Features of and Student Responses to Microsoft Teams as a Learning Management System

Abstract

Digital tools, from spreadsheets to process simulators, used by chemical engineers in industrial settings have become embedded into the chemical engineering curriculum in recent decades. One class of tools, learning management systems, is ubiquitous in academia with limited or no use once working as an engineer. However, many new communications and productivity tools became more prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic when remote work was dictated. Industrial communication tools e.g., Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Chat are currently used in industry and integration in a classroom setting prepares students for collaborations and communications in the real world. This paper will describe the use of one of these communication tools (Microsoft Teams) as an integrated Learning Management System with featured learning tools. Examples of these learning tools include communicating in real time (chat, hybrid synchronous lectures and one-on-one or group audio/video calls), providing and recording assessments, conducting anonymous real time surveys and feedback, deploying recorded lectures with integrated quizzes for post-lecture viewing, repository for in-class problem solving etc.