How To Set Up Breakout Rooms In Teams

Delight note: Microsoft is improving this tool all the fourth dimension so exact functionality described here may accept inverse; we try to brand certain our guides are upwards to date, but if you notice errors or required updates please be kind plenty to report them to the Teaching Remotely Service Desk.

Introduction

Microsoft Teams now offers breakout rooms functionality. This means that the organiser of a Teams meeting (and only the organiser), has the option to create breakout rooms and assign participants to separate 'rooms' for more targeted small-group discussions. The organiser then closes the breakout rooms (after an agreed period of fourth dimension), so that anybody can reconvene in the master coming together and feed their ideas or findings back to the entire group.

How do I start using breakout rooms?

If y'all are a meeting organiser, you volition run into a new icon at the top of the Teams screen:

How exercise I set up breakout rooms?

1. Breakout rooms can be fix prior to your coming together or seminar – you need to go into the meeting in advance to do so. Exist aware that breakout rooms will expire afterward 24 hours, so practise this within 24 hours of the actual outset of the meeting (or it can exist done once the meeting has started). Future functionality will enable you to create breakout rooms from the meeting invitation, where you volition see the list of attendees and be able to create rooms.
2. Bear in mind that that participants may be distributed into rooms only once they have joined the first meeting, which may take a few moments.
3. One time selected, a number of options are presented, including:
   
   1. Selecting the number of required rooms
   2. Deciding on how yous wish the rooms to be populated:

1. Automatically: participants will be distributed among the rooms y'all create (later the meeting has started)
2. Manually: y'all assign participants to rooms one past one (after the meeting has started)

How can I use breakout rooms in a Teams meeting?

One time students have been assigned to a room, select the 'Open' button to outset the breakout sessions.

Using breakout rooms in a Teams meeting for a tutorial or small group session allows students to piece of work in pairs/threes etc. on a collaborative activity. For example, each grouping may cull a nominated leader who can write feedback from their breakout group into the whole group chat and then that everyone can run into and comment on ideas from the other groups (once everyone is back in the primary meeting).

How do I manage a breakout session?

1. You will need fourth dimension to assign people to breakout rooms – consider a short activity for students to complete on their own whilst this is occurring. Note that the rooms will remain in place if you use the same Teams meeting link in follow-up meetings.
2. Each room features the aforementioned range of tools that a 'normal' Teams coming together features, e.g. chat, screenshare. Ensure that students are aware of the tools – you may even devise a curt orientation activity to permit them to practise.
3. When setting up the rooms, y'all may also add materials to the conversation within each toom – for instance, a curt paper for the group members to read.
4. The Teams conversation role persists across the finish of the meeting, keeping a record of the class give-and-take, in a similar way that the summing up would operate in an in-person meeting.
5. The tutor will demand to assess when to move from one activity to the side by side, based on what is going on in the room. You may demand to be fairly directive when putting the students into breakout rooms, telling them how long they have for each activity and when they need to come dorsum to the main room. Be clear on timing!

How do I communicate with participants in their breakout rooms?

Equally the coming together organiser, you can broadcast an announcement bulletin via meeting chat to all breakout rooms so everyone in all rooms is informed of updates, changes, or timings during their breakout sessions. Click the ellipsis (…) in the breakout rooms panel and select Make an declaration. In the pop-up box, write your proclamation and so printing Send. This message is labelled 'important' in the breakout room chat, and then everyone in all the breakout rooms can meet it and respond to it, including @mentioning the organizer to get his or her attention, if required.

How do I bring together a particular breakout room?

You can join each room: Click the ellipsis (…) next to the room name and select 'Bring together room'. To leave the room, select the 'Exit' button – and so the 'Resume' push. Be enlightened that moving between rooms does take time.

Mixing activities between working in the breakout groups and the whole class discussion will keep the students active and engaged.

How do I ready to employ breakout rooms?

Before using breakout rooms with your students, we strongly recommend that you lot gear up a exercise 'run through' with a few colleagues in order to experience using and managing breakout rooms before y'all practise and so with your students.

Although setting up a series of breakout rooms may exist fourth dimension consuming in the initial stages, the rooms remain in place for subsequent meetings in the serial. The contents of any breakout room chat sessions besides remain, but participants will need to be re-assigned to rooms during each subsequent meeting.

Are there boosted resources virtually breakout rooms?

• Here is an introductory video from Microsoft on using breakout rooms (one.09 mins).
• Microsoft has provided a help page: Create and manage breakout rooms during form meetings.
• In that location is an fantabulous info canvas and video on this weblog postal service: How to use breakout rooms in Microsoft Teams (Matt Wade, Sept 2022).
• Further information, technical communication and back up in setting up and using breakout rooms is available from Information technology Services.

Source: https://www.ctl.ox.ac.uk/teams-breakout-rooms

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