Explore ways to enhance classroom instruction, boost student engagement, and simplify daily tasks with the latest updates from Microsoft Education.
As an education professional, you often evolve, finding new ways to inspire, support, and connect with your school community. To keep that momentum, we’ve gathered the latest updates from Microsoft Education. From time-saving tools to features that spark deeper engagement, these innovations help support your goals and students’ growth. Discover some of the latest developments designed to boost student engagement, enhance classroom instruction, and simplify everyday tasks.
Enhance classroom instruction and student engagement
Copilot availability for students 13 and older
Copilot Chat and Microsoft 365 Copilot availability for students aged 13 and older is coming this summer with enterprise data protection and IT controls. A study from Microsoft Research found that most students demonstrated remarkable curiosity when using AI, asking sophisticated questions that extended beyond their task at hand and led to deeper understanding.
Feedback from schools in our preview emphasized the value of training, clear guidelines, and space for students and educators to learn together. As we move forward, we’re focused on providing tools and support that help schools use AI in ways that work best for their communities. We’re optimistic about the opportunities that lie ahead to help students advance their learning and build skills to prepare for success in their future.
Empowering everyone with agents in Copilot Chat
Specialized AI assistants, known as agents, expand the capabilities of generative AI by allowing customization and the ability to work for you or alongside you. Agents can be tailored to support you with expertise in instructional design, unique student preferences, institutional data analysis, and many other tasks. You can build an agent using natural language and additional configuration in Copilot Chat or get started with an agent template.
With Copilot Chat, agents can be accessed and managed directly in the chat and enterprise data protection helps keep your experience safe and secure. Whether you’re building a custom agent or taking advantage of agent templates, there are numerous ways that agents in Copilot Chat can make a positive impact on your day-to-day activities. Get started and discover how agents in Copilot Chat can enhance the way you learn and teach.
New educator features in Reading Coach
Reading Coach, a Microsoft Learning Accelerator, now includes features designed to support educators in guiding and monitoring student reading practice. Educators can create and share custom reading practice, set time-based reading goals, and select passages from the built-in ReadWorks library or allow students to choose from AI-generated stories.
Here’s what’s new:
Create and share reading experiences – Share your own passages or choose from the robust ReadWorks library to bring high-quality content designed to improve effectiveness and student achievement to your students. They’ll also have the option to explore AI-generated stories that match their interests.
Encourage independent practice – Encourage students to increase their reading endurance by setting personalized, time-based goals.
Simplify access – Students can join practice sessions using a link or code, depending on what works best for your classroom.
Stay connected to progress – Teacher mode offers visibility into how students are engaging with each practice and how their reading is developing over time.
Use data to guide support – Track time spent reading, passage completion, correct words per minute, and reading accuracy to help inform instruction.
These features are available to educators and students using school-issued Microsoft credentials. Explore the new features and get started today.
Professional learning opportunities
A collection of AI literacy resources
Educators across the world are using AI to streamline lesson planning, personalize instruction, and enhance accessibility. There’s a strong opportunity to boost understanding and use AI more intentionally through professional learning and thoughtful practices. Whether you’re just getting started or looking to refine your AI capabilities, we have free training and resources to help you build AI skills and integrate AI in meaningful and responsible ways.
These resources will help you build confidence in using AI and discover innovative ways to support student learning and save time. Continue growing your expertise by experimenting with AI tools and collaborating with peers to share best practices. Explore our collection of AI skilling resources for you and your students.
Equipping learners with essential AI skills
Over the past few years, companies around the world have seen a paradigm shift in how individuals consume content and attain new skills—changes that will only continue to accelerate and evolve. This shift highlights the need for continuous adaptation to emerging technologies and collaborative efforts to bridge the AI skills gap. Microsoft and Pearson, the world’s lifelong learning company, announced a strategic collaboration to help organizations realize the full value of AI through reskilling.
The partnership extends the efforts of both Microsoft and Pearson to provide AI skilling to people across the globe. Whether you, your team, or your students are just getting started or looking to refine your capabilities, discover learning opportunities to support your journey.
Possibilities for innovation
Become an MIE Expert or Showcase School
The opportunity of AI is here, empowering educators and institutions to drive innovation and redefine possibilities in education. We recognize and support leading educators and schools through the Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Experts and Showcase Schools programs. If you’re leading education innovation for your students, this is your opportunity!
Nominations for the 2025-2026 academic year are open until July 31, 2025. Learn how you can empower your entire community—students, educators, and staff—to achieve better outcomes today and prepare for the opportunities of tomorrow.
Defend against cyberthreats with student SOCs
The Microsoft Student SOC (Security Operations Center) initiative aims to bridge the significant skills gap in the cybersecurity sector and education. This initiative includes the Microsoft Student SOC Toolkit and implementation guide as free resources, along with training and certification to assist leaders at high schools and universities in addressing the cybersecurity challenges faced in education.
Student SOCs are becoming increasingly popular across the US, largely because of the need for an extra set of hands on security teams. With a student SOC, educational institutions can strengthen their cybersecurity defenses while also offering students invaluable hands-on training that equips them with the skills to step confidently into the workforce.
Optimizing AI strategy in higher education
As generative AI is increasingly embraced in higher education, school leaders are rethinking how they teach, conduct research, and support students and staff—driving innovation that’s reshaping the future of higher education. Define your institutional strategy and innovate with confidence by using the Cloud AI Adoption for Higher Education e-book. It offers structured guidance that helps prepare organizations to adopt AI at scale.
To fully harness AI’s potential, it’s important to develop cohesive strategies that align AI adoption with the core mission of your institution, ensuring long-term impact and responsible evolution. Get started with the Cloud AI Adoption for Higher Education e-book to develop an AI strategy and implementation plan.
These are just a few of the latest updates and features available—and we’re not stopping there. Microsoft Education supports educators with tools, features, and resources designed to simplify workflows, enhance student engagement and professional learning, and foster innovation. Explore these tools and updates today—and check back often for more ways to reimagine education with Microsoft.
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