An Introduction To Microsoft Stream: Your School Districts Personalized and Private Video Sharing Platform
As both an educator and podcaster, having a reliable video platform is a must. Over the last few years, I have been asked for my advice and opinions on where teachers can and should be storing their videos to share with their classrooms. Often, I give the advice not to add a video to YouTube in favor of presenting Video on Google Drive and Google Sites but, recently, I started using a brand new app that I must say, is a total game-changer.
What is Microsoft Stream?
Microsoft Stream sits inside of your district's Microsoft 365 tenant and serves as an internal video creation and sharing service. Through Microsoft Stream, you can capture video through screen recording or Microsoft Teams recordings, edit (trim) your video to fit the size that is needed, and even be shared on popular applications such as Microsoft OneNote, PowerPoint, and Sharepoint.
Where Do You Find Microsoft Stream?
To access Microsoft Stream, sign in to your Office.com account (this is for school/business accounts only … not personal M365 accounts) and look for the dark red arrow.
Uploading Video to Microsoft Stream
Adding videos to Microsoft Stream is pretty simple.
- Step 1: Upload Your Video
- Step 2: Add Your Title and Description
- Step 3: Adjust Your Audience Settings
- Step 4: Publish Your Video
How Can Microsoft Stream Be Used in Your Classroom?
One thing I love about Microsoft Stream is how easy it is to embed into a variety of applications such as Microsoft OneNote, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft Sharepoint websites. But that isn't where the activities end.
Teachers will love to use Microsoft Stream to create simple Video Tutorials for their students using the new Screen Recording features. Students will also enjoy using the Screen Recording feature to create audio and video podcasts that can be shared safely inside of the school domain without the need for officially “publishing” the content to the internet.
Interactive Videos with Built-in Assessments
Another great feature of Microsoft Stream is the ability to create interactive Videos with a robust assessment tool when partnered with Microsoft Forms. Simply create a new form and copy/paste the share link into the Stream Video page and when your students get to a certain point in the video, the form will pop up asking for action to be taken by the user.
Microsoft Stream Resources
In Closing
Educators these days are looking for a safe and reliable application to assist in their hybrid learning classrooms. Microsoft Stream is just that application. It's simple to use, yet extremely robust in features. The mobile app is also simple to use and provides teachers with exactly what they need when teaching both physical or virtual students.
Microsoft Stream: A Perfect Solution For Your Hybrid Classroom
Summary
Microsoft Stream is a complete internal video solution for Microsoft 365 classrooms. Through Stream, educators are able to create and share video tutorials that are ADA compliant and come complete with transcriptions and interactive commenting. When paired with additional applications such as PowerPoint, Forms, Teams, and Sharepoint, Microsoft Stream is simply unbeatable for today's digital learning environments.
About the author, Jeffrey Bradbury
Jeff Bradbury, creator of TeacherCast, and father of the famous @EduTriplets Thanks for checking out TeacherCast today. Please take a moment to find me on all of my Social Media channels!