Microsoft Recognizes Kent State University
On February 1st, 2022, Microsoft published this article that highlights the great work that Kent State and the Division of Information Technology have done utilizing Microsoft Teams for hybrid learning and workplace collaboration on campus.
The university's commitment to accessible and equal opportunity has earned high praise from Microsoft. Departments and university leadership partnered with each other to develop a strategy utilizing Microsoft Teams to allow hybrid educational and workplace efforts to persist when the pandemic hit Kent State in 2020 and migrated operations online.
The Division of Information Technology played a huge role in making Microsoft Teams the centerpiece for collaborative remote work. DoIT has provided the digital infrastructure that enables faculty, students, and administration to collaborate seamlessly across all eight Kent State campuses using Teams.
Microsoft Teams was first adopted by the university for administrative purposes. When the pandemic hit, accessibility was threatened as students were removed from campus and online learning became the new norm. DoIT shifted focus to finding ways to introduce Teams in the classroom and have since developed over a thousand hybrid Teams Rooms to support accessible hybrid learning for remote and in-room students.
"How can we reduce the complexity so that we can improve productivity?"
This question asked by John Rathje and others at Kent State fueled the operations to find an effective solution for hybrid collaboration for students across campus.
Making first-rate education available and accessible to all regardless of personal or economic circumstance was a top priority. By integrating Microsoft Teams, DoIT found a solution that directly supports the university's broader mission to be a community of change agents that empowers each and every student.
Teams has become the centerpiece for Kent State University's hybrid learning and collaboration across campus. The success of the integration of Microsoft Teams has empowered students and staff to look to the future and seek new opportunities for collaborative remote work that may not have existed without the help of DoIT and university leadership. Microsoft's article showcases the university's keen ability to adapt by discussing their efforts in familiarizing faculty, staff, and students with the technology by quickly creating a curriculum centered around the use of Teams.
The impact of the work done by DoIT and Kent State has been recognized by educators and staff across the university. After the implementation of Microsoft Teams alleviated the concerns about student access to information during the pandemic, "we are able to meet our students wherever they are, and I can restore equity in my classes," says Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Jean Engohang-Ndong. Providing equal opportunities for all students and staff remains at the core of the division's efforts to integrate accessible technology platforms. This curriculum centered around Teams will continue to provide opportunities to evolve to best meet ever-changing learning and working environments moving forward at Kent State University.
Click here to read the full article from Microsoft.