Microsoft Teams is a communication and collaboration tool available to University of Toronto instructors and students through Microsoft 365. Instructors can use Teams Meetings to facilitate synchronous online and hybrid classes, seminars, discussions, group activities, presentations, consultations, and online office hours.
Teams Meetings supports audio and video communication, screen sharing, chat, breakout rooms, live captions, transcription, and recording. It also works with Microsoft applications such as Outlook, OneDrive, PowerPoint, Forms, and Whiteboard.
Getting Started with Microsoft Teams
U of T instructors can access Microsoft Teams through Microsoft 365 using their University account. Teams is available through a web browser and desktop or mobile applications.
For instructors who regularly facilitate online meetings, the desktop application is recommended for its Microsoft 365 integration, notifications, and meeting-management features.
For information about downloading Teams, eligibility, training, and technical support, visit U of T’s Microsoft Teams webpage, maintained by Enterprise Applications and Solutions Integration (EASI).
Instructors can schedule and facilitate Teams Meetings without creating a Microsoft Team or channel for their course.
Choosing a web conferencing tool: Instructors deciding between Teams and Zoom can consult the Faculty of Arts & Science’s Zoom and Teams comparison or the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering’s Compare and Select Your Virtual Meeting Tool guide.
Scheduling and Sharing Teams Meetings
Scheduling a Meeting
Instructors can schedule Teams Meetings through Microsoft Outlook or the Teams Calendar.
To schedule a meeting using Outlook on the web:
- Open Outlook using your U of T Microsoft 365 account.
- Select Calendar, then New event.
- Enter the meeting title, date, time, and other details.
- Turn on the Teams meeting option.
- Add participants if you want to send invitations directly.
- Select Send to create the meeting and generate the joining information.
For recurring classes or office hours, configure the meeting to repeat at the appropriate intervals.
Meeting scheduling options may differ between Outlook on the web, desktop Outlook, and the Teams application.
For detailed instructions, consult Microsoft’s Schedule a Microsoft Teams meeting from Outlook.
Sharing Meeting Links in Quercus
Instructors can share Teams meeting links through Quercus (Canvas) Announcements, Pages, Modules, the Calendar, or other appropriate course areas.
To share a meeting link:
- Open the scheduled meeting in Outlook or Teams.
- Copy the meeting’s joining link.
- Open the relevant area of your Quercus course.
- Add descriptive link text, such as “Join Wednesday’s Online Seminar” or “Join Online Office Hours”.
- Insert the meeting link and save or publish the content.
For recurring meetings, instructors can provide a consistent location for joining information, such as a Quercus Page or Module.
Before sharing meeting links, review the meeting options to determine who can join directly, who must wait in the lobby, and who can present.
Facilitating Teaching and Learning Activities
Teams Meetings provides several features that instructors can use to structure synchronous learning activities.
- Screen sharing: Demonstrate applications, work through examples, examine digital sources, or present course materials.
- Chat: Invite questions, gather responses, share resources, and offer an additional way for students to participate.
- Breakout rooms: Facilitate small-group discussions, problem-solving, peer feedback, or collaborative activities.
- Collaborative documents: Use shared Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files to support group writing, analysis, and presentations.
- Whiteboard: Support brainstorming, concept mapping, and visual collaboration, while considering accessibility and alternative participation options.
- Polls: Use Microsoft Forms or available meeting polling features to check understanding, gather feedback, or invite responses.
- Q&A: Provide a structured space for students to submit questions, review questions from others, and upvote questions they would like addressed. Instructors can moderate questions where supported. Availability may depend on meeting settings and institutional configuration.
Instructors should select features based on the learning purpose rather than using multiple tools simply because they are available.
Managing Meeting Options
Before a class, instructors can review meeting options to determine how students will join and participate.
Depending on the available settings, instructors can:
- Configure lobby access.
- Assign presenters or co-organizers.
- Manage participant microphones, cameras, and chat.
- Review recording and transcription settings.
- Configure other participation and meeting security options.
Meeting options can be accessed from the scheduled meeting in Teams or through the available meeting controls. Some advanced options require additional licences.
For detailed instructions, consult Microsoft’s Meeting options in Microsoft Teams.
Presenting and Sharing Content
Teams supports screen sharing and presentation features that instructors can use for lectures, demonstrations, and interactive activities.
When presenting:
- Choose whether to share an entire screen, a specific application window, or a PowerPoint presentation.
- Consider how students will view slides, demonstrations, and other shared materials.
- Monitor meeting chat and questions while presenting, or ask a teaching assistant to help facilitate.
- Check that important content is visible and accessible to students using different devices.
- Provide essential materials through Quercus when students may need to review them independently.
Presenting while monitoring participants can be challenging with a single display. For practical instructions, consult Engineering’s How can I present in MS Teams with a single monitor? guide.
Using PowerPoint Live
PowerPoint Live allows instructors to present slides directly within Microsoft Teams Meetings while providing students with additional ways to access and navigate the presentation.
Unlike conventional screen sharing, PowerPoint Live offers:
- Independent navigation: Students can move between slides at their own pace, where permitted, and return to the instructor’s current slide.
- Accessible viewing: Students can use available features such as screen reader support, high-contrast viewing, and text translation.
- Presenter tools: Instructors can view speaker notes, upcoming slides, and meeting interactions while presenting.
To use PowerPoint Live:
- Start or join a Teams Meeting.
- Select Share from the meeting controls.
- Under PowerPoint Live, select the presentation you want to share or browse for the file.
- Use the available presentation controls to navigate slides and manage participant viewing options.
Instructors can control whether students are permitted to navigate independently. Consider explaining these options at the beginning of the presentation and making slides available through Quercus when students may need to review them outside the meeting.
For detailed instructions, consult Microsoft’s Present from PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams documentation. For additional teaching and learning applications, consult CTSI’s Microsoft PowerPoint resource.
Using Breakout Rooms
Breakout rooms allow instructors to divide a class into smaller groups for discussions or collaborative activities.
When planning breakout room activities:
- Explain the learning purpose and expected outcome before opening the rooms.
- Provide clear instructions, prompts, and time expectations.
- Consider how students will record or share their group’s work.
- Allow students to ask questions or request assistance.
- Bring students back together to synthesize ideas and connect the activity to course learning outcomes.
Instructors can create breakout rooms and assign participants automatically or manually, depending on the available options.
For detailed instructions, consult Microsoft’s Create and manage breakout rooms during class meetings.
Meeting Chat and Course Communication
Meeting chat can support questions, discussion, and sharing resources during synchronous activities. However, it should not be the only location where students access essential course information.
Important: U of T has implemented a 30-day retention protocol for individual Teams chat messages. Channel messages are unaffected. Consult EASI’s Teams Chat Retention information for institutional guidance.
Instructors should share important instructions, resources, and follow-up information through Quercus rather than relying on Teams chat as a permanent course record.
Recording and Transcription
Teams Meetings can be recorded to provide students with opportunities to review course content or access material asynchronously. Recordings can capture meeting audio, video, and shared screen content.
Before recording, instructors should consider the learning purpose, student participation, privacy, recording permissions, and accessibility. Not every class activity needs to be recorded.
For broader guidance, consult CTSI’s Recording Lectures and Classes resource.
Recording a Teams Meeting
To record a meeting:
- Start or join a Teams Meeting.
- Select More actions (three dots) in the meeting controls.
- Select Record or Record and transcribe, depending on the interface, and choose the available recording options.
- Confirm the spoken language and available recording options.
- Select Confirm to begin recording. Teams notifies meeting participants when recording starts.
- When finished, select the recording controls to stop the recording.
Starting a Teams recording also starts transcription in Microsoft’s current recording workflow. Recording and transcription controls may vary according to the account, meeting settings, and available features.
For detailed instructions, consult Microsoft’s Start, stop, and find meeting recordings in Microsoft Teams.
Live Captions and Transcription
Teams provides live captions and transcription features that serve different purposes.
- Live captions: Display spoken content as text during a meeting. Participants can enable captions through their meeting controls.
- Transcription: Creates a written record of spoken content, including speaker identification and timestamps where supported.
- Recording captions: Captions can support students reviewing recorded meetings, but instructors should check their accuracy and availability before sharing recordings.
Live captions enabled by participants are not themselves a saved transcript. Instructors can also start transcription without recording when supported.
For detailed guidance, consult CTSI’s Live Captioning for Classes and Captioning Recorded Videos resources.
What Is Captured in a Recording?
Teams recordings can capture audio, video, and shared screen content. However, not all content or interactions are captured.
For example, Teams recordings do not capture Whiteboard content, annotations, shared notes, or videos and animations embedded in PowerPoint Live presentations.
If these materials are important for students reviewing the session, instructors should provide them separately through Quercus or another appropriate format.
Managing and Sharing Meeting Recordings
Locating Recordings
Teams meeting recordings are stored in Microsoft 365.
- Non-channel meetings: Recordings are generally saved in the meeting organizer’s OneDrive, in the Recordings folder.
- Channel meetings: Recordings are stored in the associated SharePoint location.
Recordings may also be accessible through the meeting chat or meeting recap in Teams.
The recording’s storage location, ownership, and access permissions can affect who can view, manage, or share it.
Sharing Recordings with Students
To share a meeting recording:
- Locate the recording in Teams or OneDrive.
- Open the available sharing options.
- Review who can access the recording and whether they have viewing or editing permissions.
- Copy the appropriate sharing link.
- Add the link to a relevant Quercus Page, Module, Announcement, or other course area.
- Check that students can access the recording and its captions.
Meeting participants may already have access to a recording, but instructors should not assume that every student enrolled in Quercus can open it. Recording access and download permissions depend on the meeting settings and sharing permissions. Review these settings before sharing recordings with students.
For detailed instructions, consult Microsoft’s Play, share, and download meeting recordings in Microsoft Teams documentation.
Managing Recordings for Reuse
When preparing recordings for future use:
- Review the content: Determine whether the recording remains relevant and appropriate to share.
- Check accessibility: Review captions for accuracy and ensure that important visual information is available.
- Review permissions: Confirm who can access the recording before sharing it with another class or group.
- Check retention: Review recording expiration settings and institutional storage requirements.
- Consider student participation: Recordings that include identifiable student contributions may require additional consideration before reuse.
For guidance on preparing captioned videos, consult Captioning Recorded Videos. For information about storage and sharing, consult Media Hosting and Sharing for Teaching.
Accessibility and Inclusive Participation
Teams Meetings provides several features that can support different ways of participating in synchronous classes. However, accessibility depends on how instructors structure activities, communicate expectations, and use the available tools.
When planning Teams Meetings, consider:
- Communicate expectations: Explain how students can participate through audio, video, chat, and other available options.
- Support different participation approaches: Avoid assuming that students can or should always use their cameras or microphones.
- Provide clear instructions: Share activity prompts, links, and relevant materials in accessible formats.
- Manage discussions: Facilitate turn-taking, identify speakers where helpful, and allow sufficient time for questions and responses.
- Use captions: Explain how students can enable live captions and check that spoken content is captured clearly.
- Plan breakout room activities: Provide instructions and consider how students can participate and contribute within small groups.
- Review recordings: Ensure that students accessing recordings can also access essential materials, captions, and information that may not have been captured.
Microsoft Teams includes automatic live captioning, but automated captions may not meet every student’s accessibility needs. Instructors should consult Accessibility Services and relevant divisional support teams when additional arrangements are required.
For further guidance, consult CTSI’s Live Captioning for Classes, Captioning Recorded Videos, and Recording Lectures and Classes resources.