Schools and educational institutions are the place where a comprehensive system of tools for creation, collaboration and communication, such as Microsoft 365, finds great application. However, the budgets of such institutions tend to be limited. Redmond is aware of both realities, which is why they offer their product to schools at competitive prices.

To be familiar with common office programs at school age, to write reports, to make presentations, to use spreadsheets, to be connected even remotely and to get acquainted with AI, these are things that have an indispensable place in today’s education for the digital world. And when you add cleverly devised features to support learning, the usefulness of such a package multiplies even further.

Teachers and school management will of course also use the tools, whether for the preparation and implementation of lessons or for the necessary administration.

That’s why Microsoft 365 Education is a great option for any school that wants to succeed in the 21st century.

What is Microsoft 365 Education?

It is a special edition of the Microsoft 365 office ecosystem designed specifically for educational institutions and the people in them: primary and secondary schools, universities, students and teachers. The suite includes a variety of applications that support computing, learning and collaboration:

  • Word, Excel, PowerPoint: classic tools for creating documents, spreadsheets and presentations in online and desktop versions. Essential basics that you simply can’t do without.
  • Teams: the communication platform allows chatting, online meetings and file sharing. Ideal for remote learning or clubs, it is also useful in case of student’s illness. It supports collaboration between teams in the classroom and across classes.
  • OneNote: A digital notebook where students and teachers can organize their notes.
  • OneDrive: cloud storage for storing and sharing files.
  • Outlook: email client with calendar and task management.
  • And more… 

Depending on the package you choose, you also get advanced IT management, analytics, security and data protection features, which is important not only for larger educational institutions.

Special features for students and teachers

Learning accelerators are tailored to schools. These are features integrated into common applications such as Word, Teams or Excel that help pupils improve in areas where they need to.

There is, for example, the Reading Coach or Progress in Reading (supporting more than 100 languages, including Czech) or the Search Coach for improving information literacy. A Teams feature called Reflection helps with communication and feedback, where students express themselves using monster emojis that are attractive to them. Speaking is then helped by Voice Coach or the Speaking Progress feature, which will be added later this year.

The suite also offers a range of accessibility features for students with different types of disabilities or limitations who need individual attention.

Teachers get a better overview of student progress with the Insights analytics tool.

Tip: Do you need hardware to go with your software? Reach out to a reliable IT partner who can provide both in one convenient service.

How is Microsoft 365 Education better?

For schools and universities, Microsoft 365 Education means better pricing plans, including some versions that are even free for students and teachers.

These tools will also allow schools to create an equitable learning environment, which is also beneficial where there are more students from disadvantaged backgrounds who would not be able to access such software at home.

For teachers and management, the package greatly facilitates their work as a full-fledged office interconnected system.

What plans are available?

Microsoft offers different versions of its programme for educational institutions.

A1: The basic package includes core applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, as well as Minecraft: Education Edition and more. Cloud management via Microsoft Intune for Education is also included.

A3: On top of the tools included in the A1 plan, you get things like booking and live events, but more importantly, more advanced security, management and analytics tools.

A5: The most comprehensive set includes all teaching functions and is suitable for the largest educational institutions. It facilitates not only the teaching itself, but also the administration and of course advanced security.

And as a bare minimum, Office 365 Education is available for free. Individual teachers (and in some cases students) can sign up for a free account and use online versions of familiar tools like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, OneDrive, and Teams. The only requirement is to have an official school email address. Usually you will then get your workspace immediately thanks to an automated approval system, only in rare cases Microsoft may take longer to approve your request, up to 1 month.

Are you a primary or secondary school, university or other educational institution and want to take advantage of Microsoft 365 Education? Contact our Microsoft specialists. They will be happy to provide you with detailed information about the plans, advise you on choosing the right one for your needs, and finally arrange deployment so you can start using your new system without any hassle.