Summary of "105 - Technology and Data Analysis - Session 3 - Lesson 4"

Overview

The video demonstrates how to use Microsoft Teams’ Reading Progress tool to collect and monitor students’ oral reading fluency (words per minute and accuracy). It covers setup, the student experience, the teacher review workflow (running record), reporting/insights, and classroom implementation tips based on a year-long pilot.

Fluency is a distinct, important component of reading—separate from phonemic awareness and decoding—and Reading Progress helps automate collection of oral reading samples while keeping teacher review in the loop.

Main ideas / lessons

Fluency is an important component of reading beyond phonemic awareness and decoding.
Microsoft Teams Reading Progress:
- Automates collection of student oral reading samples.
- Produces WPM and accuracy scores and stores audio recordings.
- Allows recordings to be reviewed later or shared with parents.
The tool speeds up progress monitoring (reducing the need for every live one-on-one running record) while still allowing teacher review and manual correction of automatic markings.
Effective use requires careful passage selection, accommodations for less fluent students, and classroom management to reduce noise and anxiety.

How-to / Step-by-step workflow

Teacher: create a class/team

In Microsoft Teams, click Join a team / Create a class.
Name the class (e.g., “Reading Intervention + [year]”).
Add or populate students (district accounts often auto-populate); students receive invites/notifications.

Teacher: create an assignment using Reading Progress

Open Assignments → Attach → choose Reading Progress.
Configure options:
- Camera on or off (camera is often turned off to reduce student nerves).
- Set a timer or allow unlimited time.
- Set a due date / end date if desired.
Attach a reading passage aligned to current phonics/spelling/skills.
Assign to students.

Student: complete the assignment

Student receives a notification of the new assignment.
Clicks to start; tool counts down (3–2–1).
Reads the title and passage aloud; taps Done when finished.
Previews the recording (option to “Use this recording”) and turns the assignment in.
Students may re-record if they want to improve their submission.

Teacher: review submissions (running record)

Play the recording to see time, WPM, and accuracy.
Review auto-marked words; the tool color-codes and auto-detects errors/pronunciations.
Manually adjust or overwrite auto-marked words when misidentified (e.g., due to noise or mic issues).
Add comments/notes (time taken, WPM, percent accuracy).
Return for redo if needed or keep the submission as a record.
Save or export recordings to share with parents if desired.

Reporting & insights

Individual student report: shows student line vs. class average for WPM and accuracy over time.
Class report: shows passage-level performance and overall trends.
Use graphs to spot growth, plateaus, and students who need intervention.

Practical tips, best practices, and considerations

Choose passages that match the phonics/spelling patterns and sight words students are learning (CVC, digraphs, bonus letters, trick words).
Turn the camera off for younger or nervous students so they focus on reading and feel less self-conscious.
Consider leaving the timer unlimited to capture true reading ability; otherwise monitor time separately.
For students who need tactile support, provide a printed copy and conduct one-on-one sessions so they can point/track with a finger.
Use the tool regularly—frequency affects growth and graphs; expect plateaus depending on the unit length and practice frequency.
Allow or request re-recordings when students can do better; teachers can resend assignments for redo.
Manually correct auto-scoring where needed—background noise or speech recognition errors can mis-mark words.
Keep classes/assignments active to preserve recordings (they are stored while the class remains active).
Share recordings with parents to illustrate oral reading growth over time (for example, October → now).

Benefits and limitations

Benefits

Efficient collection of oral reading samples without requiring full live running records for every student.
Objective metrics (WPM, accuracy) plus audio for qualitative review.
Stored recordings enable longitudinal comparison and parent sharing.
Teachers can override auto-scores for accuracy.

Limitations / cautions

Speech recognition can misattribute or mis-score in noisy environments.
Some students struggle with on‑screen tracking and may need paper copies and one-on-one support.
Choosing passages that are too hard, too easy, or not aligned to instruction reduces the tool’s usefulness.

Speakers / sources featured

Presenter: an unnamed teacher/trainer describing classroom experience and how to use Reading Progress (first-person narration in the video).
Tool demonstrated: Microsoft Teams — Reading Progress feature.