Microsoft Copilot in Schools

This short article provides an overview of Microsoft 365’s Copilot feature available in Microsoft 365. It covers what Microsoft Copilot is, what administrators in schools need to know about it, considerations as to why it is or isn’t being used at your school and some things to think about.

This is no way EVERYTHING, but is designed to help provide perspective on this tool and it’s capability.

From the responses I received, some schools have it available, some have it disabled and some have access to it but they need to use a separate log in account.

I hope this helps provide clarity, feel free to share this with anyone you feel could benefit from know a bit more about Copilot. I just ask that you acknowledge this post as the source.

If you have been forwarded this post by someone, I’d love to help your school, so feel free to subscribe to my free monthly enewsletter, at https://www.donnahanson.com.au/subscribe, make sure you check the SCHOOLS option as the content is more school specific!

1. What Is Microsoft Copilot?

Microsoft Copilot is Microsoft’s Artificial Intelligence assistant (AI) that works inside Microsoft 365 programs such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. 

Think of it as a more sophisticated version of Microsoft’s Help Feature, or if you are old enough to remember Clippy, (1996) the paper clip character that you could ask for help.  

Copilot combines elements of Microsoft’s help and internet searches with a bit of Clippy’s personality to create a more user friendly AI assistant who can help streamline, simplify and summarize documents, numbers or create presentations and so much more

Aside from understanding what Copilot is in simple terms, in this article, I want to share some thoughts and provide some things for you to consider as it becomes more mainstream. 

But before I start, how do you know if you have Copilot available in at your school?

To check whether you have Copilot available, the easiest way is to open Word.  At the end of the Home ribbon the Copilot icon should appear in colour with Copilot label underneath it. If it doesn’t it’s likely it is switched off or not part of Microsoft 365 at your school. 

2. What You Need to Know

Copilot is built into the Microsoft programs such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook you already use. 

It only provides insights when you ask for them, it doesn’t work in the background. 

It takes data from your current document, spreadsheet, email or presentation to generate useful suggestions for your tasks. 

Additionally, it is only available if your schools’ Microsoft licence includes it (some educational plans don’t include it) and even if the licence includes Copilot, your school may choose to disable it… more on that later.

3. Why Your School May or May Not Be Using It

Schools are essentially a business, and like any business, schools make decisions about how they operate. As a result, a decision will be made as to whether or not Microsoft Copilot will be utilised in the business, or in this case, the school. 

So, let’s look at some reasons why your school might use Microsoft Copilot.

Aside from ensuring your school is keeping pace with trending technology that is already familiar to students in various forms, Copilot can help fast track drafting documents, reports and communication, thereby increasing productivity and saving time, stress and frustration. 

Now for some reasons why your school may NOT have it activated.

Firstly your school may not have a licence that utilises Copilot which  means adding it incurs additional costs. 

There may also be privacy concerns, both with data being inputted, who has the ability to use it and where the data might end up.  

Additionally, given the infancy of Copilot, increased cyber security breaches and privacy concerns, school’s may be more cautious and have IT policies may limit, restrict, or completely deactivate Copilot. 

It’s not a good or bad thing; it’s just the way the school has chosen to go. 

It may also not be used if staff don’t know Copilot is there, or what to do with it or how the school does or doesn’t want staff to use it. 

4. What Not to Put into It

Like social media where what you post is there for eternity in general terms, care needs to be taken if you are utilising Copilot. 

It is important not to put any confidential data such as student information, identifying data, dates of birth or passwords.  

Whilst you’d like to think that your data is somewhat sheltered in a Microsoft contained environment, there is no guarantee the data isn’t used to develop AI tools further, so be mindful of what your it put into it if you are using it. 

If you stick to general tasks like cleaning up a report, offering content ideas for slides or brainstorming ideas with little to no specific identifiers that’s the best bet.

5. What To Do with the Output

It can be easy to get excited just copy and paste what Copilot produces, but take care as it is important any documents you create reflect your own, and/or your schools ‘voice’ or brand so it is best to think of the information Copilot produces as a framework to guide you to build out documentation or as a helpful ‘draft’ and not the final version. 

It is also important to think about the tone of the content, whether the data is accurate or not and how relevant it is.  It is important not to just assume Copilot is right. Make sure you review, alter and edit information to make it your own, or your school’s, voice before using it.

Think of Copilot as your support too to provide framework and guide you with your documentation and not as the finished product!

6. How To Switch It Off in Programs Like Word

If you have opened Microsoft Word and you have Copilot active, you’;; know because there is a floating icon that looks like a ball or string, or the Copilot icon on the Home tab is active or appears, and you’d prefer to switch it off (or on if it is enabled at your school) then From the File tab Choose > Options. On the left side of the dialogue box Copilot will appear as a heading.  On the right side of the box, take the tick out, or in if you are switching it on, the Enable copilot check box.

When you close Word and reopen it, Copilot should be switched off.  If your school has Copilot access enabled, you can switch it on or off anytime via the same steps.

If Copilot is enabled, it will only activate when you ask it to by clicking the Copilot icon on the home tab or clicking the floating “ball of string” icon.

Remember, Copilot only works when you ask it to do something for you!

7. Summary

Copilot isn’t going to replace human ideas and creativity, but it can help reduce your workload.  Consider it a digital assistant, like assistants in your phone or home speaker systems (Google Home, Alexa etc) who can help you create a framework and structure to start building documents and concepts, but they still need you to finish the task and put your own voice to it.

It may or may not be activated at your school, depending on what decisions the school has made about its use.

Hoping you found this article gives you a good overview of what Microsoft Copilot is and how it could be used and how to switch it on and off in Microsoft Word.

I’d love for you to share this article with anyone in a school who might be interested in it. 

If you have been sent this article, or just found it in a search, I’d love to be able to help you more, so feel free to subscribe to my free monthly eNewsletter, a tip, trick or shortcut in Microsoft 365 programs delivered to your inbox each month.

Sign up here www.donnahanson.com.au/subscribe

MAKE SURE YOU CHOOSE THE SCHOOLS OPTION!