Since the closure of schools and universities this spring, Microsoft has been producing a wealth of remote learning resources in support of its educational tools, most notably Microsoft OneNote Class Notebook and Teams. OneNote Class Notebook, launched in 2014 and built on Microsoft's note-taking tool, OneNote, is a digital note-taking, content sharing, and collaboration tool that can serve as a simple alternative to the LMS. Teams, introduced in 2017, is an online hub for communication and collaboration, including file sharing, chatting, and videoconferencing. Together these tools are perfect for instructors who are looking for user-friendly online course management capabilities without the complexity of the LMS. They can work particularly well for instructors who must quickly take their courses online due to emergencies such as COVID-19. The two products integrate with one another, with other Microsoft products, and with a growing list of education apps that instructors can add directly to the class space. OneNote Class Notebook and Teams are included in the Microsoft Office 365 Education suite, which is free for educators and their students.
