In alignment with UBC’s strategic plan to enable collaboration across the university and within our greater community, UBC will be building a foundation to introduce a suite of Microsoft 365 (M365) apps into our technology environment to continue supporting UBC as a global centre for teaching, learning, and research with a secure and integrated technology ecosystem.
M365 Apps
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams offers an all-in-one collaboration and communication solution that revolutionizes the way we work through integrating chat (IM), online meetings, calling, file management and a project workspace into one interface. In addition, Teams is an innovative solution that will continue to bring us the latest technology and help keep our UBC competitive in the modern workplace.
Microsoft Teams enables users across the University to connect via instant messaging, video conferencing, and online meetings while simultaneously collaborating on documents together in real-time.
Teams for Teaching and Learning
Please see the following guides supported by LT Hub for using Teams in teaching and learning:
Key Benefits
You can use Microsoft Teams to:
- Chat with one person, a private group or in a team
- Share files and collaborate on them in real-time
- Use Team Channels to post information to a team rather than email so that everyone is part of the conversation
- Hold online virtual meetings
- Use Microsoft Whiteboard to collaborate during meetings
Difference between Teams and Channels
Teams
Users can submit a request to create a team within Microsoft Teams. These teams can be collections of people, content, and tools surrounding different projects and outcomes within an organization.
Request a Course team (Faculty)
Channels
Channels are dedicated sections within a team to keep conversations organized by specific topics, projects, disciplines, etc. Team owners or managers can create channels in the team they manage. Find out more about Working in Channels in the M365 Teams Get Started Portal.
Microsoft OneDrive
OneDrive is Microsoft's cloud-based personal work-related document management solution. It's one of many components of Microsoft's Office 365 platform, which includes online applications such as Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, OneNote and Teams.
Microsoft 365 and all the applications you find here (including OneDrive) can be accessed from any web-enabled device.
Key Benefits
- Documents uploaded to your personal Teams chats and meetings you organize are all saved in OneDrive
- Users have 1TB of storage space to use to save files in the cloud
- Documents in OneDrive can also be shared with others at UBC
- Teams can collaborate on these files together using Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Excel and PowerPoint
Get started with OneDrive
Learn how to use OneDrive to upload, store, edit, and share your files in the M365 Learning Pathways.
Microsoft Whiteboard
Microsoft Whiteboard is a digital collaboration tool that allows users to brainstorm, collaborate, and share ideas in real-time. With an intuitive, user-friendly interface and a wide range of customization options, Microsoft Whiteboard enables teams to create and share their work in a seamless, organized manner.
Key Benefits
- Collaboration: Microsoft Whiteboard allows multiple people to work on the same board simultaneously from different locations
- Customization: You can customize the appearance of your board by changing the background color, adding a grid or graph paper, or setting a custom background image
- Drawing and annotation tools: Microsoft Whiteboard provides a range of drawing and annotation tools, including pens, highlighters, shapes, and text boxes, that you can use to add notes and draw diagrams on your board
- Image and file insertion: You can insert images and files from your local device or cloud storage into your board
- History: Microsoft Whiteboard maintains a history of all the changes made to the board, allowing you to go back and see previous versions or revert to an earlier state
Learn more about Whiteboard
Microsoft Planner
Microsoft (MS) Planner is a task management tool for groups to collaboratively plan, assign, and track tasks. Planner is offered by Microsoft as part of their M365 suite. MS Planner enables users to efficiently manage deliverables using lists, Kanban style boards, and charts directly through MS Teams.
Key Benefits
- Enhanced project management
- Collaborative task management
- Status tracking visualizations
- Assign tasks to team member
- All tasks can be managed in MS Teams
Learn more about Planner
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook is a comprehensive email and calendar management tool designed for individuals and businesses to streamline communication, schedule tasks, and manage contacts. As a core component of the Microsoft 365 suite, Outlook provides a seamless integration with other Microsoft applications, enhancing productivity and collaboration across teams and projects.
Key Benefits
- Unified Communication Hub
- Enhanced Scheduling and Calendar Management
- Integrated Task Management
- Robust Collaboration Tools
- Advanced Security Features
Learn more about Outlook
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word is a powerful word processing and document creation tool that stands as a cornerstone of the Microsoft 365 suite. It's designed for individuals, students, and professionals across various industries to create, edit, and share documents with ease. From simple letters to complex reports, Word provides the necessary tools to bring your ideas to life.
Key Benefits
- Advanced Editing and Formatting Tools
- Collaboration in Real-Time
- Seamless Integration with Microsoft 365
- Comprehensive Template Library
- Accessibility and Inclusivity Features
Learn more about Word
About M365
M365 is a cloud service that combines the commonly used Office apps (e.g., Word, PowerPoint and Excel) with collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams and OneDrive. In response to the need for remote teaching and learning in June 2020, UBC rapidly introduced Microsoft Teams and OneDrive, marking the initial phase of our campus-wide Microsoft 365 journey. Now, we are taking this further by preparing the university for even more M365 productivity and collaboration tools in the future. With UBC fully integrated with M365, we will be able to create, collaborate and communicate seamlessly with our UBC community and other institutions.
Key Benefits
M365 offers scalability, resilience, security, and regular functional improvements to UBC’s productivity tool ecosystem. Benefits include:
Current State and Future State
Microsoft is actively transitioning to subscription-based cloud services, leading to the phase-out of on-premise legacy products.
Currently, UBC relies on these legacy systems for on-premise Exchange and SharePoint. These systems are approaching end-of-life and will need to be phased out. Due to historically more stringent privacy legislation in British Columbia, UBC is behind other universities in their ability to adopt the latest cloud-based products and collaboration tools. In addition to the many benefits of moving to a cloud-based solution, it is important for UBC to be up to date with the most current systems being utilized across other major post-secondary institutions.
Page last updated on April 16, 2025