Post three 08/10/25 How Useful is Microsoft Teams for Teacher Education?

How Useful is Microsoft Teams for Teacher Education?

Introduction

Teacher education refers to the preparation of pre-service and in-service teachers via programmes in universities, colleges, or other educational organizations. In recent years, especially under pandemic-induced shifts to remote or hybrid learning, digital platforms such as Microsoft Teams have become central. Understanding how useful Teams is in teacher education involves examining its affordances (what it enables), constraints (what it limits), empirical findings about its effectiveness, and contexts in which it works best or needs adaptation.

Affordances of Microsoft Teams in Teacher Education

From the literature, several potential benefits of Teams for teacher education emerge:

  1. Integrated Communication and Collaboration

    • Enables synchronous and asynchronous interaction: chat, video conferencing, channels for group discussion.

    • Facilitates peer collaboration among teacher‐trainees and also mentor‐trainee interaction.

  2. Assignment Management, Feedback & Assessment Tools

    • Teachers can distribute assignments, collect student work, grade through the platform, and provide feedback.

    • Features like “Assignments”, “Grades”, built-in rubrics in some contexts. (Rieth , 2025)

  3. Flexibility & Access

    • Access across devices (computers, tablets, phones).

    • Enables continuity of education during closures or for remote/hybrid models. In contexts where physical attendance is not always possible, Teams provides means to keep teacher candidates engaged.

  4. Structure & Organization

    • Teams allows organization of modules, course materials, scheduling, tracking attendance and assignment submissions. (Rieth, 2025)

    • Helps standardize formats for materials, so teacher candidates know where to find resources.

  5. User Experience & Perceptions

    • Many studies report positive perceptions among teacher‐trainees (pre‐service teachers) about the usefulness, ease of use, and general satisfaction with Teams. (Almodaires et al, 2021)

  6. Supports Interaction & Engagement—if used well

    • Multimedia‐rich lessons, opportunities for discussion, breakout rooms, file sharing, and collaborative editing are features that can help increase engagement. ( Mitra & Wadegaonkar,2025 )

Empirical Evidence

Here are some key studies and what they found:

Study Participants / Context Key Findings & Implications
Pre‐Service Teachers in Kuwait 215 undergraduate pre‐service teachers (Almodaires,2021) Overall positive perception of Teams: valued for quality, user friendliness, interactivity, feedback. Some limitations: less suited for collaborative learning versus specialized collaborative tools.
PAAET Kuwait, Staff Perspectives Staff in higher education institution (Humoud, 2022) Teachers saw Teams as beneficial for communication, collaboration, resource sharing; highlighted need for training and incentives to improve integration.
Teacher and Student Perceptions (India) Teachers & students during virtual schooling (Mitra, & Wadegaonkar, 2025) Teachers good at scheduling/task coordination; challenges with interactive tools and online assessment. Students liked multimedia, found platform usable, but missed personal interaction and rated assessments as less satisfactory.
Teachers in Southwestern Nigeria 51 teachers (Olugbade & Olurinola,2021) Teachers perceived Teams effective for assignment & grading, teacher-student interaction, classroom organization; helped with remote learning challenges like engagement.
EFL Teaching Methods Course, Egypt Student teachers in experimental vs control settings (Albaaly, 2023) The study found improvements in achievement when using Teams vs traditional face to face; also gathered positive perceptions.

Challenges and Limitations

While useful, there are also several constraints noted in the literature:

  1. Assessment & Feedback Limitations

    • Difficulty designing valid and reliable online assessments; issues with cheating, supervision, and ensuring integrity. Some tools for feedback are not as rich as face‐to‐face or specialized LMS tools. (Mitra & Wadegaonkar, 2025)

  2. Interaction & Engagement

    • Users report that although features exist, full interaction (non‐verbal cues, spontaneous student participation, etc.) is harder online. Students may miss personal contact. (Mitra & Wadegaonkar, 2025)

  3. Technological / Infrastructure Constraints

    • Internet connectivity, device availability, and digital literacy are recurring issues. In some contexts, poor internet undermines synchronous sessions. ( Olugbade & Olurinola,2021)

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  4. Training & Support

    • Many teacher educators or teacher candidates lack sufficient training to use all the features of Teams well. Training is needed not only for technical use but for pedagogical integration (how to use breakout rooms, collaborative spaces, etc.)

  5. Motivation and Social Presence

    • Reduced social presence can lower motivation; teacher education often relies on observation, mentorship, modelling that is easier in person. Online tools must try to replicate these to some degree.

  6. Suitability of Certain Learning Tasks

    • Some learning tasks (e.g. practicums, microteaching, physical classroom management, lab work) are hard to replicate online. Also, collaborative or independent learning is sometimes rated less well compared to other tools. 

Theoretical Considerations

  • Technology Acceptance Model (TAM): Some studies use TAM to show that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of Teams strongly influence attitudes toward its adoption by instructors. 

  • Social Constructivism / Domestication Models: These focus on how users (teacher‐trainees) adapt, repurpose, or integrate the new technology into their existing practices. Levels of domestication (familiarity, control, acceptance) matter.

Overall Usefulness in Teacher Education

Putting together benefits and limitations, Microsoft Teams is quite useful for teacher education, particularly under conditions such as:

  • Remote / hybrid learning necessity (e.g. during pandemics or in geographically dispersed teacher‐training programs).

  • When pre‐service teachers need to practise lesson planning, peer collaboration, feedback exchange.

  • Institutions that have adequate infrastructure and commit to training.

However, its usefulness is conditional: its potential is maximised when:

  • Training is provided (both technical and pedagogical).

  • The institution supports stable internet and access to devices.

  • The course design is adapted to online/hybrid delivery (including assessment design, interactive components).

  • There are opportunities for socio‐emotional and mentorship interactions, to offset the lack of in‐person contact.

Implications for Practice

For teacher education programmes considering or using Teams, the following are recommended:

  1. Structured Professional Development for teacher educators and candidates in use of Teams’ advanced features (breakout rooms, live collaboration, rubrics, etc.).

  2. Blended / Hybrid Models: Combine face‐to‐face and online sessions, using Teams for the online portions and enriching in‐person components for observation, practicum, etc.

  3. Redesign of Assessment: Ensure assessments are appropriate for online delivery, consider formative assessments, peer assessment, use of multimedia, etc.

  4. Enhancing Social Presence: Build in regular mentorship, peer discussion, video feedback, informal interactions to maintain motivation and relational dimensions of teacher education.

  5. Infrastructure & Access Investment: Reliable internet, devices, support for low‐bandwidth students, inclusive design.

  6. Contextualization: Adapt usage to local cultural, technological and policy contexts. What works in Kuwait, India, Nigeria may require modifications when implemented elsewhere.

Gaps in Research & Suggestions for Further Study

  • More longitudinal studies to see how teacher candidates trained with Teams perform once in real classrooms.

  • Comparative studies of Teams vs other LMS / collaboration platforms in teacher education.

  • Studies focusing on practicum components or physical classroom skills and how Teams might support or hinder them.

  • Research on equity: how access, socio‐economic status, and remote/rural vs urban settings mediate benefits or limitations.

Conclusion

Microsoft Teams is a powerful tool that offers numerous advantages for teacher education, especially in contexts requiring remote or hybrid learning. It supports communication, collaboration, assignment management, and fosters flexibility. However, its effectiveness depends heavily on infrastructure, training, pedagogical design, and attention to engagement and assessment quality. When these factors are addressed, Teams can significantly enhance teacher preparation; but if ignored, its use may be less effective.

References
  • Abdullah A. Almodaires, Faisal M. Almutairi ,Tareq E. A. Almsaud. Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Microsoft Teams for Remote Learning. Vol. 14, No. 9 (2021)
  • Albaaly E , 2023. Effectiveness of Microsoft Teams in Student Teachers' Achievement in an EFL Teaching Methods Course
  • Humoud, F. (2022). UTILIZING MICROSOFT TEAMS FOR ENHANCED E-LEARNING EXPERIENCES: A STUDY OF PAAET KUWAIT. International Journal of Allied Sciences (IJAS), 13(6), 35–48. Retrieved from https://zapjournals.com/Journals/index.php/Allied-Sciences/article/view/741
  • Mitra, G., & Wadegaonkar, A. (2025). Teaching efficacy of using Microsoft Teams in virtual school education: Perceptions of teachers and students. Journal of Education and E-Learning Research, 12(3), 530–541. https://doi.org/10.20448/jeelr.v12i3.7414
  • Damola Olugbade, Oluwakemi Olurinola,2021.
  • Teachers’ Perception of the Use of Microsoft Teams for Remote Learning in Southwestern Nigerian Schools. DOI https://doi.org/10.21083/ajote.v10i1.6645 Journal volume & issue Vol. 10, no. 1 pp. 265 – 281
  • Rieth E, 2025. 10 benefits of Microsoft Teams for education https://www.jotform.com/blog/benefits-of-microsoft-teams-for-education