Microsoft Mesh Education Licensing
Microsoft Education and Product Teams, I am writing to advocate for the inclusion of Microsoft Mesh (Immersive Spaces and Events) within the Microsoft 365 Education SKU family (A1, A3, and A5). Currently, Mesh is available across nearly every commercial license family, from Teams Essentials to E5 Enterprise, but is explicitly excluded from Education tenants. As documented in several Learn Q&A threads and service plan manifests, the MESH_IMMERSIVE_FOR_TEAMS service plan is simply not provisioned for EDU customers. The current state is one of silent exclusion, creating several critical hurdles: Pedagogical: Immersive technology is one of the most requested features for remote and hybrid learning to combat "Zoom fatigue" and increase student engagement. Education is a high-value use case for 3D immersion. Parity: Universities and K-12 institutions on A5 licenses pay for "top-tier" features but are denied the innovative tools available to a "Business Basic" user. If you are a small business on a basic plan, you have Mesh. If you are a world-class University on A5, you are blocked. This isn't a "procurable" add-on; it is a licensing eligibility wall. Implementation: Current Microsoft guidance suggests schools move to Business or Enterprise licensing to access Mesh. This is not a viable solution for institutions with thousands of users, complex compliance requirements, and student-data privacy frameworks built specifically around EDU SKUs. We aren’t asking for a discount; we are asking for eligibility. We urge the product team to: Add the Mesh Immersive service plan to the A3 and A5 EDU license entitlements. Provide a clear roadmap for when Education tenants can expect feature parity with Commercial tenants. Education should be the vanguard of immersive collaboration, not an afterthought. We would appreciate a formal update on when this licensing barrier will be removed.
Unable to Setup Billing for new tenant account: Error code - 43881
I set up a Microsoft 365 Education tenant for a school in Uganda but received error code 43881 during billing verification. The tenant was created but A1 trial licenses were not attached. I have no chat or email support options available in the admin center. Error code: 43881More standards are coming to the Teach Module and Teams for Education!
Hi everyone! As educators, you have told us that aligning lessons, assessments, and classroom materials to the standards you actually use is one of the most important parts of making AI-powered teaching tools useful in practice. When standards are available and easy to apply, it becomes much faster to create materials that fit your local curriculum and instructional goals. That is why we are continuing to expand the standards experience across Microsoft Education. We are excited to share a new wave of international standards coming to the standards experience in Teach and in Teams for Education. These standards will support experiences in the Teach module across Lesson Plans, Quizzes, and Rubrics, and they are also coming to Assignments in Teams for Education. In this post, we will share what is coming this week, what is planned over the next two months, what we are targeting for summer, and how we plan to keep you updated going forward. Why this matters Standards alignment helps you spend less time translating curriculum requirements into classroom materials and more time supporting student learning. Whether you are building a lesson plan, generating a quiz, creating a rubric, or preparing future assignments workflows in Teams for Education, access to the right standards makes those experiences more relevant and easier to use. Our goal is to keep expanding coverage so more educators can work with the standards they already know and trust, in more countries, subjects, and grade bands. New standards added in 2025 In 2025, we expanded standards coverage with a new set of international additions, including: Austria Canada - Ontario Early Language Learners Health & PE Technology Education Art Canada - Quebec Francophone Canada - Ontario World Languages French as a Second Language Native Languages American Sign Language as a Second Language Classical Studies and International Languages Egypt England Arts Education Health & PE World Languages Technology Education Career Technical Education Finland Kuwait UK GCE AS and A Level Qualifications across a broad range of subject areas These additions helped expand standards coverage beyond core national frameworks and into more subject-specific and qualification-based experiences. Recently added We have already started rolling out new international standards this spring. Recent additions include: Czech Republic UK additions, including recent support for Scotland, Wales, and UK GCE AS and A Level qualifications New Brunswick - Technology Standards Kuwait - Language Arts, Math, Social Studies Estonia - Language Arts, Math, Science Estonia - Social Studies Latvia New Brunswick - Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies These recent additions laid the groundwork for the next wave of standards now arriving across Teach and Teams for Education. Coming this week This week, we are adding the following standards to the standards experience in Teach and Teams for Education: Finland Lithuania Norway Romania These additions continue our recent rollout of international standards and expand access for educators who want to align AI-assisted lesson creation and assessment workflows to local curriculum expectations. Coming in the next two months Over the next two months, we expect to continue expanding standards coverage with the following additions: Slovakia Sweden Egypt Canada - Quebec Francophone Standards India NCERT - Hindi Language Arts India NCERT - Sanskrit Language Arts Bahrain Lebanon Oman Qatar Greece We also have additional standards in progress that are on the roadmap, with timing still being finalized: Austria Kuwait - Science India NCERT - Urdu Language Arts Australia ACARA National Technology Education Health & PE Art Languages Canada - New Brunswick additional subject expansion Health & PE Art Languages Norway vocational standards As these become available, they will light up the same standards-backed experiences across Teach and Teams for Education. Planned for summer Looking ahead, we are planning an even broader set of standards expansions over the summer. This work is designed to add more international coverage across core subjects and additional curriculum frameworks. The following are planned for summer: Belgium - Flemish Catholic Network Standards (VVKSO) Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies Canada, British Columbia ADST (Entrepreneurship & Marketing) Career Education (Career-Life Education, Career-Life Connections) Core Competencies Canada: Ontario Business Studies Canadian & World Studies Co-op Ed Guidance & Career Ed Ontario Catholic expectations (ICE) CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) Language Arts Portugal Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies Germany: NRW State Kernlehrplan Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies Hong Kong Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies Turkey Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies Vietnam Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies Costa Rica Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies Peru Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies Guatemala Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies Morocco Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies Croatia Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies Kenya Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies Bolivia Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies Chile Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies Pakistan Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies Panama Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies This planned summer wave reflects our continued focus on expanding standards coverage in ways that are useful for real classroom workflows across regions. Where you will see these standards As standards coverage expands, educators will see the impact across several experiences: Teach module - Lesson Plans Teach module - Quizzes Teach module and Teams for Education – Rubrics Teams for Education – Assignments Instructions (Coming soon) This means more opportunities to use standards as part of lesson creation, assessment design, and classroom workflows without having to start from scratch. What this means for educators As more standards become available, you will be able to: Align lesson materials to more local and regional curriculum requirements Build quizzes and rubrics that better reflect what students are expected to know and do Use standards-backed workflows in Teach across more countries and subject areas Prepare for future standards-aligned experiences in Assignments in Teams for Education For educators working across multiple countries, languages, or curriculum systems, this expanded coverage can help reduce manual work and make AI-generated outputs more relevant to your teaching context. We plan to keep sharing updates We also plan to share regular blog updates roughly every quarter so you can see what standards are newly available, what is rolling out next, and where we are continuing to expand coverage. Our goal is to make these updates easier to track so educators, school leaders, and partners can stay current on what is available in the standards experience across Microsoft Education. Helpful links Getting started with Teach Modify content - Align to Standards Microsoft Teams for Education International standards currently available through EdGate Request additional standards Share feedback with us by joining our EDU Insider Program Have questions or want to let us know which standards you would like to see next? Drop a comment below or submit a request through our Standards Feedback form. We would love to hear what curriculum frameworks matter most in your classrooms. Until next time, Samantha Fisher · Microsoft EducationProvePresent: Ending Proxy Attendance with Azure Serverless & Azure OpenAI
Problem Most schools use a smart‑card‑based attendance system where students tap their cards on a reader. However, this method is unreliable because students can give their cards to friends or simply tap and leave immediately. Teachers cannot accurately assess real student performance—whether high‑performing students are genuinely attending class or whether poor performance is due to actual absence. Another issue is that even if students are physically present in a lecture, teachers still cannot tell whether they are paying attention to the projector or actually learning. The current workaround is for teachers to override the attendance record by calling each student one by one, which is time‑consuming in large lectures and adds little educational value. It is also only a one‑time check, meaning students can still leave the lecture room immediately afterwards. Another issue is that we have many out‑of‑school activities such as site visit, and the school needs to ensure everyone’s presence promptly in each check point. This kind of problem isn’t unique to schools. It’s a common challenge for event organizers, where verifying attendee presence is essential but often slow, causing long queues. Organizers usually rely on a few mobile scanners to check in attendees one by one. Solution ProvePresent is an AI tool designed to verify attendance and create real‑time challenges for participants, ensuring that attendance records are authentic and that attendees remain focused on the presentation. It uses OTP login with school email. Check-in and Check-out With a Real‑time QR Code The code refreshes every 25 seconds, and the presenter can display it on the projector for everyone to scan when checking in at the beginning and checking out at the end of the session. However, this alone cannot prevent someone from capturing the code and sending it to others who are not in the room, or from using two devices to help someone else scan for attendance—even if geolocation checks are enabled. We will explain this next. This check‑in and check‑out process is highly scalable, and no one needs to queue while waiting for someone to scan their QR code! Organizers can set geolocation restrictions to prevent anyone from checking in remotely in a simple manner. Keep Attendee Alive with Signalr The SignalR live connection allows the presenter to create real‑time challenges for attendees, helping to verify their presence and ensure they are genuinely focused on the presentation. AI Powered Live Quiz The presenter shares their presentation screen, and two Microsoft Foundry agents with Azure OpenAI Chatgpt 5.3 —ImageAnalysisAgent, which extracts key information from the shared screen, and QuizQuestionGenerator, which generates simple questions based on the current slide—work together to create challenges. The question is broadcast to all online attendees, who must answer within 20 seconds. This feature keeps attendees on the webpage and prevents them from doing anything unrelated to the presentation. Detailed report can be downloaded for further analysis. Attendee Photo Capture Request all online students to capture and upload photos of their venue view. The system will analyze the images to estimate seating positions using Microsoft Foundry agents with Azure OpenAI ChatGPT 5.3 PositionEstimationAgent and complete an image challenge. When the presenter clicks Capture Attendee Photos, all online attendees are prompted to take a photo and upload it to blob storage. The PositionEstimationAgent then analyzes the image to estimate their seating location, which can provide insights into student performance. Analysis Notes: Analyzed 13 students in 2 overlapping batches. Batch 1: The venue is a computer lab with the projector screen at the front center, whiteboards on the left, and cabinets on the right. Relative depth was estimated mainly from screen size and number of monitor rows visible ahead. Column estimates were inferred from screen angle and side-room features, with lower confidence for the rotated side-view image. Batch 2: These six photos appear to come from the same computer lab with the projector at the front center. Relative depth was estimated mainly from projector size and number of visible desk/monitor rows ahead. Left-right placement was inferred from projector skew and side-wall visibility. Within this batch, 240124734 and 240167285 seem closest to the front, 240286514 and 240158424 are slightly farther back, 240293498 is farther back again, and 240160364 appears furthest. Pass around the QR code attendance sheet Traditionally, the attendance sheet is circulated for attendees to sign, but this method is unreliable because no one monitors the signing process, allowing one attendee to sign for someone who is absent. It is also slow and not scalable for large groups. The QR Code attendance sheet functions as a chain. The presenter randomly distributes a short‑lived, one‑time QR code—representing a virtual attendance sheet—to any number of attendees, just like handing out multiple physical sheets. Each attendee must find another participant to scan their code to record attendance, continuing the chain until the final group of attendees. The presenter then verifies the last group’s presence. The first chain is a dead chain because that student left the venue and cannot find another student to scan his QR code. The second chain contains 20 student attendance records. It also provides useful insights into their friendship and seating patterns. Architecture This project is built using Vibe Coding, so we will not share highly technical details in this post. If you'd like to learn more, leave a comment, and we will write another blog to cover the specifics. GitHub Repo https://github.com/wongcyrus/ProvePresent Conclusion ProvePresent demonstrates how Azure serverless technology and Azure OpenAI can work together to solve a long‑standing problem in education: verifying genuine student presence and engagement. By combining real‑time QR code verification, SignalR‑powered live interactions, AI‑generated quizzes, and intelligent photo‑based seating analysis, we created a system where “being present” is no longer just a checkbox—it becomes a verifiable, interactive, and meaningful part of the learning experience. Instead of relying on outdated smart‑card systems or manual roll calls, educators gain a dynamic tool that keeps students attentive, provides insight into classroom behavior, and produces useful analytics for improving teaching outcomes. Students, in turn, benefit from an engaging, modern attendance experience that aligns with how digital‑native learners expect classes to operate. This is only the beginning. With Microsoft Foundry agents and the flexibility of Azure Functions, there are many opportunities to extend ProvePresent further—richer analytics, smarter engagement models, and seamless integration with LMS platforms. If there’s interest, we’re happy to share more technical details, architectural deep dives, and future roadmap ideas in a follow‑up post. Thank you for the contribution of Microsoft Student Ambassadors Hong Kong Institute of Information Technology (HKIIT) Wong Wing Ho, CHAN Sham Jayson, Pang Ho Shum, and Chan Ka Chun. They are major in Higher Diploma in Cloud and Data Centre Administration. About the Author Cyrus Wong is the senior lecturer of Hong Kong Institute of Information Technology (HKIIT) @ IVE(Lee Wai Lee).and he focuses on teaching public Cloud technologies. He is a passionate advocate for the adoption of cloud technology across various media and events. With his extensive knowledge and expertise, he has earned prestigious recognitions such as AWS Builder Center, Microsoft MVP- Microsoft Foundry, and Google Developer Expert for Google Cloud Platform & AI.Allow form respondents to save and continue to fill the form later
My comment refers to this voting: https://microsoftforms.uservoice.com/forums/386451-welcome-to-microsoft-forms-suggestion-box/suggestions/18447406-allow-form-respondents-to-save-and-continue-to-fil In our company we use sharepoint and MS 365 Business every day. MS Forms is very intuitive and esasy to handle, thats great! I made a long survey on sustainability topics to our members. Then I got feedback that in many cases more than one person in the adressed member companies have to work together according to their expertise... so they need the option to save the survey, send it to another colleague who can conitnue answering the question... Right now I have to look to alternative tools to fullfill this very important option. But I would prefer to continue my survey (where I already put more than one week of effort) in MS Forms. Is there already any timeline, when Mircrosoft will implement this function? Best regards from Germany MatthiasWhat's New in Microsoft EDU - March 2026
Join us on Wednesday, March 25th, 2026 for our latest "What's New in Microsoft EDU" webinar! We will be covering all of the latest product updates from Microsoft Education. These 30-minute webinars are put on by the Microsoft Education Product Management group and happen once per month, this month both 8:00am Pacific Time and 4:00pm Pacific time to cover as many global time zones as possible around the world. And don’t worry – we’ll be recording these and posting on our Microsoft Education YouTube channel in the new “What’s New in Microsoft EDU” playlist, so you’ll always to able to watch later or share with others! Here is our March 2026 webinar agenda: 1) M365 Copilot and AI updates for Educators and Students - Modify Existing Content - Minecraft EDU Lesson Plans - New Learning Activities: Fill in the Blanks, Matching and Self-Quizzing - Study & Learn agent for studnets 2) Learning Zone General Availability and the Copilot+ PC 3) Microsoft 365 LTI and Teach Module for Learning Management Systems 4) AMA - Ask Microsoft EDU Anything (Q&A) We look forward to having you attend the event! How to sign up 📅 OPTION 1: March 25th, Wednesday @ 8:00am Pacific Time Register here 📅 OPTION 2: March 25th, Wednesday @ 4:00pm Pacific Time Register here This is what the webinar portal will look like when you register: We look forward to seeing you there! Mike Tholfsen Group Product Manager Microsoft EducationLearning Zone spotlight: How women won the vote
A monthly spotlight from the Learning Zone collection, featuring ready-to-use lessons that bring timely historical context and structured classroom discussion into your teaching. Women’s History Month: How voting rights were won The right to vote was not inevitable. It was organized, argued for, resisted, and won through decades of persistence. In both the UK and USA, activists formed movements, debated tactics, delivered speeches, wrote declarations, and in many cases faced arrest and imprisonment. Women’s History Month invites us to look back at the women who pushed boundaries and helped change the course of history. It is a fitting moment to explore one of the most significant political shifts of the modern era in the classroom. How women won the vote in Microsoft Learning Zone provides a structured, interactive way to explore this history in class. Students examine the contrasting approaches to the fight, analyze key figures, and compare British and American campaigns over time. Assign this lesson in Learning Zone and bring context and awareness into your classroom this March. This lesson is part of a curated library of ready-to-use interactive lessons in Microsoft Learning Zone, a free Windows app that allows educators to easily create and deliver interactive classroom experiences.Modify Content in Teach: AI-powered tools to adapt your lessons in minutes
Already have great lesson materials? Now you can instantly align them to standards, differentiate for every learner, adjust reading levels, and add real-world examples — all without starting from scratch. Hi everyone! As educators, you have told us that some of your most time-consuming work is not creating lessons — it is adapting them. Adjusting a reading passage for different grade levels, aligning an existing activity to new curriculum standards, or adding scaffolds for diverse learners can eat up hours of prep time each week. That is why we are excited to announce that Modify Content is now generally available in Copilot in Teach — a set of AI-powered tools that help you take content you already have and quickly tailor it for your classroom. What is Modify Content? Modify Content lets you transform existing lesson materials — instructions, reading passages, lesson plans — using AI, so every student gets what they need without you having to rewrite everything manually. Just paste your content (or upload a Word or PDF file), choose how you want to modify it, and review the result. It is designed to keep you in the driver's seat. Every modification is generated as a suggestion that you review and approve before it becomes part of your lesson. Four powerful ways to modify your content Align to Standards Have a lesson you love but need it to meet specific curriculum requirements? Select one or more educational standards, and the tool adjusts your content to reflect what students should know and be able to do — without losing the original context of your lesson. Example: A middle school science teacher has a hands-on weather observation activity. She selects the relevant Next Generation Science Standard and the tool weaves in the learning expectations, so her lesson now clearly supports the required competencies. Differentiate Instructions Adapt your instructions for different grade levels and add scaffolding — like step-by-step breakdowns, example answers, or hints — so every student can access and engage with the task. Example: A high school English teacher adapts a literary analysis prompt for students reading below grade level. She selects a lower grade target, adds "Hints" as the scaffold type, and chooses "Expanded" length. In seconds, she has a version that guides struggling readers through the same assignment. Modify Reading Level Rewrite any text to match a specific grade level while preserving the original meaning and key vocabulary. You can also generate a glossary — with clear, age-appropriate definitions — right at the end of the passage. Example: A secondary social studies educator wants learners to work with a primary source written at a university reading level. Using Modify Reading Level, she produces a version that keeps the document's key ideas and important historical terms intact while simplifying sentence structure for her students. Add Supporting Examples Enrich your content with real-world, historical, or scientific examples that make abstract concepts more concrete and relatable — without altering your original text. Example: An elementary teacher is introducing the concept of ecosystems. She adds two "Real World" examples at "Moderate" depth, and the tool appends relatable scenarios — like a local pond ecosystem and a school garden — that help students connect the concept to their own experiences. See it in action Here is a quick look at how Modify Content works: Open Teach and select Modify Content Paste your content or upload a Word/PDF file Choose your modification — Align to Standards, Differentiate Instructions, Modify Reading Level, or Add Supporting Examples Configure your options — grade level, scaffold type, number of examples, and more Generate and review — the AI produces a modified version for you to approve, edit, or regenerate Save your result — download as a Word document or copy the text directly Tip: You can iteratively refine the output using the description box to request adjustments — like changing sentence length, clarifying a concept, or modifying specific sections. Tips for getting the most out of Modify Content Tip Details Start with clear, detailed input The more context you provide, the more relevant the output. A well-written paragraph gives the AI much more to work with than a few bullet points. Always review before saving AI-generated content is a starting point, not the final word. Check that the output matches your instructional goals and is appropriate for your students. Combine modifications Use Align to Standards first, then Differentiate Instructions on the result. Layering modifications can help you build exactly the version you need. Preserve key vocabulary When modifying reading levels, use the key terms feature to ensure important subject-specific words stay in the text, even if the overall reading level changes. Requirements To use Modify Content: License: Microsoft 365 Education (A1, A3, or A5) Role: Educator (the feature is not available to students) Input: Minimum 50 characters of content to generate modifications Helpful links Getting started with Teach Modify content — Align to Standards Modify content — Differentiate Instructions Modify content — Modify Reading Level Modify content — Add Supporting Examples Share feedback with us by joining our EDU Insider Program Have questions or ideas? Drop them in the comments below — we would love to hear how you are using Modify Content to save time and support your students! Until next time, Leif Brenne · Microsoft Education
