Teachers can soon assess students without knowing their names in Microsoft Teams

Microsoft is improving the grading and marking process in Teams for Education. According to a new roadmap entry, Microsoft Teams for Education is working on a new Anonymous grading and marking feature, which will provide teachers with the ability to grade students objectively. This feature will start rolling out in August 2020.

The roadmap description reads:

“Bias and being able to identify students can have negative impacts on an educator's ability to grade objectively. With anonymous grading, educators can elect to hide the names of the students whose work they are reviewing.”

Microsoft believes bias and identifying students while grading them can negatively impact teachers’ ability to grade objectively. The upcoming Microsoft Teams for Education feature will provide teachers with the ability to hide the names of the students whose assignments they are reviewing.

In related news, Microsoft Teams for Education is working on a new Hard Audio Mute feature. This feature will prevent students who have been muted by teachers from unmuting themselves. This feature will start rolling out to Microsoft Teams for Education customers in September 2020.