Frequently asked questions

Microsoft 365 Education is a productivity cloud suite that enables the creation of equitable learning environments. We achieve this through solutions that help accelerate learning, prepare students from classroom to career, are inclusively designed, and support instructional and IT leaders with trusted and secure solutions.

Microsoft 365 builds on top of Office 365 apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook and provides enhanced management, security, and compliance tools.

• Education Insights: Education Insights is a free, out-of-the-box analytics solution for schools using Teams for Education. It automatically connects key apps within Teams and the Microsoft 365 graph and makes student data easy to access for teachers and education leaders.
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• Reflect: Help students recognize and navigate their emotions by providing regular opportunities to share and be heard. Reflect can help broaden learners' emotional vocabulary and deepen empathy for their peers while also providing valuable feedback to educators for a healthy classroom community.
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• School Data Sync (SDS): A Microsoft 365 application for EDU tenants that connects with external 3rd-party systems (typically student information systems–SIS), to ingest and store data for the purposes of dynamic Microsoft 365 provisioning and enriched Microsoft 365 insights and analytics.
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• Azure Data Export: Ability to export data from SDS and Education Insights (including Reflect, Assignments, and Progress / Coach data) into an Azure or 3rd -party data repository. This functionality currently requires Education Insights Premium.
  
• Open Education Analytics (OEA): An open-source effort led by Microsoft Education to empower education systems around the world to use data, analytics, and AI more effectively and ethically to improve learning outcomes. Institutions can access models from GitHub and learn best practices from other institutions to do advanced analytics such as predictive analytics.
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There are three tiers of Microsoft 365 Education available, each with an array of helpful and inclusively designed features. Connect with one of our education experts to learn more about pricing and see how you can build an individualized plan that works best for your institution.
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There are three versions of Microsoft 365 Education for your institution you can choose from:

• A1: A simple, one-time-per-device learning solution for all your modern workloads. Support every learner with desktop apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Microsoft Teams, Minecraft: Education Edition, and more. This license also provides cloud management through Microsoft Intune for Education to save time by managing your devices in a single dashboard.
• A3: Enhance learning with desktop Office apps and increased security and management tools. Includes everything in the Microsoft 365 A1 license, plus additional features like Bookings and Live Events. The A3 plan also provides advanced security, management, and analytics.
• A5: Streamline licensing and potentially reduce costs with our most comprehensive suite of learning, compliance, security, and management tools. Includes all the teaching and learning features of Microsoft 365 A3.

• Available in over 50 languages to support ELL, non-native speakers, deaf learners, and those with auditory processing disorders or cognitive differences
• Real-time translation in over 100 languages with PowerPoint Live translation
• Reading Progress and Reading Coach is supported in over 100 languages
  List of supported languages

• Pricing: Learning Accelerators is a set of free tools (available with an Office 365 A1 free license), where Google Workplace requires their Plus or Teaching & Learning upgrade license.
• Skills & subjects: Learning Accelerators already support Reading and Search (digital literacy), and we are planning on launching new Learning Accelerators for Math and Speaking (communication) later this school year. It is unclear which subjects or skills Practice Sets will support beyond math.

Microsoft is committed to supporting equitable learning environments in all school systems. This means using safe and trusted first-party solutions that foster inclusivity, enable real-time insights, leverage available cloud services, and best prepare students for the future.

• Microsoft provides students with equitable education solutions that are inclusively designed to help all learners achieve more.
• Microsoft delivers solutions for educators that help them accelerate learning, support social and emotional well-being, and prepare all students for the workplace of tomorrow.
• Microsoft Education solutions support instructional and IT leaders with trusted, secure, and future-proof hardware and software options that are affordable, simple, scalable, and sustainable to meet the critical needs of education today and in the future.

• Our teams have partnered with experts in each field to develop our Learning Accelerators tools. For example, we partnered with reading fluency experts such as Dr. Tim Rasinski, Pam Allyn, Dr. Mark Seidenberg, and Dr. Timothy Shanahan to develop Reading Progress and Reading Coach.
• Reading progress has been awarded a research-based design certification for Digital Promise

Many of our built-in tools are seamlessly integrated with Education Insights. Insights integrates student engagement with Teams for Education with Assignments, our emotional well-being survey tool Reflect, and Learning Accelerators to give educators and leaders a more holistic view of their students in an out of the box solution.

To access Microsoft Teams for Education, click Sign In and enter the email address and password provided by your school. If your school is already signed up for Office 365 or Microsoft 365 for Education and has turned on access to Microsoft Teams, or if your school is an accredited academic institution, you’ll be able to sign in or sign up. If you’re having trouble, please contact your school’s IT administrator. 
Sign in to Teams for students

Learn how to create class and staff teams in Microsoft Teams in just a few simple steps. Create class team Create staff team

Get clear guidance for creating, attending, and running meetings—with specific tips for educators, students, and administrators. Create and run meetings

Need help? Try these troubleshooting tips, email Office Support with your question, visit the Office Support Center, or ask the Microsoft Education community. Teams troubleshooting guide Contact support Visit support center Ask the community

Tell us how we can make Teams better for your classroom and staff with our Teams UserVoice forum. Suggest new features

Educators and IT administrators have many options to keep students safe before, during, and after classes held in online meetings and in student-to-student interaction. Learn more about how educators can help keep students safe in our Teams guide for IT professionals and educators.

Build your remote and hybrid teaching skills with free online training and resources, including live Stores sessions, professional development training, on-demand content, and more. Get started on Teams Educator training Go to Teams webinar playlist Get started with online Teams training course

We reimagined Windows for a new era of digital learning and digital equity, helping educators unlock the full potential of every student, giving them powerful tools to learn, collaborate, and create in a secure and trusted environment.

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Windows 11 for education offers new productivity and inclusivity features as well as functionality designed to meet the challenges of the hybrid world, with a completely refreshed look and feel that helps students learn more, with less stress. Learn more about what’s new on the Devices overview page.

Yes, most apps and devices that work with Windows 10 will be compatible with Windows 11. You can also check with the software manufacturer of the specific application or device to confirm compatibility.

Windows 10 launched six years ago. Since then, there has been a lot of hardware innovation. With Windows 11 upgrade, every detail has been considered. It has the speed and security you need in a redesigned and refreshed look. Plus, it comes with new tools, sounds, apps, and accessibility features. To learn more about Windows 11, please visit Windows 11 specifications.

You can use the plan as long as you are working at a qualified school. Your eligibility may be re-verified at any time. When your Office 365 Education plan expires:

• The Office applications enter a reduced-functionality mode, which means that you can view documents, but you cannot edit or create new documents.
• Online services associated with the school email address—for example, Office Online and OneDrive—will no longer work.
• If your plan expires, you can extend your plan by re-verifying your status as an educator, or by moving to an Office 365 personal plan.

In many cases, the response time is instantaneous through an automated verification process. In other cases where an institution needs to be verified, it may take up to a month to confirm eligibility. If you are nearing the end of your 30-day trial and have not received approval of eligibility, please contact customer support.

Office provides a range of options for students, so it’s easy to find one to fit your budget. Learn about ways you can get Office.

Microsoft 365 builds on top of Office 365 apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook and provides enhanced management, security, and compliance tools. Learn more about Microsoft 365

The OneDrive account is assigned to you but associated with the school and should be used for school-appropriate content. Permissions and access can be changed by the school’s IT administrator at any time.

To install Office 365 Education, your PC or Mac must meet the minimum system requirements. View the system requirements.

View the migration guide for: Windows 10 | Windows 8.1 | Windows 7 | Mac

• Have a school-specific email address provided by the school (for example, contoso.edu) that can receive external email.
• Be of legal age to sign up for an online offer individually.
• Have Internet access.

Microsoft offers many device program solutions designed to fit diverse needs:
 

• Loaner laptops
• Early graduation gifts (Higher Education): Schools will allow a student to use the laptop while enrolled, giving the ownership to the student upon graduation. If the student leaves the school, the laptop must be returned.
• Payment plans: (for Higher Education) Some schools set up payment plans allowing students to gradually pay off the price of the laptop. When the student graduates, the laptop will belong to him or her.
  
• Institution or District or Ministries of Education portals: Some schools create their own tech shops, offering preferred devices, at the right price.
  
  

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There’s a Windows device suited to every instructor and student, addressing a variety of subjects, accessibility needs, computer power, and teaching and learning styles. Intuitive, interactive Windows devices with Microsoft Edge empower communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking to prepare for future careers.

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Yes, education customers can receive discounts on Microsoft 365 subscriptions. These subscriptions include the latest versions of Microsoft Office and Microsoft Intune for Education, Windows upgrade rights, and more. Qualifying schools can receive the lowest pricing on new devices by purchasing ones that come with pre-installed versions of Windows 11 Pro Education.

To receive Microsoft Education pricing, your school can purchase an annual license agreement, such as Microsoft 365 A3 or A5. These licenses come with the right to upgrade a qualifying Windows operating system to Windows 11 Education. Another option, when purchasing a new Windows device through a reseller or directly from a computer manufacturer, is to ask for Windows 11 Pro Education or the Shape the Future Program. This edition guarantees that you receive the best pricing on pre-installed Windows 11 for Education devices.

Schools can choose from a wide variety of devices from computer manufacturers like Lenovo, Dell, HP, Acer, ASUS, Surface, and more. Explore Microsoft Education school devices to learn more.

To upgrade your devices to Windows 11 Education, you must first make sure that they meet the minimum specifications for eligibility. See the Windows 11 requirements to learn more.
If eligible for upgrade, you will be offered the option to do so through Windows Update, similar to how Windows 10 feature updates are offered today.
For IT-managed devices, users should check with their IT organization for details on their rollout plan.
Please note that a significant download is required to complete the upgrade. Internet access is required, ISP fees may apply.