Microsoft Teams has made several exciting changes that better support teaching and learning in 2026. Recent updates focus on making classroom communication more organised, improving control during online lessons and meetings and helping teachers save time during busy school days.
Below, we walk you through five new Teams features we think are going to be the most useful for our education customers:
In the meantime, check out this video from Microsoft’s Principal Group Product Manager Mike Tholfsen, where he reveals all the latest updates within Teams:
What’s new in Microsoft Teams for teachers and schools?
We’ve rounded up the top five Teams updates that we think teachers and schools will love in 2026:
Threads in channels
Class conversations can get messy. Student replies appear out of order, questions get buried and it’s hard to track which responses belong to which assignment or topic.
Channels can now use threads, where each post becomes its own discussion. Student replies stay grouped together under the original post, and teachers can open a thread to view or respond without scrolling through unrelated messages.
Threads keep class discussions organised, make student questions easier to find, and reduce confusion, especially in busy class teams.
Lobby chat in meetings
In video calls, staff or students sometimes join early or late and wait in the lobby with no idea what’s happening, leading to confusion, repeated questions, or disruptions.
Teachers can now send chat messages to students waiting in the lobby. These messages are visible only to lobby participants and help communicate instructions or timing.
This improves classroom management, saves time at the start of lessons, and provides clear communication before students enter the meeting.
Saved messages (with New View)
Important messages, such as instructions, links, or student questions, get lost in long chats and channels.
Teachers can save now messages from chats or channels and view them all in one Saved Messages list. Clicking a saved message jumps back to where it was originally posted.
This means you can quickly find and reuse important information without searching – saving time and reducing frustration.
Improved meeting controls
During live lessons, it can be hard to quickly find controls for muting students, managing chat, or adjusting meeting settings.
Meeting controls are now grouped under a single Controls menu, making it easier to manage microphones, cameras, chat, screen sharing, and lobby settings during a class.
This allows you to focus more on teaching and less on clicking around, leading to smoother and more controlled online lessons.
Keyboard emoji shortcuts and emoji reactions
Student engagement can be low, especially in online or text-based discussions, and reacting takes extra clicks.
Teachers and students can quickly add emojis by typing :emoji: (like :thumbsup:), and multiple emoji reactions can now be added to a single message.
Emojis encourage quick participation, feedback, and positive reinforcement – especially helpful for younger students or quieter learners.
At Cloud Design Box, we help schools and trusts design smarter digital environments and get the most out of Microsoft Teams and SharePoint.
Want to learn how we can support you? Talk to our team today.
