Microsoft Teams
- Esteban Perez-Palmer
- Nov 14, 2019
- 3 min read
Microsoft Teams is a team collaboration platform that is ranked number 11 on Jane Hart’s Top tools for learning in 2019. This platform was released in 2017 and is part of the Office 365 suite. My first experience using it was during a group project at the beginning of the 2019-20 Fall semester. We chose this platform because it brings together many different collaboration features such as video conference calls, file storage and management, discussion boards and chat rooms, and 3rd party app integration. Microsoft teams competes with other similar collaboration tools such as Slack, Workplace, and PB Works. It has a lot of the functionality as those other platforms, but offers more seamless integration with Microsoft Office Suite.
With Teams, users have a rich collaborative space with which to communicate and share files. This platform offers a desktop app, web app, and mobile app. I used the web app the majority of the time, but I also use the mobile app to stay connected when on the move. On the desktop and web apps, there is a navigation menu on the far left of the program that includes the major categories of activity, chat, teams, calls, and files (See screenshots below). You can also search for embedded apps easily with the ellipses (...) icon. When selected, each of these main categories includes a secondary menu immediately to the right of the navigation ribbon.
Teams can be used to organize any collaboration or group project, especially if the participants are at a distance from one another. For instance, this is an ideal tool for working on collaborations in a distance learning setting. it offers robust synchronous and asynchronous communication. The chat function features a built-in notification system that will alert you if your name is specifically mentioned in the thread. This can be used to target specific statements or questions to individual group members. In addition, the built in video conferencing was very useful. Users can set up conference calls with some or all group members via the desktop/web app and mobile app. If using the desktop/web app, there is the additional functionality of sharing screens during these conference calls to further enhance synchronous distance collaboration.
Navigation within the app can sometimes be challenging. People can be sorted into multiple teams with individual chat and file sharing for each. This can make it difficult to find needed information at times, especially specific chat threads. For instance, when working on a group project, our group was subdivided into two teams. The group as a whole could communicate and share files. In addition, both of the nested teams had their own file sharing and chat functions. That meant there were at least three places to look for needed information. If there were even more teams, I could see this set up quickly getting out of hand. With the “Files” option of the main navigation bar, you can search for all files uploaded by any team, which helps in some regard. I would like to see something similar to search for keywords in all the chats spread across multiple teams. This could help alleviate some of the more cumbersome aspects of navigating through the app.
Microsoft Teams comes as a stand alone free account or as part of the Microsoft Office 365 suite. The free version of the app is available if you have a Microsoft account. The free option has most of the functionality of the paid version, but it does not have the same level of integration with other Microsoft Office products. The paid version comes with one of three annual Microsoft Office 365 subscriptions: Essentials for $5 per person per month, Premium for $12.50 per person per month, or Enterprise for $20 per person per month. With all of these versions except Enterprise, up to 300 team members can be invited to collaborate. The Enterprise version allows for an unlimited number of team members. These prices are comparable to other collaboration platforms that typically range from $5 to $15 per user per month. A notable difference is that with the paid version of Microsoft teams, you are paying for the entire Microsoft Office 365 suite so you get a lot of bang for your buck.
As mentioned above, I have recently used this platform to collaborate on a group project of creating a lesson for grad students at UWF. We used the platform to communicate via chat and video calls as well as share files and use apps (See screenshots below). I have worked on quite a few group collaborations at this point, but I felt this project went so much smoother because of Microsoft teams. I will most definitely be using this platform again!
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