MS Teams at Brandon University

This resource is built to provide everything you need to use Teams at Brandon University, from first getting connected all the way to the training resources required to master all aspects of using Teams, or wherever you need to be in between.

Getting started

Anyone with a Brandon University email address and password can use that password to login to Office 365 and use any of the tools there, including Teams, Word, Excel, and others. It also allows you access from there to install those tools to your personal laptop/desktop if desired. The instructions below will explain how to do that.

Connecting to O365 web portal

  1. Open a web browser
  2. Go to portal.brandonu.ca
  3. Login with your BU email address and password when prompted
  4. Choose the O365 tool you wish to use, in this case “Teams”
  5. You will now have Teams open and running through your device’s browser

Adding O365 tools to your device(s)

  • For phones and tablets
    1. Open your device’s App Store
    2. Search for the O365 tool you want(in this case MS Teams)
    3. Install the App to your device
    4. Open the App
    5. You will be prompted for a login, use your BU email address and password
  • For laptops/desktops
    1. Connect to the O365 web portal through portal.brandonu.ca
    2. Open the Teams app
    3. In the lower left hand corner there will be an icon to download the “Desktop App”, click on this.
    4. Run the downloaded Desktop App installer
    5. Open the new Teams app from your desktop and you should get a prompt to login with your BU email address and password

Join a team

A team is a collection of people, conversations, files and tools – all in one place

Your instructor will either send you a Join Code or add you to a team manually

Joining a team with at Join Code

  • Click Teams icon
  • Click Join or create team in the upper right hand corner of the screen
  • Click Join a team with a code
  • Enter the code from your instructor
  • The team will show up when you click the Teams icon

If your instructor manually added you to the Team, you will see the Team show up when you click the Teams icon

Collaborate in channels

Channels within a team help organize the work of the team based on topic, project, or group. Each team has a General channel by default

  • Click General to explore conversations, files and tabs
  • Instructors may added more channels that will appear below the General channel for organizing the class
  • There may be some channels used for instructor communication only, and other channels used for class discussion; your instructor will let you know which channel can be used for class discussions

Start a conversation

With the whole team…click Teams

  • Pick a team and channel, write a message and Send

With a person or group…click Chat

  • Select the name of someone you previously chatted with from the recent list

         or

  • Click New chat; type the name of the person, write your message and click Send

Start an instant meeting in a channel

  • Click the channel you wish to have the meeting in
  • Click Meet in the upper right hand area of the screen to start the meeting
  • Enter a name for the meeting and invite people to join
  • Once a meeting has started, a large Join button will appear in the channel. Other team members may click the Join button to enter the meeting

Make a video call in chat

  • Click Chat
  • Click Video in the upper right hand area of the screen to start a video call in chat

Tool Tray when in a Video Meeting

  • Tool tray appears towards the bottom of your screen when you move your mouse in a meeting
  • Includes meeting duration, ability to turn on/off your camera, mute/unmute your mic, share screen, more options, raise your hand, chat show participates, and the button to hang-up/leave a meeting

Work with files

  • Click Teams; pick a channel and click the Files tab toward the top of the middle screen
  • Choose to create, share, and co-edit files or links with others

    Assignments

    Method 1:

    • Click Assignments on the left hand toolbar
    • Select the Class you want view assignments in
    • Listed will be what has been Assigned and what has been Completed

    Method 2:

    • Go to the Team you wish to view assignments in
    • Click the General channel (default channel when you enter a Team)
    • Click Assignments towards the top of the middle screen
    • Listed will be what has been Assigned and what has been Completed

    Access Teams training resources

    Microsoft has built a wealth of excellent training resources you can access anytime online:

    • Topics based Teams training videos including Getting Started are available
    • Instructor led online training sessions by topic are available
    • Training tailored specifically to Education sector are also available