Microsoft Teams, Classroom Notebook, and OneDrive LTIs

[adam_c_voyton]

We’re getting reading to roll out Microsoft Teams, which is super exciting as the LTIs seem very useful. Has your higher ed institution deployed any of the Microsoft LTI’s yet? If so, I’d really like to hear about your experiences! Here’s a few questions that I’m curious about: 

-Have these tools been used in a significant majority of your online classes yet?
- If you enable OneDrive, do you think it makes sense to disable the built-in Google collaboration feature?

- What are your thoughts about FlipGrid as a mobile friendly video-enhanced discussion app?

- The Classroom Notebook powered by OneDrive seems incredible for students asking questions and giving answers to/from fellow students in a class. I wonder if students would feel comfortable using it, and what purpose they’d use it for..any thoughts?

-Teams seems to do everything that Zoom can do. Does your school license and support both, or just one of these web conferencing tools? 

Here’s my initial thoughts without taking the tools for a test drive: 

• Teams for web conferencing, persistent chat, collaboration tools, and 3rd party apps seems like a great way to foster student-to-student learning (at fixed and open times)
• The OneDrive external assignment tool type seems like it will be really useful for having students submit PowerPoint, Word, or Excel files through a web browser instead of downloading a Microsoft file, editing it locally, and then uploading the updated file to an assignment file submission for grading.
• It doesn’t seem like a Teams Classroom can be set on a BluePrint level and ‘stick’ to courses that it’s synced to, and then doing a manual roster sync. 
  
  
• The React add-on to Teams seems super useful for teachers to quickly understand how their students are feeling towards the coursework. 

If your school is using Teams now in your Canvas instance, I’d love to discuss how it’s going with your Canvas Admin team. 

Cheers, Adam Voyton

adam.c.voyton@wilmu.edu 

[bickley_tl]

Hi Adam,

I am interested in this as well. 

If you can provide additional information or response please feel free to pass it along.

Terry

[Kevin_W]

We use the Microsoft Sync Integration like crazy! It has been great to use so that users do not have to manually create Teams and keep their rosters updates. We also added the OneDrive LTI, Teams Classes and Teams Meetings which I will give some feedback on below.

OneDrive: We added it but then disabled it. Reason being is while it looks better than the Office 365 integration, it does not offer a search capability (that we're aware of) and that is huge when it comes to large file libraries and users trying to find a specific file. Once that feature becomes available we will definitely swap. If it is available we would love to know where to find it! 

Teams Meetings: The recent updates to this are nice in that it allows Channel meetings to be created and displayed on the Canvas side of things! We love that students can access meetings, chats, etc right from Canvas. One thing I noticed is the meetings only show up in Canvas if they are created on the Canvas side of things. In this case they show in both Canvas and in the Teams Channel. If the channel meeting is created in Teams it doesn't seem to sync over to Canvas. Any ideas here? See image at the bottom. 

Teams Classes: We haven't really used this yet but will encourage users to put this to use as an simple way for users to access their Teams classes and view Team notifications! 

[adam_c_voyton]

@Kevin_W, thanks for sharing these details and the screenshot - you rock!

We're in the process now of installing the OneDrive and other MS LTIs, likely starting with OneDrive since it enables document collaboration without having our students use an external tool like a personal Google account which is a big priority for our organization. I'm not sure if/when we'll use the OneDrive assignment type in our online course templates, as that's would be a large undertaking to update in a large majority of templates/Blueprint courses (but I like the way this app lets students edit and submit their Office files in their browser, instead of a local client).

[dwillmore]

The problem we ran into was that we have separate domains for students and faculty. Did you run into this issue and find a way around it?

[adam_c_voyton]

Same. I believe the workaround was having IT get both groups on the same domain. Our implementation of Teams coincided with an upgrade to our internal telephony system. So when we phased out our old system (Skype for Business), we also re-aligned the domains. It's definitely worth the effort, in my opinion, as then your institution's users can collaborate on documents via OneDrive and Teams.

[TiffanyStull]

We have the Microsoft LTI 1.3 integration enabled at UVA, but we've just started transitioning users to Canvas, so we don't have a large user base for the tools yet.  I'll list below some issues our pilot instructors have run into, and which we've discovered in testing, but I'll answer your other questions first @adam_c_voyton:

• If you enable OneDrive, do you think it makes sense to disable the built-in Google collaboration feature? - Based on my testing, the Google features require students and instructors to have Google accounts associated with their institutional email address to grant appropriate permissions, so I don't think it would work if some of your users don't have institutional Google accounts (I'd recommend disabling).
• What are your thoughts about FlipGrid as a mobile friendly video-enhanced discussion app? - I haven't tested Flip (they renamed it recently) with mobile. My only experience with it has been basic testing to ensure the integration works, but I believe some instructors at the Education school have used it before.
• The Classroom Notebook powered by OneDrive seems incredible for students asking questions and giving answers to/from fellow students in a class. I wonder if students would feel comfortable using it, and what purpose they’d use it for...any thoughts?  This isn't related to using the Class Notebook for collaborative work, but the individual student Notebooks seem to me to be the closest available alternative to a tool in our existing, Sakai-based LMS, File Drop.  It's basically a private file sharing area for instructors and students, which automatically creates a folder for each student.  Instructors and the student can upload files to the student's File Drop, and many instructors have used the tool for ungraded assignments.  Since instructors and a student can both add content and files to the student's Notebook, it seems like a decent option if an instructor doesn't want to have to set up assignments for students to submit, and/or they want to work collaboratively on content in the Notebook with the student.
• Teams seems to do everything that Zoom can do. Does your school license and support both, or just one of these web conferencing tools?  - Yes, both Teams and Zoom are used at UVA.  Zoom has some advantages over Teams, such as the ability to easily invite a guest speaker or other user who is not enrolled in the Canvas course to a meeting (I have some additional details about this in the notes below).  I've also worked with colleagues who use screen readers, who said they find Zoom more accessible than other video conferencing tools.

Some issues we've noted:

1. DOCUMENTATION - Microsoft does not provide adequate documentation for how the new integration works.  Instructure's Training Services Portal includes training sessions for Microsoft tools, but it is only for the tools in the older LTI integration, and they do not indicate in the portal that the training is specific to the older integration.  Some instructors and instructional designers have been confused by this training.
   
   In particular, the Instructure training describes a use case where an instructor can upload a file to OneDrive and link it to all their courses, such that updating the file in OneDrive automatically updates it in all the courses.  When an instructor adds a file from OneDrive via the LTI 1.3 integration, a copy of the file is placed in an automatically-created course folder in SharePoint.  The new functionality is better for permissions on collaborative documents, makes it possible to reuse content across sections of courses taught by different instructors (according to the Microsoft rep, the older integration made this much more difficult), and covers the vast majority of use cases.  However, it's not transparent to users how it will work.
   
   
2. If you use the OneDrive LTI to embed/link the same document from your OneDrive in two different pages in your Canvas course (e.g., Syllabus and a page in Modules), it creates two unique copies of the document, rather than adding another link to the same file you linked the first time from the course's SharePoint folder.  This means that if you want to edit the file, you'll need to update it from both links/embeds to keep the content consistent.
   
   
3. Group assignments and collaborations do not work because Canvas does not support the launch of LTI 1.3 with groups. Microsoft has been trying to get Instructure to fix this issue, but they have not been responsive. The recommended workarounds for now would be to use a group assignment in Teams Classes, or just have students collaborate on a document before submitting it in Canvas (e.g., include a copy of the Word document you want the group to work on in the assignment instructions and have the students edit the document offline or shared with each other in their own OneDrive folder, then have one of the students submit it in the group assignment). 
   
   
4. When scheduling a meeting, the Add Entire Class link in the Microsoft Teams meetings tool only invites users who are members of the course at the time of scheduling the meeting.  This is confusing to instructors, because they assume the link means "add the class roster so invited users are updated automatically with roster changes".  In fact, they need to invite a Channel to the meeting, which users new to Teams will not know to do.
   
   
5. As @Kevin_W pointed out, you need to schedule meetings within the Microsoft Teams meetings tool for them to behave as expected and update everywhere (the tool in Canvas, Teams, and Outlook).  You also need to edit and cancel meetings within the Canvas tool for them to behave as expected.  If an instructor schedules a meeting via the Microsoft Teams meetings tool in Canvas, and then cancels the meeting in Teams or Outlook, it doesn't cancel the meeting within the Teams meetings tool in the course, or remove it from the students' Outlook calendars.  The instructor needs to cancel the meeting within the Canvas tool for it to be cancelled for students as well.
   
   
6. When you create a Teams site for your course via the Microsoft Teams classes tool, you can manually add users who are not members of the Canvas course from within the Teams site.  At the next automatic roster sync, these manually-added users will be kicked out of the Teams site.  Ideally, instructors/TAs should not be allowed to manually add users within Teams for sites linked to Canvas rosters, so they are aware they need to add the users within the Canvas course for them to access the Teams site.
   
   
7. After a student has been added to a Teams site via roster sync, it can take quite a while (in testing with colleagues, I've seen up to an hour) for the Class Notebook in Teams to add the student's Notebook/give them access to the Notebook.

[TiffanyStull]

We have the Microsoft LTI 1.3 integration enabled at UVA, but we've just started transitioning users to Canvas, so we don't have a large user base for the tools yet.  I'll list below some issues our pilot instructors have run into, and which we've discovered in testing, but I'll answer your other questions first @adam_c_voyton:

• If you enable OneDrive, do you think it makes sense to disable the built-in Google collaboration feature? - Based on my testing, the Google features require students and instructors to have Google accounts associated with their institutional email address to grant appropriate permissions, so I don't think it would work if some of your users don't have institutional Google accounts (I'd recommend disabling).
• What are your thoughts about FlipGrid as a mobile friendly video-enhanced discussion app? - I haven't tested Flip (they renamed it recently) with mobile. My only experience with it has been basic testing to ensure the integration works, but I believe some instructors at the Education school have used it before.
• The Classroom Notebook powered by OneDrive seems incredible for students asking questions and giving answers to/from fellow students in a class. I wonder if students would feel comfortable using it, and what purpose they’d use it for...any thoughts?  This isn't related to using the Class Notebook for collaborative work, but the individual student Notebooks seem to me to be the closest available alternative to a tool in our existing, Sakai-based LMS, File Drop.  It's basically a private file sharing area for instructors and students, which automatically creates a folder for each student.  The instructors and student can upload files to the student's File Drop, and many instructors have used the tool for ungraded assignments.  Since instructors and a student can both add content and files to the student's Notebook, it seems like a decent option if an instructor doesn't want to have to set up assignments for students to submit, and/or they want to work collaboratively on content in the Notebook with the student.
• Teams seems to do everything that Zoom can do. Does your school license and support both, or just one of these web conferencing tools?  - Yes, both Teams and Zoom are used at UVA.  Zoom has some advantages over Teams, such as the ability to easily invite a guest speaker or other user who is not enrolled in the Canvas course to a meeting (I have some additional details about this in the notes below).  I've also worked with colleagues who use screen readers, who said they find Zoom more accessible than other video conferencing tools.

Some issues we've noted:

1. DOCUMENTATION - Microsoft does not provide adequate documentation for how the new integration works.  Instructure's Training Services Portal includes training sessions for Microsoft tools, but it is only for the tools in the older LTI integration, and they do not indicate in the portal that the training is specific to the older integration.  Instructors and instructional designers have been confused by the training.
   
   In particular, the Instructure training describes a use case where an instructor can upload a file to OneDrive and link it to all their courses, such that updating the file in OneDrive automatically updates it in all the courses.  When an instructor adds a file from OneDrive via the LTI 1.3 integration, a copy of the file is placed in an automatically-created course folder in SharePoint.  The new functionality is better for permissions on collaborative documents, makes it possible to reuse content across courses taught by different instructors (according to the Microsoft rep, the older integration made this much more difficult), and covers the vast majority of use cases.  However, it's not transparent to users how it will work.
   
   
2. If you use the OneDrive LTI to embed/link the same document from your OneDrive in two different pages in your Canvas course (e.g., Syllabus and a page in Modules), it creates two unique copies of the document, rather than adding another link to the same file you linked the first time from the course's SharePoint folder.  This means that if you want to edit the file, you'll need to update it from both links/embeds to keep the content consistent.
   
   
3. Group assignments and collaborations do not work because Canvas does not support the launch of LTI 1.3 with groups. Microsoft has been trying to get Instructure to fix this issue, but they have not been responsive. The recommended workarounds for now would be to use a group assignment in Teams Classes, or just have students collaborate on a document before submitting it in Canvas (e.g., include a copy of the Word document you want the group to work on in the assignment instructions and have the students edit the document offline or shared with each other in their own OneDrive folder, then have one of the students submit it in the group assignment).
   
   
4. When scheduling a meeting, the Add Entire Class link in the Microsoft Teams meetings tool only invites users who are members of the course at the time of scheduling the meeting.  This is confusing to instructors, because they assume the link means "add the class roster so invited users are updated automatically with roster changes".  In fact, they need to invite a Channel to the meeting, which users new to Teams will not know to do.
   
   
5. As @Kevin_W pointed out, you need to schedule meetings within the Microsoft Teams meetings tool for them to behave as expected and update everywhere (the tool in Canvas, Teams, and Outlook).  You also need to edit and cancel meetings within the Canvas tool for them to behave as expected.  If an instructor schedules a meeting via the Microsoft Teams meetings tool in Canvas, and then cancels the meeting in Teams or Outlook, it doesn't cancel the meeting within the Teams meetings tool in the course, or remove it from the students' Outlook calendars.  The instructor needs to cancel the meeting within the Canvas tool for it to be cancelled for students as well.
   
   
6. When you create a Teams site for your course via the Microsoft Teams classes tool, you can manually add users who are not members of the Canvas course from within the Teams site.  At the next automatic roster sync, these manually-added users will be kicked out of the Teams site.  Ideally, instructors/TAs should not be allowed to manually add users within Teams for sites linked to Canvas rosters, so they are aware they need to add the users within the Canvas course for them to access the Teams site.
   
   
7. After a student has been added to a Teams site via roster sync, it can take quite a while (in testing with colleagues, I've seen up to an hour) for the Class Notebook in Teams to add the student's Notebook/give them access to the Notebook.

[TiffanyStull]

@adam_c_voyton I wrote a very detailed reply to your questions, but it won't let me post it. I'll try splitting it into two posts.

We have the Microsoft LTI 1.3 integration enabled at UVA, but we've just started transitioning users to Canvas, so we don't have a large user base for the tools yet.  I'll list below some issues our pilot instructors have run into, and which we've discovered in testing, but I'll answer your other questions first :

• If you enable OneDrive, do you think it makes sense to disable the built-in Google collaboration feature? - Based on my testing, the Google features require students and instructors to have Google accounts associated with their institutional email address to grant appropriate permissions, so I don't think it would work if some of your users don't have institutional Google accounts (I'd recommend disabling).
• What are your thoughts about FlipGrid as a mobile friendly video-enhanced discussion app? - I haven't tested Flip (they renamed it recently) with mobile. My only experience with it has been basic testing to ensure the integration works, but I believe some instructors at the Education school have used it before.
• The Classroom Notebook powered by OneDrive seems incredible for students asking questions and giving answers to/from fellow students in a class. I wonder if students would feel comfortable using it, and what purpose they’d use it for...any thoughts?  This isn't related to using the Class Notebook for collaborative work, but the individual student Notebooks seem to me to be the closest available alternative to a tool in our existing, Sakai-based LMS, File Drop.  It's basically a private file sharing area for instructors and students, which automatically creates a folder for each student.  The instructors and student can upload files to the student's File Drop folder, and many instructors have used the tool for ungraded assignments.  Since instructors and a student can both add content and files to the student's Notebook, it seems like a decent option if an instructor doesn't want to have to set up assignments for students to submit, and/or they want to work collaboratively on content in the Notebook with the student.
• Teams seems to do everything that Zoom can do. Does your school license and support both, or just one of these web conferencing tools?  - Yes, both Teams and Zoom are used at UVA.  Zoom has some advantages over Teams, such as the ability to easily invite a guest speaker or other user who is not enrolled in the Canvas course to a meeting (I have some additional details about this in #6 in the notes below).  I've also worked with colleagues who use screen readers, who said they find Zoom more accessible than other video conferencing tools.

[TiffanyStull]

Some issues we've noted:

1. DOCUMENTATION - Microsoft does not provide adequate documentation for how the new integration works.  Instructure's Training Services Portal includes training sessions for Microsoft tools, but it is only for the tools in the older LTI integration, and they do not indicate in the portal that the training is specific to the older integration. Some instructors and instructional designers have been confused by the training.
   
   In particular, the Instructure training describes a use case where an instructor can upload a file to OneDrive and link it to all their courses, such that updating the file in OneDrive automatically updates it in all the courses. When an instructor adds a file from OneDrive via the LTI 1.3 integration, a copy of the file is placed in an automatically-created course folder in SharePoint. The new functionality is better for permissions on collaborative documents, makes it possible to reuse content across courses taught by different instructors (according to the Microsoft rep, the older integration made this much more difficult), and covers the vast majority of use cases. However, it's not transparent to users how it will work.
   
   
2. If you use the OneDrive LTI to embed/link the same document from your OneDrive in two different pages in your Canvas course (e.g., Syllabus and a page in Modules), it creates two unique copies of the document, rather than adding another link to the same file you linked the first time from the course's SharePoint folder. This means that if you want to edit the file, you'll need to update it from both links/embeds to keep the content consistent.
   
   
3. Group assignments and collaborations do not work because Canvas does not support the launch of LTI 1.3 with groups. Microsoft has been trying to get Instructure to fix this issue. The recommended workarounds for now would be to use a group assignment in Teams Classes, or just have students collaborate on a document before submitting it in Canvas (e.g., include a copy of the Word document you want the group to work on in the assignment instructions and have the students edit the document offline or shared with each other in their own OneDrive folder, then have one of the students submit it in the group assignment). 
   
   
4. When scheduling a meeting, the Add Entire Class link in the Microsoft Teams meetings tool only invites users who are members of the course at the time of scheduling the meeting.  This is confusing to instructors, because they assume the link means "add the class roster so invited users are updated automatically with roster changes". In fact, they need to invite a Channel to the meeting, which users new to Teams will not know to do.
   
   
5. As @Kevin_W pointed out, you need to schedule meetings within the Microsoft Teams meetings tool for them to behave as expected and update everywhere (the tool in Canvas, Teams, and Outlook). You also need to edit and cancel meetings within the Canvas tool for them to behave as expected.  If an instructor schedules a meeting via the Microsoft Teams meetings tool in Canvas, and then cancels the meeting in Teams or Outlook, it doesn't cancel the meeting within the Teams meetings tool in the course, or remove it from the students' Outlook calendars.  The instructor needs to cancel the meeting within the Canvas tool for it to be cancelled for students as well.
   
   
6. When you create a Teams site for your course via the Microsoft Teams classes tool, you can manually add users who are not members of the Canvas course from within the Teams site.  At the next automatic roster sync, these manually-added users will be kicked out of the Teams site.  Ideally, instructors/TAs should not be allowed to manually add users within Teams for sites linked to Canvas rosters, so they are aware they need to add the users within the Canvas course for them to access the Teams site.
   
   
7. After a student has been added to a Teams site via roster sync, it can take quite a while (in testing with colleagues, I've seen up to an hour) for the Class Notebook in Teams to add the student's Notebook/give them access to the Notebook.