Integrating Teams and Timetables to Drive Engagement

This case study outlines the integration of the University’s timetabling system with Microsoft Teams to enhance student access to lectures, lab sessions, and meetings. The integration utilizes the Microsoft Graph API, allowing students to find up-to-date meeting links directly in their calendars. The automation of Teams meetings eliminates the need for human intervention, enabling tutors to concentrate more on their students. The setup of Teams channels, meetings, and permissions is based on the timetabling system, with invitations sent automatically to the relevant students. Additionally, real-time Teams attendance data has been integrated into the University’s engagement monitoring platform, providing tutors with valuable insights into student engagement. The case study highlights the collaboration between Waterstons, Microsoft, and Manchester Metropolitan University, particularly in response to the challenges posed by the pandemic, ensuring a seamless transition to online learning for a large student body.