Can Microsoft Teams for Education replace the learning management systems?

What will happen in the next years?

Last time I read about Teams replacing the Learning management systems the verdict was this; Teams is not ready to replace or compete with the LMS yet, but it isn’t terribly far away. Source, Eliterate.

Yesterday I joined a workshop where Teams is now the new initiative. Every school in my district has to use Teams to promote collaboration, and amongst those participating many believe it will in time replace our learning management system, its:learning.

I have been skeptical to change just for the sake of changing, and I need solid arguments for changing. If this is something that is considered, It is important to focus on what we want from the LMS and question how it is used to enhance student learning. What I like best right now,  is the way we can use the planner, how we get statistics on performance and I also like to use peer assessment.  But I have an open mind to change and would like to explore what Microsoft Teams has to offer. I’m sharing some of the features they have been working on lately here. You might want to have a look at this video first.

1. A simplified and focused new design

Get to your channels, conversations and assignments faster with visual graphic tiles that represent each one of your teams. We call this the ‘grid view,’ and it replaces the list of Teams you used to see in the left panel. Don’t worry—everything you’ve worked on so far will still be exactly where you left it in the team.

Plus, capture class attention and recognize student achievements with all new announcements, Praise cards and stickers.

2. Introducing a gradebook and more time-saving tools for teachers

Our new gradebook makes it easy to view the grades and average scores across every assignment in a given course. With Grade Sync, you can easily sync your assignments and grades to PowerSchool and other Student Information Systems coming soon. We’ve also made it possible to view an individual student’s progress, allowing you to observe patterns in their performance over time.

And now, you can import existing Class and Staff Notebooks, making it easy to populate your Content Library or Teacher-only area during setup.

3. More ways to share with students and guardians

We know inspiration for a lesson can come from anywhere, even when you’re on the go. With that in mind, the new Share to Teams feature makes it simple to create assignments or send links to your class directly from your favorite education apps and learning resources. Many education providers have already committed to integrating with Share to Teams – more on that soon! EdTech developers can integrate for themselves by going here.

Need to communicate student progress and assignments with parents and guardians? Soon, you can send weekly email updates to your students’ parents or guardians with their child’s progress. IT admins can get ready for this feature today by onboarding to the new Parent and Guardian sync from Microsoft School Data Sync.

And last but certainly not least, live captions are now built into Teams meetings, bridging the communication gap with students who are hard of hearing or second-language learners.