Using MS Teams
You may be required to deliver some of your Placement PAL work online, using Microsoft Teams. Your Placement Co-ordinator/Placement PAL Lead will be able to confirm what is expected.
Please have a read through our guidance on using MS Teams to familiarise yourself with the platform and it's functionality.
In December 2020, Microsoft Teams released the Breakout Rooms function. Please see the following PDF for a illustrated step-by-step guide of how to set up breakout rooms in your PAL sessions.
Please note: In our example, we have created the rooms 'manually'. Creating rooms 'automatically' is more straightforward and follows similar instructions. For further details on using the 'automatic' function, please see the following video: How to use new breakout rooms in MS Teams
Teams acts as a sharepoint between the members of your seminar group as well as being a platform for you to host your PAL sessions.
You can share a file with the other members of your group so that they can access, view, and edit by following these instructions:
Go to your channel > go to the 'Files' tab > 'Upload' > Upload files/folder > Select your attachment and click ‘open’ > Your file should now appear as a shared file for members of your channel to edit in this tab.
From your first PAL Session, it is a good idea to set up an etiquette with your students. For example, when you are giving instructions, to avoid everyone talking over each other, you can ask everyone to mute themselves. If they have any questions, they can use the 'raise hand' button to alert you they have questions and can then unmute.
It is important to have this etiquette as it can help sessions run more smoothly and more efficiently. You may want to add a file or a post to your channel so that everyone can understand the etiquette and read through before attending the session.
For more information on 'Netiquette', please see our tab here: Netiquette
When delivering your sessions online, it is important to be aware of Data Protection. As you will be running your sessions online it may be easier to retain personal information from your students, so please be aware and keep to our data protection guidelines. We have more information regarding Data Protection here.
Audio quality
Have you experienced an ‘echo’ audio effect during your PAL sessions? This is often due to your device’s speaker being too close to your microphone, and can easily be fixed by using some headphones, instead of a loudspeaker.
Alternatively, you can check if your microphone/speaker set up is okay by making a test call to an automated bot. You can do this by going into Teams, clicking your profile in the top right corner > settings > devices > ‘make a test call’. The bot will record your words and play them back to you after about 30 seconds of recording time. This is a great feature to use so that know what you sound like (and if you are giving an echo, or having any other audio-quality problems!).
Some of you may have already used Teams for University work, but for those who haven't here are a few tips on how to use it.
There are two ways in which you can access Teams, via the webpage and also as an app. We recommend that you download to app to access Teams, which you can do through this link. Once you have downloaded Teams, you will need to sign in using your Univerity Login.
Please see the sections on this page titled 'An Overview of Teams' and 'Navigating the Toolbar' for more information on the basics of Teams.
In these short videos below, you will see instructions on how to use the toolbar on Teams, and how to use the screenshare function.
Microsoft have published a guide on using Teams specifically for students and people in education: Microsoft Teams education guide.
This guide has more information on signing in, using channels, uploading posts and files, notifications, calls, and the toolbar.
