Faculty, staff and students have access to Copilot Chat as part of Microsoft 365 E3 or E5. That version pulls data from across the web. Microsoft 365 Copilot is an enhanced version of Copilot Chat and also embeds Copilot into Office applications such as Word, Teams, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook.
“It's pulling the data internally from the actual Microsoft Graph, their M365 tenant, and using that data to then also provide assisted results for educators and classroom students alike,” says Dane Loch, Microsoft associate manager for public sector at CDW.
Loch notes that M365 Copilot integrates with some learning management systems, including Canva and Schoology.
How Microsoft Makes AI Accessible and Affordable in Education
Microsoft aims to make M365 Copilot an affordable academic offering for all by allowing educators, staff and students over age 13 to use Microsoft 365 Copilot for a reduced monthly fee.
“It's a hefty investment, and Microsoft is really putting more into tailoring AI for the education experience and making sure that our next generation of students are really embracing AI as much as possible,” Loch says. “So because of that, Microsoft has reduced the cost from $30 per user, per month, to $18 per user, per month.”
In addition, Microsoft recently introduced the following features in Microsoft 365 Copilot to address cost concerns and make AI more accessible.
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Teach — a Copilot feature available to educators who have a Microsoft 365 for Education license — offers an easy way to organize AI tools and use AI for teaching.
“It's a dedicated hub for educators to create lesson plans, quizzes and grading rubrics in minutes,” Loch says. “It allows the user to customize by reading level, difficulty and curriculum standards, and offers a variety of options to differentiate instruction and align content to international standards. Educators can also modify existing materials quickly for accessibility, really building upon that inclusiveness as well.”
Study and Learn is an agentic AI assistant for students that incorporates personalized learning in Microsoft 365. The tool is included for Microsoft 365 for Education customers.
“It generates personalized study aids, such as flash cards, fill-in-the-blank exercises, and quizzes based on their notes,” Loch says. “Altogether, this tool encourages active learning and critical thinking while tailoring content to the individual's needs.”
Copilot Adoption Factory services from CDW allow schools to deploy, train and maximize use of Copilot so that educators and students experience a smooth transition to the technology.
“Copilot Adoption Factory, as its name suggests, allows institutions to understand and utilize more of what they have,” Loch says.
Adoption Factory incorporates three features, including End User Skilling, which Loch says is popular with K–12 institutions. It allows teachers to integrate M365 Copilot more easily into their everyday teaching experience. Copilot Adoption Factory costs about $1,500 per workshop for schools and consists of virtual sessions that last three to four hours.
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“Copilot Adoption Factory gives schools a game plan and an understanding of how they can take on more without having to fiddle around and learn on their own,” Loch says. “It's like an instruction plan for teachers so they can hit the road running with these brand-new tools that Microsoft has made readily available, and the end result for the instructor is, this is going to save time by helping them do less admin work on the back end so they can be more creative with their students.”
Schools can start with Copilot Chat and then upgrade to Microsoft 365 Copilot to access a full set of features for students and educators.
Going forward, Microsoft and CDW will work together to keep Office 365 Copilot affordable. The goal, according to Loch, is “to encourage front-line educators to be more proactive and more productive with Copilot and save time throughout their day so they can be creative and engaging with their students.”
He adds, “Microsoft has been very close to CDW, in particular, with the services to make sure we're driving more of that focus into education and making it as streamlined, affordable and easy as possible.”
