KENT, Ohio – Kent State Professor of Accounting Wendy Tietz, CPA, CMA, Ph.D., recently published a book, “Teaching with Microsoft Teams: Student Engagement Strategies” to help educators better engage with students when teaching online.
Long before COVID-19 caused some educators to pivot to an online teaching format, Tietz was already providing her students the option to attend class online.
“Students could choose to attend my class in person, live online using streaming software, or viewing the recording of class,” Tietz said. Not many other instructors were offering their classes in this HyFlex model in those years before the pandemic.”
So, when the pandemic caused educators to quickly pivot to remote instruction, Tietz was prepared. However, she noted that her peers in higher education found themselves struggling to engage with students online. During this time, she presented a number of webinars in an effort to help educators tackle this issue.
“By the fall of 2020, it became apparent that the Covid-19 pandemic was going to continue to affect teaching and learning. In the meantime, Microsoft continued to improve Teams and Teams Meetings, making the software more full-featured and education-friendly,” Tietz explained.
Tietz thought that by writing a book on using Teams to engage with students, she could share strategies and activities she had developed and utilized in her own online classes prior to the pandemic.
“I decided to focus on Microsoft Teams as the focus software of the book because it is a platform that can be used for both synchronous online classes (via Teams Meetings) and asynchronous online classes (Microsoft Teams) – and because it is the streaming platform being used at Kent State University and many other schools now,” Tietz said.
Tietz has been recognized by numerous professional accounting and teaching organizations, winning the prestigious American Accounting Association/J. Michael and Mary Anne Cook/Deloitte Foundation Prize in 2020, as well as the Bea Sanders/AICPA Innovation in Teaching Award in 2014, 2017, and 2022, and honorable mentions for that same award in 2018 and 2019. She also previously received the Jim Bulloch Award for Innovations in Management Accounting Education and the Institute of Management Accountants R. Lee Brummet Exemplary Educator Award.
Tietz currently authors two accounting textbooks, but this project allowed her to shift her focus to educators rather than her typical student audience.
“In this book, I aim to help instructors build engagement in their online courses so that the class is more enjoyable – and more effective – than when student engagement is minimal. This book is applicable to any discipline, not just accounting, so it is much broader in focus than my textbooks,” she said.
Tietz noted that following the pandemic, many educators continue to use online platforms for teaching web-based classes as well as to supplement their face-to-face classes. Tietz hopes the book – which provides a list of activities to generate student engagement while using Microsoft Teams and Teams Meetings – allows for more lively and engaging classes.
The book is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Apple Books as an eBook or paperback.
About Kent State University’s Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship
Kent State University’s Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship is among the fewer than 1% of business schools worldwide to obtain dual accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) in both business and accounting. The college offers 11 undergraduate majors, 14 minors, an undergraduate Professional Sales Certificate; master’s degrees in accounting, MBA, business analytics and economics; four graduate certificates and a Ph.D. program. For more information about Kent State’s Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship, visit www.kent.edu/crawford.
Media Contact:
Joni Bowen
(330) 672-1279 | Jbowen1@kent.edu