re excited to announce the launch of Clipchamp for education. In today’s digital landscape, effective communication is paramount. Clipchamp for education equips educators and students with the ability to convey ideas visually, developing essential skills for success that range from the classroom into future careers. Whether it’s creating educational videos, presentations, or multimedia projects, Clipchamp provides a canvas for imagination to flourish. As the official Windows video editor, Clipchamp can be used on Windows 11 devices through the desktop app by searching "Clipchamp" in the taskbar or Start menu. For Windows 10 users, the app can be installed from the Microsoft Store. Additionally, you can access Clipchamp via the web on any desktop or laptop computer with Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge installed. Clipchamp’s user-friendly interface makes video editing accessible to learners of all levels and is embedded in Microsoft 365 for education A3 and A5 licenses, seamlessly integrating with tools like OneDrive, Microsoft Stream, and Office apps.

 

Detailed blog: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/education-blog/clipchamp-for-microsoft-education-is-here-enhancing-learning/ba-p/4184950

When: Rolling out globally now. This should 100% complete by later September

 

 

And finally, just to recap all the news we have for you this month, here’s a quick review of all the features that are generally available or are rolling out now:

1. Copilot for teens preview
2. Copilot for M365
   • Quiz Copilot for M365
   • Forms Copilot for M365
   • Quiz Copilot for M365 and Teams Assignment integration
3. Learning Accelerator updates
   • Speaker Progress general availability
   • Math Progress private preview
   • Reading Coach stand-alone summer reading
4. Teams for EDU – AI updates
   • Classwork Module AI
   • Recap of 4 Teams AI features fully rolled out for educators
5. Teams EDU general updates
   • Class team templates
   • Add parents to a class without School Data Sync (SDS)
   • Parents can access School Connection via their phone number
6. Clipchamp rolling out globally for MA3 and MA5 customers

 

 

Have any feedback to share with us? As always, we'd love to hear it!

 

Mike Tholfsen

Group Product Manager

Microsoft Education