Introduction

Before the lesson, if possible, make arrangements with another member of staff in school to be able to video call them at the start of the lesson using Teams. You will only need a few minutes of their time to be able to demonstrate to the class how to safely use a video chat service and how to present a document over video chat.

Recap last week’s lesson and the shared presentations that they created. Ask them to remind you how to get back to their OneDrive.

To complete this unit and further widen the communication and collaborative tools that the students have used, in this lesson we will explore Microsoft Teams. 

 

Video call safety

Choose a pair from the class that are happy to share their work from the last lesson. Explain that we're going to look at another way to communicate online, via video meeting. We'll also see how we can share a document or presentation over a video call.

Ask who has used a video call service before?  Many students will have used services like FaceTime, Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp or other social media services that allow video chat.

These services are great, but can also pose a danger to our safety if not used carefully and responsibly. Ask what sort of things should we think about before using video call apps?  You are likely to get a wide range of answers, but some important things to draw our and highlight are:

• Check the age rating of the app you want to use.
• Make sure you have the permission of your parent or guardian before using these services.
• Have a grown up you trust in the room with you on a video call.
• Never video call with strangers or people you have only met online.
• Always dress appropriately for a video call.
• Be careful what is in the background on your call - we can give away personal information about ourselves by the things in the background. This could be photographs, signs, certificates etc.
• Always be polite and respectful on a video call.

 

This is where you will need a colleague in another room on standby, as described at the start of the lesson. If you haven't already, make sure you have added them as a contact in Teams so it's quick and easy to make the call in the lesson.

Explain that you are going to demonstrate making a safe video call to another teacher/class in school and that some volunteers will share their presentation from the last lesson over the video meeting. They will just need to briefly explain what they found from their questionnaire using their slides. Make sure the pair you choose have shared their slides with you before the call.

 

Teams

You can find Microsoft's help page for Teams HERE

 

 

And a really useful quick start guide HERE.

 

 

On your teacher computer, ask the child that created the Powerpoint in the last lesson to log in to Office 365. Show how to find the Teams app from the homepage.

 

 

Teams is designed to do a number of different things, but as the name suggests, they are all built around being able to collaborate easily with other people in a team. It allows instant messaging, sharing of files, management of your calendar and also video calls.

You can find all the key functions in the icons on the left of the screen when you open Teams.

 

 

There are different ways to start a call in Teams. In this example go to Calls find the contact you wish to call and look for the video camera icon next to their name.

 

 

Clicking this will immediately start the call. Once the call connects, you'll see an options bar appear near the bottom of the screen. It will disappear if you keep your cursor still, but will reappear when you move your cursor again.

 

 

The first two icons allow you to turn off your camera and mute your microphone. Ask why might you want to mute your microphone?  This is most useful in a call with a number of people, if there's background noise, coughing etc coming from lots of people's computers the camera doesn't know who to focus on. It can also give annoying feedback sounds and be distracting to those that are trying to listen to someone speaking.

Turning off the camera could be an option to give you more privacy, and it can also help if there is a poor internet connection as streaming the video can use more bandwidth than just an audio call.

The hand icon lets you virtually 'raise your hand', which can be used in meetings with a number of people when someone else is speaking but you have a question or something to say.

The speech bubble icon opens a chat pane where you can type written message that everyone on the call will be able to see. This is useful for leaving questions without interrupting when someone is speaking and also perhaps sharing a web link to a website you might be talking about.

 

 

The people icon lets you see who is in the meeting as a list, where you can also invite new people into the meeting.

 

 

Screen sharing

When your colleague has joined the call, briefly explain what you are doing with the class; that they are learning about safe video calling and also how to share a document across a video call.

Click the share button on the tool bar.

 

 

You may see your Powerpoint from the last lesson in the space at the bottom of the screen.

 

 

If not, click the browse button on the right and search their OneDrive for the file.

 

 

You'll then see your Powerpoint presentation open up in presentation mode (you can't edit it from here). The other people on the call will also see the presentation on their screen. From here they can talk about their results and move through the slides by clicking the screen or using the arrow keys on the keyboard.

 

 

When they have finished they can click the Stop presenting button. Then you can thank and say your goodbyes to your colleague before hanging up the call with the red button on the main tool bar.

 

   

 

Recap this section of the lesson and the important safety points for video calls. Ask what should you do before you make a video call?  Who should you make video calls to?  What else should you be aware of when you're on a video call?  What should you do if something happens on a video call that makes you feel uncomfortable or upset? 

 

Other Teams features to try

 

Depending on your facilities, you may or may not have webcams and headphones with microphones available. Schools that buy into our SLA at 4 days or more can loan both these things from us. Please get in touch with us at teachictnt@ntlp.org.uk or contact your school improvement adviser directly to arrange this well before the lesson.

If possible, you may wish to allow the children to make some Teams calls to each other and see what it's like when a few people are in the meeting. You could divide them into groups and direct them who to call so everyone is included. You cannot be in two calls at the same time.

 

The chat feature is really useful and allows instant messaging. Just like email in our first lessons, and any other way of communicating online there are some very important things to remember when using this service. Ask what should we be aware of?

• Be polite and friendly when chatting online.
• It is a school tool and everything you write must be appropriate for school.
• You comments may be reviewed by teachers in school.

 

You need to have people added as contacts before you can message them. Your school may set up class groups automatically, if not the children will have to add them manually. In the chat window go to Contacts then down to Other contacts and click the three dots and Add a contact to this group. 

 

 

They will then be able to search for the person by name in your school system and then add them.

 

Once added chatting is easy! Add your message to the box at the bottom of the main window and then hit the paper aeroplane send button.

 

 

Messages appear like phone text messages in the main window.

 

 

Files lets you view and open files you have saved in Teams or your OneDrive.

 

 

All your OneDrive folders will appear and you can open files directly from here without needing to leave Teams or open other applications such as Powerpoint.

 

 

 

 

Finally, the Teams section lets you combine all of the above for a specific group of people. You can set up a team, have a chat area for that group, have shared files that everyone can access and edit, and make calls to the group, all in one place.

It's recommended that you set up a class Team before the lesson.

Click Join or create a team.

 

 

Create team > Class.

 

 

 

Then name your class and add students with the search box

 

Once created the General area gives you a chat section (Posts), an area to upload and share files and other assignment features. Learn more about assignments HERE.

 

 

You can also start group video calls with the Meet button int the top right.

 

The three dots next to the Team name give you other options, such as creating channels. These could be subject or topic areas and allow you to separate your work out so it's easier to find and manage things.

 

 

 

Give the students time to explore some of Teams features. Ask them to:

• Open a file you have placed in the files area
• Try and upload a document to the files area.
• Leave a comment to say hi in the posts section.

 

Plenary

Review the lesson and the unit with the following questions.

• What important online safety messages have we discussed in the last few weeks?
• What does collaborate mean?
• How have you collaborated with Office 365 tools?
• Which do you think is most useful?
• Were any difficult to use?
• How could you use them in the future? 
• What are the most important things to remember when working on a collaborative document with other people?