Microsoft University College London IXN Project Resourcium

by Contributed | Mar 31, 2021 | Technology

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

University College London project Resourcium

Guest blog by the IXN Resourcim team:

Hemil Shah – https://www.linkedin.com/in/hemil-shah-58747b161/
Louis De Wardt – https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-d-a3a351124/

Pritika Shah – https://github.com/pritsspritss

Project Introduction

To start off with, our project is aimed at students which centralises resources for them on a single portal. It also includes data collection on student sentiments and areas that they need additional help on so that the teaching and learning teams as well as course reps can see what help can be provided to students. The aim of the application is to provide as much help as possible to the students via the surfacing of resources and a Question & Answer bot.

What was the problem?

The University College London academic team, emphasized how universities had no real way of viewing/measuring student engagement due to the current situation of COVID.  The University places a strong emphasis on using a SharePoint site as the means of data storage as well as a dashboard on the SharePoint site to view this data for analysis. The University wanted the student IXN project team, to find ways in which students can be supported in their education and beyond via the provisioning of resources. According to our Universities admin team, this was an issue that many universities faced, hence we had to make the system design as generic as possible and become a open sourced scaffolded project for any institution across the globe to reimplement and build upon.

How we team approached the challenge?

Firstly, it was necessary for the team to research the existing technologies they would use to develop this application. After researching into the frameworks to use, they then had to investigate SharePoint sites which was an entirely different concept to standard web development. The key questions then came forward as to how we automate this data to SharePoint and how do we present this data to the user. It was also necessary to find resources that universities would typically provide a student with for FREE, that would be surfaced by the application. Finally, they also needed to research how to setup deployment scripts that would create the Azure resources and other dependencies that our system would have. With regards to the research about the above and more, all this information can be found at: https://resourcium.github.io/research/

What technical solution did we build?

The solution consists of a React web application that is accessible to students via a student login. They have utilised live login which enables students to login to our application through their university m365 user account/details. This did not only make it easier for them as developers as it saved us time making the database for the login system, but students do not need to remember an extra set of passwords. A link on a blog post we wrote on how to make a live login can be found here: Implementing SSO with Microsoft Accounts (for Single Page Apps) – Microsoft Tech Community

The project time frame was approx. 8 weeks.

System architecture diagram that simplifies our entire system:

key technologies our system uses (this can also be seen on the architecture diagram):

• React.js


• HTML/CSS/JS


• Azure services (functions, QnA bot and user settings)


• Microsoft Graphs


• Microsoft Forms


• Microsoft SharePoint


• Microsoft PowerApps


• Microsoft Flows


• PowerBI
  
  

Site map of our entire system:

Application Demo

Microsoft technologies that we used:

• The two-factor authentication (2FA) system: when users are registering their attendance for classes it is important that lecturers know that each student is registering themselves rather than someone else. To mitigate this concern, our client, wanted us to implement a two-factor authentication system. On the registration page if students are registering for the first time it will detect that they are yet to setup two-factor authentication. It will present a button that the user can press to generate a new secret. This method utilises Microsoft Azure functions to generate the secret and update the user’s information in Microsoft Cosmos DB. Once the secret has been generated the app will present the user with a QR code they can use to add our app to their favourite 2FA app. The user is asked to enter the current TOTP token to verify that they have setup the app correctly. If the verification token matches the Azure function will update the DB to mark the user as “verified”. From then on we are able to securely authenticate user’s registration of attendance to a lecture.


• The Wellbeing section: This section consists of forms for students to fill out to describe their sentiments and things they would require help in. The additional help form is aimed at storing information about the student so resources can be provisioned to them via the teaching and learning team. The stress form is an anonymous form for students to describe their feelings and course blockers. Microsoft Flows automates this forms data to a centralised SharePoint site where the data is presented as a dashboard. To ensure data can be analysed to the best extent, the stress form data is sent to PowerBi using another Microsoft Flow, and reports generated within PowerBi is embedded within our SharePoint site.


• The Student Help Page (LinkedIn Learning & MS Learn): This section aims to surface resources to students that they may not have known they have access to. We have made use of the Microsoft Learn API and LinkedIn Learning API to present results to students according to their input. Since the Microsoft Learn API cannot directly be filtered for resources, we must save a cached copy of the catalogue of results and manually filter that for the resources. This has given it an edge however, enabling almost instantaneous searching for results. The LinkedIn Learning API requires a client secret and key, which is only available for organisations and must be requested through them. In our case, we asked the UCL teaching and learning team for this access. If universities would like to deploy our application for their own system, they would need a subscription to LinkedIn Learning and would need to provide the client secret and token during deployment, this is normally a given as it falls under Microsoft.


• The Student Help Page (QnA Bot): This subsection is aimed to allow students to ask questions that may not be solved by the other two APIS above. The QnA bot utilises a QnA maker resource from Azure and a knowledgebase. If you are interested in setting up a simple QnA Bot please visit this site: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/modules/build-faq-chatbot-qna-maker-azure-bot-service/.

What we have done here is enabled the teaching and learning team to easily setup questions within this QnA Bot via a SharePoint list. All they would need to do is submit a question and answer to a SharePoint list and via a Microsoft Flow we would automate these QnA pairs to the knowledgebase of the bot. We also have setup another flow that allows these QnA pairs to be easily deleted too, they just need to delete the record from the SharePoint list.

• The Settings Page (user customisations): For the user’s customisation to persist across multiple devices, instead of storing data locally, we use Azure Cosmos DB. Once the user authenticates their Microsoft account to our Settings endpoint, we retrieve their user ID and look up their settings in the database. The app then takes these settings to change how certain pages are rendered. Similarly, when the user goes to the Settings page it communicates the desired configuration to our Azure functions which update the database.


• The deployment of our application: With regards to the SharePoint deployment, we have written a site script that would automatically deploy the lists to a SharePoint site, but not the front-end view, this would be a limitation of the site-script itself. To make deployment for the SharePoint side as easy as possible, we have written an extensive guide consisting of videos on how the flows can be setup to work for any environment. Due to the composability and extensive API provided by Azure we can use Terraform to describe our entire Azure cloud environment including everything from the App Registration to the function’s app deployment.

What have we learnt?

We have come a long way as a team as initially two out of three of our members had no web development experience. This means we had to learn HTML/CSS/JS/React technologies from scratch which was quite time consuming. We also had to tread new depths as we learnt new Microsoft tools and technologies like MS Flows and SharePoint, again which was an entirely new concept. Additionally, we learnt how deployment of azure resources works through scripting like Terraform or ARM Templates.

How can this project be taken forward?

Our project provides the basis of a new paradigm of university centric app platforms. It solves the problem of engagement on two fronts that lecturers and other teaching staff have encountered as they adapt to online and remote learning. The first is that it provides students with direct access to information that universities already had but struggled to publicise. Secondly it provides a whole new means of understanding engagement with lectures. While what we achieved will inevitably prove useful with teaching, the current version of our app is only the first step along this path.

• Due to the time constraints, we were unable to make truly native mobile apps while also proving a version accessible from the web. Currently we have a responsive website that works well on both desktop and mobile devices, but it is currently not perfect on either. Future work would make truly independent versions optimised for mobile and desktop individually.


• There needs to be a way for admins to help students if they lose access to their second factor devices. Currently it is a manual process to reset them.


• We could more deeply integrate with a student’s calendar to make it more clear which events they are registering for and even provide lecturers with live dashboards of their student engagement.


• In future another team could implement sentiment analysis on the forms that our app directs students to which would help teaching staff understand what students need help with.

Resources/GitHub Repo

If you are interested in all the flows setup in our application as well as the deployment, please check out the following link which contains video guides on these flows and the deployment of the flows themselves as well as the SharePoint: site: https://github.com/hemilshah17/team29webappflows

The code for how we implemented the above system and technologies is available in our GitHub repository:

https://github.com/hemilshah17/team29webapp

Azure Service Fabric | Upgrade public ip address and Load balancer from Basic to Standard

by Contributed | Mar 31, 2021 | Technology

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Use Case:

To update the existing public ip address to Standard tier in existing service fabric cluster.

Approach:

The below approach helps in modifying the public ip address from basic tier to Standard tier.

To create public IP address and load balancer with standard SKU and attach to existing VMSS and cluster.

Step 1: Run the below command to remove NAT pools.

After the command is executed, it takes time to update each instance of VMSS. Please cross check if the virtual machine scale set instances are in running status before proceeding with next step.

 Step 2: Run the below command to delete the NAT pools.

Step 3: Delete Backend pool

Step 4: Copy the load balancer’s resource file from resources explorer. Delete the load balancer.  This can be triggered from portal.

Step 5: Change the Sku of public Ip from ‘Basic’ to ‘Standard’ using the below command.

Step 6: Create load balancer of Standard Sku. You can modify the load balancer resource file with the below information.

• Load balancer SKU name

"sku": {
        "name": "[variables('lbSkuName')]"
      },

Please find the template and parameter file attached for reference.

Step 7: Create inbound Nat rules

Step 8: Once the NAT rules are created, backend pool can be added from the portal. VMSS and ip address has to be updated.

To add backendpool: Select Backend pools and Click on ‘Add’

What’s New in Microsoft Teams for Education | March 2021

by Contributed | Mar 31, 2021 | Technology

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

First and foremost, THANK YOU for being amazing. We know that this school year has had its ups and downs, and we are so grateful to you for all your hard work and dedication to not only helping students learn but supporting their wellbeing. If there is something you’d like to see more of, please let us know! We’re always listening.

Last month, we announced a number of innovations to help in and out of the classroom including PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams, Live Reactions in meetings, Invite-only meeting options in private meetings, downloading attendance reports, and more.

This month, whether you’re teaching remotely, hybrid, or back in person, we’re excited to share the lasts updates to the Teams experience to help you:

1. Encourage class participation during synchronous learning


2. Support asynchronous learning


3. Help keep students safe with better meeting controls


4. Create better large meeting and webinar experiences


5. Improve collaboration and communication among school staff


6. Train yourself on Teams with new resources created for school scenarios

Let’s dive in! (Click here to jump right into a quick list without extra description)

1) Encourage class participation during synchronous learning
Meeting recap
Access all the relevant files for the class or meeting like recordings, transcripts, notes, and files in one easy view. Students will either be able to see the recordings, transcript, and files in the meeting chat or channel, or for private meetings by going to their calendar, expanding the meeting, and clicking on the “Details” tab at the top. Those who missed the meeting, joined late, or want to revisit what was discussed, can play the recording and visit class transcripts.

Get an easily shared meeting link from the Calendar
Users can now copy a meeting link from the Calendar tab and share it out with others without starting the meeting. If you are in an email, chat, or channel conversation and agreed to meet at a certain time, this is an easy way to copy a meeting link and paste it into the conversation.

Enable tenant administrators to configure masking PSTN participant phone numbers
With schools or institutions that have Audio Conferencing enabled for their Teams meetings, tenant administrators now have the ability to define how their Audio Conferencing participants’ phone numbers appear in the roster view for meetings scheduled within their organization. The options include masked to external users, masked for everyone, or off (visible to everyone). This provides flexibility in securing PSTN participants’ phone numbers. This feature is only available through PowerShell cmdlet at this time.

Outgoing participant video in meetings in Safari
If you use Safari, now you can turn on an outgoing video so the class can see your smiling face. Just click the camera icon to turn on the video in the meeting. This requires Safari 14 or higher on MacOS BigSur.

Touch Bar meetings controls for Mac
MacBooks with Touch Bars now have Teams Meeting controls that quickly allow users to access controls without clicking into the window. Users can open the ‘view participants’ panel, open meeting chat, use raise hand, enable video, mute/unmute, open shared tray, and leave the meeting from one place.

New and dynamic meeting experiences on Android
The newly improved Teams meetings experience on Android devices now allow educators and students to see up to 20 participants on phone devices and up to 30 participants on tablets. Simply scroll to the right on your device to see all the participants in the meeting. You can also view shared content and a spotlighted participant simultaneously. This enhancement enables participants to follow along with the presentation while continuing to view the speakers’ and other participants’ video. This is currently already available in iOS.

2) Support asynchronous learning
Android On-Demand Chat Translation
Inline message translation helps ensure that every student has a voice and facilitate conversations across language barriers or with language learners. With a simple click, people who speak different languages can fluidly communicate with one another by translating posts in channels and chat.

250 GB file size support in Microsoft Teams
Upload file size limits for Microsoft Teams have increased from 100 GB to 250 GB. This also applies to all other Microsoft 365, services including SharePoint and OneDrive. That means educators and students can easily share large files, like 3D models or large videos for projects. Learn more

Add Microsoft Teams to your SharePoint team site
Now it’s even easier to bring SharePoint content into Microsoft Teams, and at the same time add Teams to your teams site. As you connect SharePoint to Teams, you choose what lists, libraries, and pages you want to bring into Teams as tabs in the new, default General channel. Learn more

New file sharing experience
Create a shareable link for any file stored in Teams and directly set the appropriate permissions, making it a better process to share files with the right people. Additionally, you can also set permissions for files stored in SharePoint or OneDrive while composing a private chat or starting a channel conversation. Learn more

3) Help keep students safe with better meeting controls
New bypass lobby option
For class, it’s helpful to choose who can bypass the lobby and be allowed to directly join class. There are a number of different options you can choose from, and this month you’ll be able to choose two additional options: “People in my organization” (which excludes guests) and “People in my organization, trusted organizations, and guests.” This provides another level of security and flexibility to Teams users. This is available for both private and channel meetings and provides another level of security and flexibility for schools and universities using Teams for class. Learn more about Teams meeting safety and security options.

4) Create better large meeting and webinar experiences
Live Event presenter for iPad
Love using an iPad for large meetings? Now it’s easy to present live in Teams from your iPad. Just open the Teams for iPad app and select ‘Join as presenter’ to start broadcasting content to your class or audience. Learn more

Improved experience for large meeting participant lists
It can be tough to manage meetings with large numbers of participants. But now it’s now possible to review the full participant list in the lobby before admitting everyone into the meeting or webinar. During the presentation, attendees are listed in alphabetical order and those who raised their hands are elevated to the top of the participant list, making it easy to see interact with students asking questions or looking to participate.

5) Improve collaboration and communication among school staff
Viva Connections on Teams desktop
Viva Connections is your gateway to a modern employee experience. It is personalized and appears in the apps and devices your employees already use every day, such as Microsoft Teams. Viva Connections gives people a curated, company-branded experience that brings together relevant news, conversations, and other resources. Learn how you can add Viva Connections to your Teams desktop.

Create a task from a message in Microsoft Teams
Some messages result in follow-up actions. With this feature, you’ll be able to quickly create tasks right from any Microsoft Teams chat or channel conversation without having to switch apps or windows. Select More options on a Teams message to choose ‘Create task from message’ and pick which individual task list or shared plan to save the task to. Powered by the new Tasks in Teams experience, you can then track and manage the task in the Tasks app in Teams. 

6) Train yourself on Teams with new resources created for school scenarios
For educators

1. Join us for Microsoft Store’s next, “For You, By You: A How-To Series for Educators to Supercharge Classroom Engagement.” Taking place on May 13 at 3 PM PST, the event is the 2nd part of a series to celebrate the incredible work that educators around the world have been doing. May’s event will feature how to create engaging virtual lesson plans in Microsoft Teams, and review tools to assist with accessibility and inclusion in the classroom. There will also be some surprise celebrity appearances! Sign up for the event here.


2. Find what you need to get started on Teams all in one place at aka.ms/TeamsPP


3. Check out this resource about how to have secure online meetings


4. Watch the recordings from the Microsoft Teams for EDU digital readiness event which dive into common scenarios and use cases to support you this school year at https://aka.ms/TeamsEduEvent.

For IT and school leaders

1. See all the latest Microsoft Teams product news from Ignite here, including education specific on demand webinars: http://aka.ms/TeamsSessions


2. Learn which policies to enable to keep students safe when using Teams for remote and hybrid learning with this Policy quick guide.

For parents and guardians

1. Learn about Teams and common classroom scenarios with clickable interactive demos (in English).


2. Quickly get up to speed on Teams Meetings and Accessibility with 1-page guides.
   https://aka.ms/TeamsEduGetStartedParents 
   https://aka.ms/TeamsEduMeetingsParents 
   https://aka.ms/TeamsEduAccessibilityParents 


3. Find resources to keep kids engaged and learning new skills with family-led learning experiences (for children 3-12).

And for those that love lists, here’s a quick review of all the features we shared that are now generally available:

1. Encourage class participation during synchronous learning
   Meet recap
   Get an easily shared meeting link from the Calendar
   Enable tenant administrators to configure masking PSTN participant phone numbers
   Outgoing participant meetings in Safari
   Touch Bar meeting controls for Mac
   New and dynamic meeting experiences on Android


2. Support asynchronous learning
   Android On-Demand chat translation
   250 GB file size support in Microsoft Teams
   Add Microsoft Teams to your SharePoint team site
   New file sharing experience


3. Help keep students safe with better meeting controls
   New bypass lobby option


4. Create better large meeting and webinar experiences
   Live Event presenter for iPad
   Improved experience for large meeting participant lists


5. Improve collaboration and communication among school staff
   Viva Connections on Teams desktop
   Create a task from a message in Microsoft Teams

We’re always looking to improve the education experience in Teams, and we can only do that with your support and awesome ideas. If there’ something you’d like to see in Teams for Education, please let us know!

What’s New in Microsoft Teams | February and March 2021

by Contributed | Mar 31, 2021 | Technology

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

It’s been a busy, productive couple of months. We announced a lot of exciting product updates and offerings at Ignite earlier this month, and many of these are now generally available.

For meetings you can now use PowerPoint Live, Live Reactions, Invite-only meeting options. Similarly for webinars and larger meetings, you can now host 20,000-person view-only broadcasts and download attendee reports after the webinar. When you are using a cellular connection and want to limit the used bandwidth, you can now use the low data calling mode. And if you happen to be mobile with spotty reception, you can still access your file offline. There are several updates to the Approvals app that lets you respond inline, as well as markdown and seamlessly attach files inside and outside of Microsoft 365 to your approvals. And to better manage your Android Teams Rooms devices you can now use remote device provisioning.

You can read about all Teams announcements during Ignite in the What’s New in Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Ignite 2021.

However, these aren’t the only new features and capabilities to launch in February and March. In fact, there’s a lot. So, grab a cup of something and let’s see what’s new in:

Meetings and webinars
Calling
Devices
Chat and Collaboration
Power Platform and custom development
Management
Security, compliance, and privacy
Government