Private channels in course team

A channel in Microsoft Teams is used to focus conversations on a specific topic, project, or department.

A course team at UQ has five pre-created channels. Teaching staff can edit these channels to suit their course design. 

There are two channel types:

1. Standard channels are accessible to all team owners and members. Examples are the five re-created channels in a course team at UQ. Other use cases are standard channels for Practicals / Seminars / Tutorials or Workshops.

2. Private channels are for focused, private conversations with a specific audience. Private channels are accessible only to the team owner and members added to the channels. Use cases for private channels are Project Groups, Tutorial Groups, Course Resources - Staff-only channels, etc. Note: If you want group members in a private channel to be able to create tabs to enhance collaboration, you need to edit the private channel permissions.

Warning: You can create up to 30 private channels over the life of a team. If you delete a private channel it will still be included as 1 of the 30 channels.

If you have a big course and need more than 30 private channels, you can request additional course teams with all students enrolled.

Private channels for group work: 

• Students can hold meetings, have conversations, and work on files together in their private channels.
• Teaching staff can access private channels to mark students' collaboration on their group work (e.g. see the number of meetings, posts, collaborations on shared files, etc.)
• If you want group members in the private channel to be able to create tabs, you need to edit the private channel permissions.

To create a private channel

1. Click on the More options (...) button next to the team name.

2. Select the option Add channel from the drop-down list.

3. Enter a name in the Channel name textbox.

Notes: The naming convention for group work channels is Name of the channel + number starting from 01, for example, Project group 01.

4. Optionally, enter a description for the channel.
5. Select the Private option.
6. Click on the Create button.

7. You can add students to the project groups if you have their name ready. Otherwise, you can click on the Skip button. The group will be created without a member.

Notes: 

• People must already be members or guests of a team to be added to a private channel.
• As the owner of your team, you have access to the private channels you created and you do not have to add yourself.
• If you want group members in the private channel to be able to create tabs, you need to edit the private channel permissions.