Microsoft Corp. unveiled a sweeping array of AI-driven tools at BETT 2026 in London this week, targeting educators and students with deeper Copilot integrations across its education suite. The announcements, delivered through multiple sessions at the event held January 21-23, emphasize no-cost access for Microsoft 365 Education users, focusing on lesson planning, personalized learning, and AI literacy amid research showing six in ten teachers lack AI training and 74% of students expect AI to define their careers, as cited in sessions reported by EdTech Innovation Hub.

The Teach module in Microsoft 365 Copilot, now fully available, consolidates lesson planning, resource creation, differentiation, and assessment into one interface. Educators can generate standards-aligned plans from over 35 countries, create rubrics tied to objectives, build quizzes via Forms, and adapt materials by grade or reading level while retaining subject-specific terms. Previews for Minecraft Education lesson plans via Copilot begin February 2026, with unit plans following in spring, according to EdTech Innovation Hub.

For students, the Study and Learn Agent—entering preview in January 2026—turns content into flashcards, fill-in-the-blanks, matching exercises, quizzes, and guides, grounded in learning science like retrieval practice. Assignment-level AI controls let teachers specify permitted uses, pre-approved prompts, and visibility rules, previewing from February 2026.

Copilot’s Classroom Command Center

Microsoft’s push extends to learning management systems via a new Microsoft 365 LTI, embedding Copilot, assignments, feedback, Reading Coach, and Reflect check-ins directly into platforms without Teams dependency. Full Copilot integration in LMS arrives spring 2026, enabling seamless content creation inside courses, as detailed by EdTech Innovation Hub.

Teams for Education gains expanded Learning Accelerators, while Microsoft Learning Zone—a Windows app for Copilot+ PCs—transforms ideas into interactive lessons with insights, now downloadable at no extra cost and bearing the ISTE Seal of Alignment. It supports sharing via Teams, with LMS integration later in 2026, per Microsoft Community Hub.

In Teams Classwork, Copilot already crafts lesson plans, flashcards, and fill-in-the-blanks; spring 2026 adds modification capabilities, Minecraft lessons, and more to match Teach module features, according to the same Microsoft Community Hub update.

Elevating Educators with Skills Programs

Ahead of BETT, Microsoft launched Elevate for Educators on January 15, offering self-paced courses, live sessions, AI simulations in 13+ languages via AI Skills Navigator, and a free credential with ISTE and ASCD aligned to AI Literacy Framework. A new AI in Special Education course debuts at the event, as announced in Microsoft Source.

“For Microsoft, that means building responsible AI-powered solutions for education in the Microsoft 365 Copilot app secure and grounded in the values that make learning human, while ensuring our educators and schools have the skills and resources through programs like Elevate for Educators,” the company stated in the release.

Eligible college students get a limited-time promotion: 12 months of Microsoft 365 Premium with Researcher and Analyst agents, high AI limits, Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, plus LinkedIn Premium Career tools, reported by Microsoft Education Blog.

Minecraft’s AI Literacy Frontier

Minecraft Education anchors AI literacy efforts, aligning with UNESCO, OECD, and TeachAI frameworks to teach algorithm recognition, bias, responsible use, and evaluation. New worlds like Fantastic Fairgrounds, CyberSafe AI: Dig Deeper, and Reed Smart: AI Detective tackle ethics, data, and decisions via gameplay. An AI Foundations certification rounds it out, per EdTech Innovation Hub.

Learning Zone integrates partner content from Nobel Peace Center on laureates like Malala Yousafzai, PBS NewsHour, WWF, NASA, OpenStax, Figma, and Minecraft, with AI-generated Kahoot! quizzes. Languages expand from English/Spanish to Portuguese, French, German, and more in 2026, as noted in Microsoft Education Blog.

OneNote soon renders Learning Activity links inline, enhancing engagement without page switches, from Microsoft Community Hub.

Broader Ecosystem Integrations

Microsoft 365 LTI brings Create with Copilot options to LMS workflows for AI-powered content, including Teach module tools. All updates roll out at no added cost, prioritizing security, trust, and structured AI adoption to address training gaps highlighted at BETT.

The initiatives align with Microsoft’s AI era mission, positioning tools like Teach for standards-aligned planning and personalization, freeing time for instruction, as in Microsoft Source.