Students are long used to relying on technology in their day-to-day studies. For years, they’ve been using smartphones, laptops, and other gadgets to support their academic aspirations.
Apart from different devices, students also rely a lot on different software and services. They use specialized tools to conduct research, ask Paperwriter Write Paper For Me, access online learning materials, and even collaborate with each other.
Among a variety of collaboration tools, Microsoft Teams seems to be one of the most trending ones. In this guide, we will tell you everything about this app, its benefits, and the tips that will help you make the most out of it!
What Is Microsoft Teams?
Before we get to actionable tips, let us give you a quick introduction to Microsoft Teams. This tool was initially released in 2017. This tool is a part of the Microsoft 365 family of products designed for productivity and efficiency.
Originally, this tool was meant primarily for business communication. It is a messaging app that empowers workspaces with convenient chat, file storage, application integration, and videoconferencing features.
Although the app was designed for organizations, it’s actively gaining popularity in the educational sector. After the outbreak of Covid-19, educators and students saw the pressing need to stay in touch and collaborate effectively, and Microsoft Teams became a popular solution. The number of students using it skyrocketed by 30 million in 2020. In 2021, it was already used by over 100 million young people. And their number keeps growing.
Top Benefits of Microsoft Teams for Students
If you haven’t tried it before, you must be wondering why you should choose Microsoft Teams over other collaboration and productivity software. Here is a quick overview of the main benefits it can offer to students:
• Convenient live sessions. Thanks to a video conferencing feature, this software enables you to join online classes and run your own online study sessions without a hassle.
• Great connectivity. Microsoft Teams seamlessly integrates with hundreds of other apps. To name a few, you can connect it to Prezi, Kahoot, Trello, Zoom, and many others. Such extensive connectivity allows you to make this tool your ultimate workspace for handling any college tasks.
• Secure communication. With this app, you can easily communicate with your teachers and classmates in real-time using a convenient chat. And the best part is that this chat is accurately secured with advanced safety features to protect you from any hazards.
• Effective collaboration. Thanks to convenient communication, file sharing, and other features, this software is perfect for collaboration. With its help, you can easily collaborate with your friends on group projects, get your tasks done together without a hassle, and study better.
How to Use Microsoft Teams Effectively in College
Now that you know what it is and how it can benefit you, let’s get to the most important part. Below are a few simple tips that will take your collaboration in Microsoft Teams to a new level:
Create Teams
The primary feature of this software is that it allows users to gather in dedicated teams for their projects. When starting to use the app, be sure to use this feature too. Create a dedicated group for different projects or subjects and invite your fellow students to join. Once you are in a team, you will be able to communicate, share files, host live meetings, and use all the other productivity tools.
Also, inside each team, you can create multiple channels to communicate with specific people from your group. The channels can be both public and private. You can use them for large-scale projects to discuss smaller tasks with the people responsible for them.
Use Video Conferences
Although Google Meets has a pretty convenient live chat, live conferences shouldn’t be overlooked. You can use this feature to hold online study sessions and discussions for your projects.
During video conferences, you will have a number of additional possibilities. Namely, if there is such a need, you can mute your own mike or other participants’ microphones to ensure that there is no unnecessary chit-chat. Also, if you need to pin any important information during your call, you can run a live chat right during the conference. Use these and other opportunities to make your calls efficient.
Leverage Planner
Microsoft Teams features a convenient Planner tool. With the planner, you can create tasks and allocate them across the members of your group. This feature can really come in handy for handling group projects. Whenever you need to complete a large project with other students, break it down into smaller tasks and assign these tasks to other members of your team. This will help you organize the workflow and get the work done faster and easier.
Pro tip: In the planner, you can also assign specific start and due dates for every task. Be sure to use this possibility. This will let you stay on the right track in your projects and prioritize your time accordingly. Even if you will be running short on time before the specific task’s due date, at least you will be aware of this and will have time to delegate it to the best paper writing services and get it done right on time.
Set Up Notifications
If you want to make the most out of this app, you need to enable notifications. This way, you will always stay updated on the progress of your work, new mentions and tasks, new conversations, and more.
Title Your Conversations
This is a less obvious tip. However, it can really come in handy for effective collaboration. When you create new conversation threads within your group, be sure to title them accordingly. This will help you find the needed conversations without a hassle when you need to use them again or find the needed files or information in different threads.
The Bottom Line
Being a student isn’t a piece of cake. Luckily, tools like Microsoft Teams make your academic life simpler.
After reading this guide, you will know everything about this tool and how you can use it for academic success. Use this knowledge to collaborate like a pro and achieve greater results with ease!