Was the Incorporation of Microsoft Teams in Higher Education an Effective Tool as a Result of the Covid-19 Pandemic?

Abstract

At the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) widespread and massive use of the Microsoft Teams application began in the academic year 19/20 and 20/21 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The objective of this work is to know if the incorporation of this application in university education is effective, both in a synchronous non-face-to-face teaching model, as well as in a hybrid teaching model. In addition, it will be analyzed from the perspective of teachers and students. In the first case, the performance of the students will be evaluated with the use of Teams and without its use; and in the second case, their perceptions will be analyzed through a questionnaire. The results of the research allow us to confirm that from the teaching point of view, the incorporation of the Teams application in university education is effective as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, from the students' point of view, they consider traditional teaching to be more effective than hybrid teaching through the Microsoft Teams application.