Enhance Your Teaching with Microsoft Teams 

Last updated on July 10, 2026

As an instructor, you want your course to feel organized, engaging, and easy for students to navigate. Microsoft Teams can be more than a place to host a class meeting or send a quick message. When used intentionally, MS Teams can help you support active learning and collaboration while keeping you and your students connected before, during, and after class.

This spotlight focuses on three MS Teams tools you can use in your daily teaching: Microsoft Whiteboard, OneNote Class Notebook, and Polls. Each tool supports a different instructional need, from helping students participate more actively to making course communication easier to manage.

MS Teams tools like Whiteboard, OneNote Class Notebook, and Polls are best used for collaboration, discussion, brainstorming, and adding interactivity to normal class activities. But Canvas should always be your home base for course materials, assignments, grades, and the day-to-day structure of your MSU class.

By the end of this spotlight, you should be able to choose the right MS Teams tool for the right instructional purpose and use it to create more organized, interactive, and student-centered learning experiences. For more basics on how to get started with MS Teams, see our tutorials Schedule a Recurring Meeting in Teams and Start a Meeting with Students in Microsoft Teams.

Best Practices

When should I use these tools?

• Whiteboard:
  • Use Whiteboard when students need to brainstorm, organize ideas, solve problems visually, compare concepts, build shared diagrams, or contribute to collaborative class artifacts. Below are a few example use cases.
    • In the whiteboard app, sticky notes could be used for brainstorming in a marketing course, as a shared problem-solving space for a calculus class, or for group annotations in an engineering class.
  • Set up Whiteboard with a clear prompt, structure, or goal by adding labels, sections, guiding questions, or example sticky notes before class so students know how to participate.
  • Always include clear instructions so students know how to engage with the activity. 
  • Consider accessibility when using Whiteboard. Because Whiteboard is highly visual, use readable typed text, describe visual activity aloud, avoid using color alone to communicate meaning, add alt text when needed, and provide a written summary or exported copy after the activity. For required or graded work, consider offering an equivalent text-based option, such as a Word document, MS Teams chat response, or Canvas discussion.
• OneNote Class Notebook:
  • Use OneNote Class Notebook when you want a structured notebook space connected to your MS Teams course where students can access materials, complete guided work, collaborate, and receive private feedback. Class Notebook works especially well when students need an organized place to collect notes, drafts, activities, reflections, or ongoing work over the course of the semester. Below are a few example use cases.
    • Notebook can be handy for reading notes and discussion questions in a literature course. In a science course, it could be used as a digital lab notebook. Or in a teacher education course, the instructor could create shared content pages with example lesson plans.
  • Set up Class Notebook with a clear structure before students begin using it. Create sections with meaningful names, add instructions or templates, and explain which areas are for course content, student work, collaboration, and feedback.
• Polls:
  • Use Polls when you want to quickly check student understanding, gather opinions, guide discussion, or increase participation during an MS Teams class meeting. Polls work especially well when you need a low-stakes way for students to respond to a question, make a choice, or show what they understand before moving forward. Below are a few example use cases.
    • The polls app could be used to prompt discussions of a lecture. Or as a knowledge poll while discussing a complex subject to gauge understanding. A poll could also be used to help students choose the topic of conversation to give them ownership.
  • Set up polls before class when the question connects to a specific lesson objective, reading, or planned discussion. Create polls during class when you need spontaneous feedback, but keep the question simple so it does not interrupt the flow of instruction.
  • Keep poll questions short and purposeful, and use them to gather information you will actually respond to during class. Discuss the results briefly after students answer so they can see that their responses matter.

When Should I Set This Up?

• Whiteboard:
  • Add headings, instructions, templates, examples, or spaces for groups to work.
  • During class, introduce the board and explain what students should add, move, or discuss.
• OneNote Class Notebook:
  • Create the notebook structure ahead of time so students know where to find materials, where to complete work, and where to look for feedback.
  • Add any templates, sample pages, instructions, or section labels before introducing the notebook to students.
  • Introduce Class Notebook early in the course and model how students should navigate it, add content, complete activities, and review feedback.
• Polls:
  • Create polls during class when you need spontaneous feedback, but keep the question simple so it does not interrupt the flow of instruction.

When Should I Not Use This?

• Whiteboard:
  • Do not use Whiteboard for activities that only require students to read information or listen to a presentation. 
  • If students are not actively adding, sorting, drawing, or discussing ideas, a slide, document, or shared screen may be more effective.
• OneNote Class Notebook:
  • Use Canvas as the primary location for essential course information, including announcements, due dates, assignment instructions, submissions, grades, and course policies. 
  • OneNote Class Notebook works best as a supporting space for activities that benefit from ongoing note-taking, drafting, collaboration, reflection, or instructor feedback.
• Polls:
  • Do not use polls for complex assessments, sensitive questions, or topics that require nuanced written responses. 
  • A discussion, survey, quiz, or reflection assignment may be better when students need time to explain their thinking.

Conclusion

Microsoft Teams tools work best when they are used with a clear instructional purpose. Whiteboard can make thinking visible, OneNote Class Notebook can support organized and ongoing student work, and Polls can help you quickly check understanding and invite participation. Start small, choose the tool that best matches the activity, and keep Canvas as the primary home for essential course information. 

Let’s Walk Through It Together

Use Microsoft Whiteboard for a Collaborative Class Activity

1. Open Microsoft Teams.
2. Select Calendar from the left-hand menu bar.
3. Select your class meeting.
   • For more information on scheduling a recurring meeting, see our tutorial Schedule a Recurring Meeting in Teams.
4. Click Join.
5. Click the Join now button at the bottom right.
6. Click the Share button at the top right of the meeting screen.
7. Select Microsoft Whiteboard towards the bottom of the pop-up, under Screen and Window.
8. Select an option from the ”Do you want to present or collaborate?” pop-up.
   • Present Whiteboard: Only you can edit.
   • Collaborate on Whiteboard: Everyone can edit.
9. Click the blue button to continue. The button will disappear if you don’t select anything within a few seconds.
10. Select a template.
    • Microsoft Whiteboard includes a gallery of pre-made templates for brainstorming, planning, and group work.
11. Click on a Template and read the description to determine if it fits your needs.
12. Click on Use this template.
13. Click on the whiteboard canvas to place the template.
14. Edit the template to make it your own.
    • Alternatively, click Start with blank canvas to start with a blank whiteboard.
15. Click an icon in the creation panel at the bottom of the screen to select an object to place on the whiteboard:
    • The letter T (Add text) adds a text box.
    • Note icon (looks like a Post-it Note) adds a colored note or group of notes to the screen.
    • Pen icon (Inking) allows you to draw, write, and brainstorm by hand on the whiteboard canvas. The standard black pen will be selected by default.
    • Shapes icon adds a shape or line. The shapes menu allows you to quickly insert predefined shapes like rectangles, circles, and arrows.
    • The heart icon (add Reaction) adds an emoji reaction. Left-click on the canvas to place a reaction.
      • Note: Reactions help make team brainstorming and visual collaboration highly engaging without the need for verbal interruptions.
16. Click the three horizontal dots to the far right on the Creation Menu at the bottom of the whiteboard screen. This will open a submenu with more options, including Templates, Videos, Links, Loop Components, and Images.
    • Choose Images from the pop-up menu to add an image to the whiteboard
    • Click on Images again to upload an image from your computer.
    • Select the image file you want students to discuss or annotate.
    • Click Open.
    • Left-click and hold to drag the image into position.
17. Click the pan icon (looks like a hand) from the creation menu at the bottom of the screen. The pan option allows you to click and drag the entire canvas so you can easily navigate and view different sections of your workspace without changing your zoom level or moving your actual content.
    • Click and drag anywhere on the whiteboard to pan around your whiteboard.
18. Click the Settings icon in the upper-right corner to adjust edit access and author settings.
    • Select the Collaborative cursors toggle if you want every member to have their own identifiable cursor on the whiteboard.
    • Click on Authors
      • Click on the toggle to decide whether to show or not to show the names of authors using the whiteboard.
      • Click the return arrow at the top left of the pop-up to return to the settings menu.
    • Select the toggle for Other participants can edit if you want other participants to have edit access to the whiteboard.
19. Provide directions on what students should add, move, draw, or discuss.
20. Click the Stop sharing button on the left of the top menu bar to end the whiteboard session.
    • Alternatively, click the Share button at the top right and select another option, such as Screen, to stop sharing the whiteboard.

Set Up and Use OneNote Class Notebook in Microsoft Teams

Create the Notebook

1. Open Microsoft Teams.
2. Select Teams from the menu on the left.
3. Select your class team.
   • For more information on setting up a class team, see our tutorial Create a Class Team, Add Students, and Set Up a Recurring Meeting.
4. Click Class Notebook from the options at the top left.
5. Click the Set up a OneNote Class Notebook button in the center of the screen.
6. Choose Blank Notebook.
7. Review the notebook overview. 
   • Collaboration Space – Team notes are stored here for everyone to see. All channels will have sections here.
   • Content Library – Publish course materials to students here.
   • Teacher-Only – Private space for teachers.
   • Student Notebooks – A private space for each student.
8. Click the Next button at the bottom right.
9. Review the Collaboration Space description, which gives you a suggested way to lay out your students’ private space.
   • Click the X next to a section to remove it.
   • Click the title of the section to edit the section name.
   • Click + Add section to add a new section.
10. Click Create when you’re done.
11. Wait for the notebook to finish setting up; it may take a few moments.

Add Content to Class Notebook

1. Click on Content Library (icon looks like three books) on the left-hand navigation pane to expand the menu item.
2. Click on the section that you want to add a page to.
   • The Collaboration Space is open to everyone in a class, and all class members can read or write on anything in this part of the notebook.
   • The Content Library is a place for materials such as readings or worksheets. Use the Content Library for materials students should view but not edit.
   • The Teacher-Only section group is a place to put materials that should be kept private from the rest of the students in the class.
   • Use Student Notebooks for individual notes, drafts, reflections, practice work, and instructor feedback.
3. Click on the _Content Library section to expand it. You should see the page item named “Using the Content Library”.
4. Click on the Using the Content item that appears below _Content Library.
5. Click + Add page on the right-hand panel to add a new page to the Content Library.
6. Type a page title and press Enter on your keyboard, which will bring you to the body of the page.
7. Type the class instructions. Start typing anywhere.

Edit Pages in Your Class Notebook

1. Click the page body.
2. Select Insert from the upper Notebook menu to insert a file.
   • Note: You may need to hover your mouse over the Class Notebook name for this to appear.
3. Choose File from the menu bar.
4. Click Insert File Attachment.
5. Select the file you want to add to the page.
6. Click Open to add the file to your page.
7. Click Upload to OneDrive and Insert Link or Insert as Attachment.
   • Uploading to OneDrive will create a centrally available, editable cloud document. Insert as Attachment embeds an offline, static snapshot directly on the Class Notebook. 
8. Select Draw.
   • The Draw toolbar provides tools for writing, highlighting, erasing, selecting, and annotating notebook content, allowing instructors to mark up pages, emphasize key ideas, or provide handwritten feedback directly in Class Notebook.
9. Choose the pen tool, which looks like a horizontal pencil, or the highlighter tool, which looks like a horizontal highlighter.
10. Annotate the page with either tool.
11. Click the Type tool (cursor icon with the letter A) to return to typing.
12. Select the text you’ve already typed or type in some new text.
13. Hover your Mouse over the top of the text box until it becomes a quad arrow shape.
14. Left-click and drag the cursor to move the text around the page.

Distribute Pages to Students

1. Select a page that you’ve already edited.
2. Select Class Notebook from the toolbar at the top.
3. Click Distribute Page.
4. Select Distribute Page from the drop-down menu.
5. Select the Student Section where you want the page to appear for students. For this example, choose Homework.
6. Click the purple Distribute button on the bottom right of the screen.
7. Click X on the top right after the pages have been distributed.
8. Click on a student name in the lleft-handmenu.
9. Click on the Homework section of the students’ section menu to verify that the page was distributed. 
10. Repeat Steps 3-12 for Content Library pages or Teacher Only pages as desired.

Create and Use Polls in Microsoft Teams

Note: Microsoft’s current guidance describes two common polling workflows in MS Teams: creating a quick poll in a chat or channel and creating polls before or during an MS Teams meeting. For class use, the meeting workflow is especially helpful because instructors can prepare polls in advance, launch them during class, and display results in the meeting or meeting chat.  

Open MS Teams and Create a New Poll

1. Open Microsoft Teams.
2. Select Calendar from the left-hand menu.
3. Click the class meeting you’re going to use Polls in.
4. Click the Chat button in the upper right corner.
5. Click Polls on the top menu bar of the chat screen.
   • Note: If you don’t see Polls at the top of your screen, it may not be installed. Follow the steps below to install it for the first time.
     1. Click the plus button in the little square at the top of the meeting tabs to add a tab.
     2. Type Polls in the search bar at the top.
     3. Click on Polls.
     4. Click the Add button to add Polls.
6. Select the Polls tab at the top of the screen.
7. Click the + New Poll button at the top left of the meeting screen.
   • Microsoft Polls include 5 question types you can use:
     1. Multiple Choice – Allows you to ask a question and provide predefined answer options (up to 12) for attendees to select from, with the ability to enable multiple selections.
     2. Quiz – A quiz question in Microsoft Teams polls is a graded multiple-choice assessment; the results are auto-graded in real-time.
     3. Word Cloud – An interactive question type that gathers open-ended text responses from attendees and visually transforms them into a graphic where the words submitted most frequently appear the largest.
     4. Rating – Asks respondents to evaluate a statement or metric using customizable scales of numbers, stars, or emojis.
     5. Ranking – Allows meeting attendees to evaluate and prioritize a list of items based on their preferences by dragging and dropping them into sequential order or using up and down arrows.
8. Follow the on-screen guidance to set up the desired poll.
9. Click on Names not recorded, indicated by the gear icon at the bottom left of the Poll screen, for poll identification options.
10. Click the boxes to select the options you want for results in the dialog box.
    • Check Record names of respondents to get a list of who responded to the poll.
    • Check Share aggregated results with respondents to share results.
    • Check Allow co-presenters to edit your poll while it’s a draft poll if necessary.
11. Click the X to close the dialog box.
12. Click Save as draft.

Use Polls in Microsoft Teams Meeting

1. Click the Join button at the upper right to join the class meeting.
2. Click the Join Now button at the bottom of the meeting launch window.
3. Click Polls in the top navigation bar.
   • If you do not see Polls in the options at the top, click the +Apps icon and type Polls in the Search bar at the top. 
4. Locate the draft poll from the polls listed on your screen.
5. Click Launch in the lower left corner of the poll screen. You may need to scroll down depending on the size of your window.
6. Tell students to submit their responses, as the poll should be popping up on their screens.
7. Review the live poll results.
8. Click the drop-down menu that says Back to Question
9. Choose Close poll from the drop-down box underneath the quiz body when students have finished responding.
10. Review the response summary from your main MS Teams screen.
11. Click Response details from the drop-down menu under the poll to review response details.
12. Click the blue Share button in the meeting screen to share the results in the meeting.
13. Discuss the results with the class.
14. Select an option from the drop-down box under the responses. You can select Back to Question, Close Poll, Response Details, Export results, or Delete Poll.
15. Click the X at the top right of the shared Polls screen to close the poll window.
16. Continue with your meeting.
17. Open the meeting chat to review the results of your polls after the meeting.

Have Questions?

Need additional support on this or other teaching and learning topics? Please visit us for drop-in support (10 am-3 pm, M-F) or try one of our self-help tutorials. 

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