Building an Agentic, AI-Powered Helpdesk with Agents Framework, Azure, and Microsoft 365
The article describes how to build an agentic, AI-powered helpdesk using Azure, Microsoft 365, and the Microsoft Agent Framework. The goal is to automate ticket handling, enrich requests with AI, and integrate seamlessly with M365 tools like Teams, Planner, and Power Automate.Securing Productivity with Microsoft 365 Copilot
Join the Greek MVP Community hosting Joanna Vathis for an insightful live session about Copilot in M365, Data Protection, Privacy, and Responsible AI Agenda What is Microsoft 365 Copilot? Data Protection Architecture Privacy & Compliance Commitments Responsible AI Practices Security Features & Risk Mitigation Deployment Best Practices Q&A Join for free !Microsoft at TechCon 365, PWRCON, and DATACON– Seattle, WA | June 2025 | Microsoft Event Guide
Having people speak who are actually using the tools in their day-to-day work is invaluable. This is the event to go to if you are really ready to find value in Microsoft. -Conference Attendee Microsoft is happy to be the title sponsor of this great set of events coming up soon in Seattle, Washington. 101 on the TechCon Seattle What: TechCon 365 & PWRCON & DATACON - Seattle o Register today! o Cost | $795-$2695 (Learn more about ticket pricing options) Use the MSCMTY discount code to save $200 USD off registration Content: 150 Speakers (57 from Microsoft) | 49 Workshops | 226 Sessions - with about 15 more expected o Review all sessions + agenda view, workshops, and their full speaker lineup. When & where: June 23- 27, 2025 o In-person: Seattle WA- Seattle Convention Center Twitter & hashtag: @TechCon365 | #TechCon365 Three Conferences. One Unmatched Experience. Welcome to the ultimate Microsoft technology event, where three specialized conferences converge to deliver a powerhouse of learning, inspiration, and innovation. Whether you're a Microsoft 365 champion, a Power Platform enthusiast, or a data-driven decision-maker, TechCon365, PWRCON, and DATACON offer something for everyone — all under one roof. TechCon is dedicated to Microsoft 365 technologies, empowering attendees to maximize workplace productivity and collaboration. Dive into tools like Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Loop, OneNote, Power Platform, Microsoft Fabric and Copilot to master modern digital workplaces. Learn to foster seamless communication, collaboration, and employee engagement. Whether you're looking to optimize your current tools, build apps without code, or analyze data like a pro, this event is built to meet you where you are — and take you further. With cross-conference access, you're not boxed into one track — you create the learning experience that aligns with your goals. A big thank you to David Wilhelm and Sharon Toler and their wonderful production team for putting on such great community focused technical skilling events and for over a decade. Across all three conferences, attendees can: Mix and match sessions to tailor their experience 💡 Learn directly from Microsoft MVPs, product teams, and industry experts Attend in-depth technical sessions and hands-on workshops 🛠 Discover real-world solutions and best practices 📚 Network with like-minded professionals from diverse industries 🌐 Explore the ever-evolving Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Power Platform, Azure, and AI ecosystem by connecting with technical experts from the local Microsoft team and a wide range of partners across the Microsoft Partner Network — all in our dynamic exhibit hall. Thank you to Microsoft Community leads Rie Merritt and Stephanie Lawson always for their partnership when we work on events cross-division to support The Best Community in Tech! Microsoft keynotes, sessions, and workshops: Copilot/AI, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, Viva, Power Platform, Diversity & Inclusion, and related technology Microsoft keynotes and AMA Listen to Microsoft leadership as they present the latest advancements that are defining the flexible, innovative, and secure business environments of the future. [All times are listed in PDT] Microsoft 365 keynote: “Being a Productivity Changemaker in the Era of AI” Presenters: Karuana Gatimu (Director), Dan Parish (Partner Director of PM), Melissa Torres (Principal PM Manager), and Kendra Springer (Principal GPM). Wednesday, June 25 th , 8:20am – 9:40am PDT | Room: Ballroom 2 Power Platform keynote: “The Future of the Power Platform: Intelligent Apps” Presenter: Evan Lew (Principal GPM), Srihari Srinivasa, (Principal Product Manager, Microsoft Power Apps) Thursday, June 26 th , 8:30am – 9:40am PDT | Room: Ballroom 2 Data Keynote: "Transform Your Data into a Competitive Edge with Azure" Presenters: Shireesh Thota and Bob Ward Wednesday, June 25 th , 12:40pm – 1:40pm PDT | Room: Ballroom 2 Microsoft AMA: Thursday, June 26, 5:20pm – 6:30pm PDT | Room: Ballroom 1 Host: Heather Cook Biz Apps: Reza Assadi, Sigita Cepaitiene, Manpreet Singh, and Navid Azimi Data: Bob Ward, Patrick LeBlanc and Wilson Lee M365: Dan Parrish, Melissa Torres and Karuana Gatimu Register today | Note: Use the MSCMTY discount code to save $200 USD off registration. Local Microsoft Employees are cordially invited On Thursday, June 26th, all Microsoft FTEs are invited to attend the following activities in Ballroom 1 and the Expo Hall. Microsoft AMA Date: Thursday, June 26th | Time: 5:20 PM – 6:30 PM | Location: Ballroom 1 Host: Heather Cook Speakers: Karuana Gatimu, Heather Cook, Dan Parish, Melissa Torres, Bob Ward, Patrick LeBlanc, Wilson Lee, Reza Assadi, Sigita Cepaiti, Manpreet Singh, Navid Azimi The Expo Party Date: Thursday, June 26th | Time: 3:00pm-4:00pm | Location: Expo Hall A casual networking with food and beverages. It's common to have 400-500 attendees present, and they love facetime with Microsoft product makers - YOU. 😁 Any Microsoft FTE 💙 is welcome to attend these two functions - at no cost. Please forward the below unique registration link to your team members who would like to attend: ✅ Click here to register! for the Thursday events - (Note: Ignore the “Promo Code” field) With so many expert-led sessions across TechCon365, PWRCON, and DATACON, there's something for every interest and skill level. Browse the full agenda and start building your personalized schedule today to make the most of your conference experience! TechCon 365 (Microsoft 365) | Microsoft-led breakout sessions Unlock the full potential of Copilot for Microsoft 365 by making sure your organization is technically prepared to lead the AI transformation. These high-impact sessions are packed with up-to-the-minute insights, expert strategies, and real-world best practices to help you get Copilot deployed, adopted, and delivering results. Learn how to harness AI effectively and turn it into a true productivity accelerator for your teams. All times are in Pacific Time Zone PDT "Keynote: Being a Productivity Changemaker in the Era of AI" will be presented by Karuana Gatimu, Melissa Torres, Kendra Springer, Dan Parish on June 25, 2025 at 8:20 AM in Ballroom 2. "Getting Started with M365 Copilot" will be presented by Michelle Gilbert on June 25, 2025 at 10:20 AM in Room 447-448. "Driving Successful Adoption of Microsoft 365 Copilot for SMBs" will be presented by Jessie Hwang on June 25, 2025 at 11:40 AM in Room 445-446. "What’s New in Microsoft Education: Powering the Future of Learning with AI" will be presented by Jethro Seghers on June 25, 2025 at 2:00 PM in Room 442. "Build Your Own Copilot (Jarvis) 🤖 with Copilot Studio" will be presented by Manpreet Singh on June 26, 2025 at 11:40 AM in Room 435-436. “Inside the Agent DB: Powering Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales with Unified Data” with Sigita Cepaitiene and Reza Assadi | June 26th 11:40am | Room 447-448 "Getting the most out of Copilot Pages and Notebooks: Introduction and Management Discussion" will be presented by Cora Chen, Sammy Chiu on June 26, 2025 at 10:20 AM in Room 445-446. "AI-Powered Productivity with Surface + Copilot" will be presented by Frank Buchholz on June 26, 2025 at 2:00 PM in Room 421-422. "The Intranet of Tomorrow: Beautiful, Flexible, and AI Ready" will be presented by Melissa Torres, Wende Copfer, Judith Yaaqoubi on June 26, 2025 at 2:00 PM in Room 447-448. "Top 10 Best Practices Every Admin Should Be Doing in M365!" will be presented by Michelle Gilbert on June 26, 2025 at 2:00 PM in Room 435-436. "Your Magical Microsoft Map of Community, Learning and Training" will be presented by Heather Cook, Jessie Hwang on June 25, 2025 at 11:40 AM in Room 445-446. "Build Your Custom Agent for 320M+ Users in Microsoft Teams" will be presented by Carter Gilliam on June 27, 2025 at 9:00 AM in Room 432. "Cultivating Trust and Leadership Excellence: Strategies for Respect and Empathy in the Workplace" will be presented by Heather Cook, Joel Frauenheim on June 22, 2025 at 2:00 PM in Room 445-446. "Understanding Where AI Is At and Where It Is Going" will be presented by Aria Hanson on June 27, 2025 at 9:00 AM in Room 447-449. "Revolutionizing Content Management Using the Power of AI with Copilot and SharePoint Premium" will be presented by Marco Rocca on June 27, 2025 at 1:50 PM in Room 421-422. PWRCON (Power Platform) | Microsoft-led sessions Explore groundbreaking advancements in AI and learn how vital tools like Power Platform and Fabric can revolutionize your business operations. PWRCON is your gateway to mastering digital transformation, showcasing how Copilot integrates enterprise data and processes for impactful solutions. Engage in keynotes, breakout sessions, and workshops designed to elevate your expertise in real-world application and deployment. With insights from leading experts, you’ll gain the knowledge to drive innovation and achieve measurable success. PWRCON breakout sessions "Build Your Own Copilot (Jarvis) 🤖 with Copilot Studio" will be presented by Manpreet Singh on June 26th at 11:40 AM in Room 435-436. "Accelerate your data and app development using Copilot in Dataverse and Power Apps" will be presented by Travis Shu and Prithvi Khosla on June 26th at 2:00 PM in Room 423-424. "Collections with Finance Agents – Extensibility to any ERP" will be presented by Akshay Bhatnagar on June 27th at 10:20 AM in Room 447-448. "Enhancing Employee Experience with Microsoft Viva: A Comprehensive Overview" will be presented by Manpreet Singh on June 27th at 10:20 AM in Room 431. "Extending Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales with Copilot Studio and Power Platform" will be presented by Gaurav Sisodia and Muhammad Arrabi on June 27th at 12:30 PM in Room 431. "Secure, Compliant, and Connected: How Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales Manages Your Data and Insights" will be presented by Gaurav Babbar and Manpreet Singh on June 27th at 12:30 PM in Room 340-341. DATACON (Fabric)| Microsoft-led sessions Discover how Microsoft's expert-led sessions will empower data professionals and analysts to unlock the full potential of innovative Azure data solutions. Attendees can expect in-depth discussions on cutting-edge topics such as Azure SQL, data warehousing, Microsoft Fabric, and advanced analytics. These sessions will provide practical applications designed to transform raw data into actionable insights, enabling participants to drive smarter decision-making and achieve measurable impact in their organizations. “A Comprehensive Guide to Direct Lake for the Pro Data Modeller with Philip Seamark, Patrick LeBlanc | June 23, 2025 09:00 AM | Room 343 “ETL, KQL, and RTI: Harnessing Data in Motion with Microsoft Fabric” with Matt Gordon, Christopher Schmidt | June 24, 2025 09:00 AM | Room 342 “Query Store and Azure SQL Copilot, who is the fairest in the land?” with Jose Manuel Jurado Diaz, Juan Moreno Romo | June 24, 2025 01:30 PM | Room 347 “Maximize efficiency in your data-driven projects by leveraging AI and Copilot technologies.” with Prashant Atri, Tammiraju Prasanth, Prabhjot Kaur | June 24, 2025 01:30 PM | Room 340-341 “Real-Time Intelligence: Turning Streaming Data into Smart Decisions” with Ajeta Singhal, Mou Rakshit | June 25, 2025 08:30 AM | Room 345-346 “Microsoft Fabric: Ultimate Data Security for Robust Data Warehousing” with Jean Joseph | June 25, 2025 08:30 AM | Room 340-341 “Fabric Data Factory: What's New and Roadmap” with Miguel Llopis, Mark Kromer | June 25, 2025 10:20 AM | Room 320-321 “Deep dive into Direct Lake” with Philip Seamark, Patrick LeBlanc | June 25, 2025 10:20 AM | Room 344 “Getting started with SQL database in Fabric” with Bob Ward | June 25, 2025 10:20 AM | Room 348 “Introduction to SQL Server Essential Concepts” with Bradley Ball | June 25, 2025 10:20 AM | Room 343 “Generate self-service governance dashboard using Microsoft Fabric and Purview” with Tammiraju Prasanth, Prashant Atri | June 25, 2025 10:20 AM | Room 340-341 “Innovate without limits with Azure Data” with Bob Ward, Shireesh Thota | June 25, 2025 12:40 PM | Ballroom 2 “PowerBI, DirectQuery and SQL Server. It is a good choice?” with Jose Manuel Jurado Diaz, Juan Moreno Romo | June 25, 2025 02:00 PM | Room 344 “Learn how to troubleshoot SQL Server like a Microsoft engineer would” with Arvind Shyamsundar | June 25, 2025 02:00 PM | Room 347 “Deployments aren’t enough – databases deserve a development process” with Drew Skwiers-Koballa | June 25, 2025 02:00 PM | Room 345-346 “Transform your business with integrated solutions using SQL database in Microsoft Fabric” with Pam Lahoud | June 25, 2025 02:00 PM | Room 348 “Build an end-to-end data solution with Microsoft Fabric” with Patrick LeBlanc | June 25, 2025 02:00 PM | Room 342 “Everything you need to know about Data Virtualization in Azure SQL Database” with Hugo Queiroz | June 25, 2025 04:00 PM | Room 320-321 “SQL Server 2025: The Enterprise AI ready database” with Bob Ward | June 25, 2025 04:00 PM | Room 343 “SSMS 21 Spotlight: What's new and why it matters” with Makena Barickman | June 25, 2025 04:00 PM | Room 344 “Harness the Power of Microsoft Fabric and Notebooks” with Bradley Ball | June 26, 2025 08:30 AM | Room 345-346 “Real Time Monitoring with Real-life Use Cases using Database Watcher” with Matt Gordon, Daniel Taylor | June 26, 2025 08:30 AM | Room 340-341 “Oracle/SQL to Fabric Migration accelerator” with Tammiraju Prasanth, Prashant Atri | June 26, 2025 08:30 AM | Room 342 “10 Free SQL Databases: Your Playground for AI, Advanced Analytics, and Next-Gen Applications!” with Amar Digamber Patil, Muazma Zahid | June 26, 2025 10:20 AM | Room 348 "Getting the most out of Copilot Pages and Notebooks: Introduction and Management Discussion" will be presented by Cora Chen, Sammy Chiu on June 26, 2025 at 10:20 AM in Room 445-446. Build Your Own Copilot (Jarvis) 🤖 with Copilot Studio" will be presented by Manpreet Singh on June 26th at 11:40 AM in Room 435-436. “Azure SQL DB Hyperscale: The Definitive Modern Database Choice ” with Aditya Badramraju, Arvind Shyamsundar | June 26, 2025 12:40 PM | Room 348 “Unleash the Power of SQL Database in Fabric: Innovate Without Limits Using the Free Trial” with Amar Digamber Patil, Muazma Zahid, Madhuri Yethirajam | June 26, 2025 12:40 PM | Room 347 “Power BI Storage Modes: The Ultimate Showdown” with Philip Seamark | June 26, 2025 12:40 PM | Room 344 "AI-Powered Productivity with Surface + Copilot" will be presented by Frank Buchholz on June 26, 2025 at 2:00 PM in Room 421-422. "The Intranet of Tomorrow: Beautiful, Flexible, and AI Ready" will be presented by Melissa Torres, Wende Copfer, Judith Yaaqoubi on June 26, 2025 at 2:00 PM in Room 447-448. “Migration Mystery Solved: Moving SSRS and SSAS to Power BI” with Daniel Taylor, Raju Kumar | June 26, 2025 02:00 PM | Room 343 "Top 10 Best Practices Every Admin Should Be Doing in M365!" will be presented by Michelle Gilbert on June 26, 2025 at 2:00 PM in Room 435-436. "Your Magical Microsoft Map of Community, Learning and Training" will be presented by Heather Cook, Jessie Hwang on June 26, 2025 at 2:00 PM in Room 445-446. “Unified DevOps for Microsoft Fabric, Azure SQL, and SQL Server with next-gen SQL projects” with Drew Skwiers-Koballa | June 26, 2025 02:00 PM | Room 347 “Data Processing Architecture: Key Design Principles & Considerations” with Jean Joseph | June 26, 2025 02:00 PM | Room 342 “Handling Big Data with Power BI” with Patrick LeBlanc | June 26, 2025 02:00 PM | Room 320-321 "Build Your Custom Agent for 320M+ Users in Microsoft Teams" will be presented by Carter Gilliam on June 27, 2025 at 9:00 AM in Room 432. "Cultivating Trust and Leadership Excellence: Strategies for Respect and Empathy in the Workplace" will be presented by Heather Cook, Joel Frauenheim on June 27, 2025 at 9:00 AM in Room 445-446. "Understanding Where AI Is At and Where It Is Going" will be presented by Aria Hanson on June 27, 2025 at 9:00 AM in Room 447-449. “Azure SQL Database Hyperscale elastic pools - a deep-dive” with Arvind Shyamsundar, Aditya Badramraju | June 27, 2025 09:00 AM | Room 320-321 “Supercharge your analytics with Microsoft Fabric Real Time Intelligence” with Christopher Schmidt | June 27, 2025 09:00 AM | Room 344 “AI and SQL ground to cloud to fabric” with Bob Ward, Muazma Zahid | June 27, 2025 10:20 AM | Room 347 “Harnessing the Power of Data Mesh: A Deep Dive into the Four Pillars of Modern Data Architecture” with Jean Joseph | June 27, 2025 10:20 AM | Room 344 “Microsoft Database Docs - Learn about Contributing for your Career” with William Assaf | June 27, 2025 10:20 AM | Room 348 “Collections with Finance Agents – Extensibility to any ERP" will be presented by Akshay Bhatnagar on June 27th at 10:20 AM in Room 447-448. "Enhancing Employee Experience with Microsoft Viva: A Comprehensive Overview" will be presented by Manpreet Singh on June 27th at 10:20 AM in Room 431. "Extending Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales with Copilot Studio and Power Platform" will be presented by Gaurav Sisodia and Muhammad Arrabi on June 27th at 12:30 PM in Room 431. “Build AI Apps Smarter: Optimize SQL Database Costs & Performance in Fabric” with Amar Digamber Patil, Pam Lahoud, Madhuri Yethirajam | June 27, 2025 12:30 PM | Room 347 “Unleashing Modern Data Warehousing: Architecture, Insights & Future Innovations in Fabric Warehouse” with Twinkle Cyril | June 27, 2025 12:30 PM | Room 348 “Mastering Elastic Database Pools: Best Practices and Troubleshooting from Microsoft Support” with Jose Manuel Jurado Diaz, Juan Moreno Romo | June 27, 2025 12:30 PM | Room 348 “Secure, Compliant, and Connected: How Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales Manages Your Data and Insights" will be presented by Gaurav Babbar and Manpreet Singh on June 27th at 12:30 PM in Room 340-341. “Build a Robust App with Fabric SQL Database, GraphQL API, and User Data Functions” with Sunitha Muthukrishna, Ed Lima | June 27, 2025 12:30 PM | Room 344 “Mirroring in Microsoft Fabric - Overview and Roadmap” with Wilson Lee, Maraki Ketema | June 27, 2025 01:50 PM | Room 344 “Indexing Internals for Developers & DBAs” with Bradley Ball | June 27, 2025 01:50 PM | Room 347 “Realtime product review data analysis for Retail using Fabric RTI, Purview and Azure Open AI” with Tammiraju Prasanth, Prashant Atri | June 27, 2025 01:50 PM | Room 340-341 Microsoft Surface Team at TechCon The Microsoft Surface hardware bar at the event will feature hands-on demos of the latest Surface devices, giving attendees a chance to explore their design and performance up close and to meet the Surface product team. Community Activities at TechCon Join us in the Microsoft Zone on the Expo Floor and say hello to speakers and pick up some stickers and learn about our global community programs. Women in Tech and Allies Lunch Moved to Friday: 11:30AM -12:30 PM Room: 447-448 The Women in Tech Allies Lunch is a dedicated space for fostering community, support, and collaboration among women and allies in the tech industry. Attendees can connect over shared experiences, discuss opportunities for advocacy, and build lasting professional relationships. Speakers: Heather Cook, Karuana Gatimu and Rie Merritt Tips for Attendees Introduce Yourself o Your unique insights matter! Engage with others and share your perspective. Participate Fully o Put away your laptops and stay focused. Immerse yourself in sessions for in-depth learning, tips, and tricks. Share your Knowledge o Don’t hesitate to offer your expertise. Sharing what you know can help others and strengthen the community. Ask Questions and Provide Feedback o Your inquiries and suggestions can shape the future of our products. Don’t hold back—your voice matters! Stay Hydrated and Dress Comfortably o Keep your energy up and your mind sharp. Dress for movement to enjoy the full experience. Learn more Visit TechCon365.com/Seattle and follow the action on X/Twitter: @TechCon365, @Microsoft365, @SharePoint, @OneDrive, @MicrosoftTeams, @MSPowerPlat, @Microsoft365Dev, and @MSFTAdoption. We hope to see you in Seattle for an unforgettable experience! This is your chance to dive into the latest innovations, connect with brilliant minds, and gain insights that could reshape your perspective. With inspiring sessions, hands-on learning opportunities, and a vibrant community of tech enthusiasts, this event promises to be nothing short of extraordinary. Don’t just hear about it—be part of it! Mark your calendar and ensure you don’t miss the magic waiting to unfold in the heart of Seattle! Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity – register today and take advantage of the exclusive MSCMTY discount to save $200 USD off! Last, take a look at the event experience: See you in Seattle! 🤩 Cheers, Heather Cook
OV Subscription and M365
Hi Microsoft Community, at the Moment we the following situation with one of our Customers from Germany. The customer has two differrent types of contracts at the Moment, one is a M365 contract and the other one is an Open Value Supscription contract. As an attachment to this E-Mail i share the actual licenses of the Customer with you. The customer has the follwing licenses: M365: 1x Dynamics 365 Customer Voice for Teachers 200x Microsoft 365 A3 for Teachers 5600x Microsoft 365 A3 for Students 5x Microsoft 365 A5 for Teachers 100x Microsoft Teams Telefon Standard for Teachers 25x Microsoft Viva-Suite for Teachers 5x Planner for Project Plan 3 for Teachers 3x Planner for Project Plan 5 for Teachers OV- Subscription: 200 FTE; MS Core CAL Client Access License Suite, incl. Software Assurance. 2x MS Exchange Server Standard, incl. Software Assurance. 200 FTE; MS Project Professional incl. Software Assurance 200 FTE; MS Visio Professional Enterprise Device, incl. Software Assurance 25x MS Windows Remote Desktop Services User CAL 1x MS SQL Server Standard Edition, incl. Software Assurance 2x MS SQL Server Standard Core, incl. Software Assurance, 2 Licenses 320 Cores; MS Windows Server Standard, incl. Software Assurance 48 Cores; MS Windows Server Datacenter Core incl. Software Assurance The customer is a school and can participate at the Microsoft Education programm. Since the last partner of the customerdidnt do a good consulting job and wasnt able to answer the questions of the customer properly, he is now very sensitive about some questions he has. Maybe you can help us with those questions too: With the Microsoft 365 A3 License for Teachers or Students there also comes a Windows 10/11 Desktop Operation System Upgrade to Windows 10/11 Education/Enterprise. Is there a proper Operations system like Windows 11 Pro OEM needed to install the Windows 11 Education Edition on the PCs or can the customer also buy Systems without any Microsoft Operation Systems and install the Windows 11 Education license directly on the Device? To open up a Open Value Subscription Contract there are qualified Products needed. In this case its the Microsoft Core CALs. Are they always needed or is it possible to open a Contract without them? Cause the CALs would already been licensed about the Microsoft 365 A3 Licenses. Is it still true, that when you License all FTEs in a Open Value Subscription contract that you can Provide all those Licenese for the Students too, for example: Visio, Project, Windows Server? If yes, how can the Students get those licenses? Is there still a Microsoft Portal where they can sign up with their school account and can Download those Licenses? Thanks for your help. Best regards ChristophClipchamp for Microsoft Education is here: enhancing learning through video creation
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.Learning Accelerators, Teams Assignments Generally Available for Blackboard by Anthology
Today we are pleased to announce general availability of the Teams Assignments integration for Blackboard by Anthology! Blackboard is the latest Learning Management System to move to GA with this powerful integration, with more on the way. The Teams Assignments integration brings the power of Microsoft Learning Accelerators and generative AI educator tools to your LMS, along with other engaging activities such as Flip videos, Auto-graded Forms, MakeCode projects, Whiteboards, and Reflect check-ins. Grades and feedback are automatically returned to the LMS gradebook. LMS admin resources for deployment: Blackboard Admin Deployment Guide NOTE: If you have already deployed the preview, you do not need to re-install - just keep enjoying the app! Educator resources for readiness: Using Microsoft Teams Assignments in Learning Management Systems Additional readiness for Microsoft Learning Accelerators: Support reading fluency practice with Reading Progress Develop confident presenters with Speaker Progress Develop search strategies with Search Coach and Search Progress Support building mathematics skills with Math Progress Build social and emotional skills in your classroom community with Reflect Achieve More with Assignments in your LMS The new Teams Assignments integration brings unique new capabilities into your LMS, saving educators time, and providing powerful tools to accelerate learning. For example, with Teams assignments you can: Leverage AI during assignment creation to rapidly draft assignment descriptions and rubrics Accelerate student learning and educator insights with Reading, Math, Search, and Speaker Progress assignments Deliver auto-graded quizzes with Microsoft Forms Access unique assignment types such as Microsoft Whiteboard, MakeCode, and Flip video Use Reflect exit check-ins to gain insights into student sentiment related to assignments Teams Assignments are seamlessly integrated with LMS assignments via the Learning Tools Interoperability® (LTI®) v1.3 Advantage standard. As an educator, you can create new Teams assignments or link existing Teams assignments in your LMS course. Once linked, you can view and access those assignments as you would any other assignment in the LMS course. Your students can view and access their Teams assignments in the same way as their other LMS assignments. Assignment grades in Teams are automatically imported into the LMS gradebook. You can now use the best that Teams assignments and your LMS offer working together, instead of working alongside each other. Support for additional LMS platforms will be added soon! You can sign up here to receive information on current and future LMS integration previews. Choose the Right Tool for the Right Assignment Many educators are already using the OneDrive LTI® tool to bring M365 documents into LMS assignments. The new Teams Assignments LTI® tool is a complementary solution that brings unique capabilities of Teams for Education to LMS users. When creating an assignment in your LMS, you should choose the tool that best meets the needs of the specific assignment. Whatever the choice of tool, the assignment can be viewed and accessed like any other assignment in the LMS, and grades will be added into the LMS gradebook. Teams Assignments LTI® OneDrive LTI® What is it best used for? Learning Accelerators, Forms Quizzes, Whiteboard, MakeCode, Flip video, and other activities exclusive to Teams Assignments. AI-assisted assignment and rubric creation. Multiple Word, PowerPoint, Excel documents along with other activities can be required to be submitted by the student as part of a single assignment. Embedding or linking M365 documents in course content, discussions, announcements, or other LMS content. When a single or several documents are the focus of the assignment, announcement or discussion, and other Teams Assignments features are not needed. Collaborative editing of documents. Where are assignments graded? In Microsoft Teams, with grades and feedback automatically syncing back to the LMS gradebook. In the LMS, using the native LMS rubrics and gradebook. Requires Microsoft Teams for Education? Yes No How to get Help or give Feedback For any issues deploying the integration, our Education Support team is here to help: Please contact https://aka.ms/EduSupport Once deployed, the Teams Assignments integration has links to Contact Support and Send Feedback from right within the app. These can be found in the user voice menu in the upper right on any view that appears within the LMS. Leverage Microsoft Education for more than Assignments in your LMS The new Teams assignments integration is the latest advancement in our continued efforts to bring the full value of Microsoft Education to users of learning management systems. You can already use the capabilities of Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, OneNote Class Notebooks, Microsoft Reflect directly within LMS courses. You can learn more about these integrations with leaning management systems such as Blackboard, Brightspace, Canvas, Schoology Learning and Moodle in our previous overview, and our support page. Learning Tools Interoperability® (LTI®) is a trademark of the 1EdTech Consortium, Inc. (www.1edtech.org)Announcing the standalone Microsoft Reading Coach for classroom use
Today, we are announcing Reading Coach as a standalone app is available for schools. Reading Coach is a FREE reading fluency application that provides personalized, engaging practice with safeguarded one-of-a-kind AI generated stories that keeps even the most reluctant readers coming back. Later this year, Reading Coach will also be available in leading Learning Management Systems.
