Ever since mid-March, when WHO announced the novel coronavirus to be a pandemic, governments around the world have imposed strict measures to flatten the contagion curve.
This has resulted in the closure of numerous businesses and countless layoffs. The economic repercussions of this are, at the moment, immeasurable.
Fortunately, if you want to make the best of a bad situation and keep your business or school operational during these trying times, you do have easy access to top-of-the-line technological solutions.
With the use of virtual classroom software and other e-Learning solutions, you can stay on top of your classes and employee training courses.
With the use of online collaboration tools, you can allow your employees to work safely from home and effectively continue with business as usual.
If you’re running a non-essential business or service, the only thing you can do is rely on technology to help you through the pandemic.
Disruption in the Educational Sector
To stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, many governments have temporarily closed schools and other educational institutions.
While that was perceived as the best way to deal with this public health crisis, there’s no denying that the consequences will likely be great.
Schools and universities serve many purposes. They are a place where students can raise their social awareness, master their interpersonal communication, and learn to appreciate diversity.
Above all, they’re a place where students can raise their skills and abilities and learn how to be productive members of society. If they miss out on this skill-building, it will greatly impact their future careers.
Over 70% of the global student population was affected by nationwide school closures. This can result in a widening skills gap that’s already too great and will impact businesses across industries.
Disruption in the Business Sector
Of course, it’s not just students and future employees that are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s today’s employees and businesses as well.
More than 7.5 million businesses are at risk of closing permanently because of the disruptions caused by the outbreak.
Although governments are slowly loosening the imposed coronavirus measures to boost the economy, businesses still need to adapt to survive.
Currently, the only way to do this is through technology.
Businesses and educational institutions that could do so have already gone online, at least partially. But many think that they cannot afford the technology to go online, and in most cases, this is entirely untrue.
Top Tools to Use During the Coronavirus Crisis
Many technological tools such as virtual classroom software are available in abundance at affordable prices. They can actually help you cut costs down the line.
So, let’s take a look at some of the most useful tools that businesses and educational institutions can use during and after the coronavirus pandemic.
ProProfs Virtual Classroom Software
ProProfs virtual classroom software is a solution used by both educational institutions and businesses. It enables users to create online courses easily.
Compatible with all devices and operating systems, ProProfs allows you to fully mimic traditional classrooms, but it also improves upon them.
Instructors can offer pre-made courses or design their own content. They can group learners by location or function, oversee their activity, and track their engagement levels.
You can even create personalized learning paths and assign course bundles to increase knowledge retention rates.
Surveys, tests, quizzes, and assessments can be easily distributed to all learners, and built-in collaboration tools make it easier to hold Q&As and discussions.
You can set up reminders and notifications to keep your learners informed about the curriculum, and you’ll receive reports that show everyone’s performance and task completion rates.
It’s an all-encompassing, fully-customizable e-learning solution that makes it easier to continue operations during the pandemic, and even after it.
A free trial is available that will give full insight into all the features and tools, so make sure you check it out to see whether it suits you and your learners.
Trello
Trello is a lightweight and fascinating solution that’s designed to help teams stay organized and efficient.
It can be used by companies that need to stay on top of all tasks and projects just as quickly as by individuals who need to plan their child’s birthday party. Trello is intuitive, user-friendly, and flexible.
While not hefty enough to be considered a full-blown project management tool, it does offer excellent features for tracking and coordinating tasks and streamlining workflows.
Trello’s card system allows users to create tasks, assign them, add comments and attachments, and collaborate seamlessly.
You can automate your boards with the tool called “Butler”, which will take care of calendar commands, custom card buttons, and more.
Trello is available as a mobile and desktop app, it’s easily integrated with your existing tools and software, and its intuitive interface eliminates the learning curve that comes with other similar apps.
Slack
Slack is primarily a communication tool that makes it easier for remote teams to stay in touch and collaborate. Such tools are useful in times like these.
It’s primarily used for improving communication as it offers channels where teams can gather based on their location, project, department, or any other criteria.
Channels can also be created for sharing important notifications and announcements with everyone within the company.
Users can send direct messages, have audio and video calls, share files and documents, and collaborate almost like they’re in the same room.
All of its useful features make it more than just a messaging app.
DeskTime
DeskTime is a time-tracking app that allows managers and supervisors to track what their remote employees are doing and how productive they are during office hours.
It starts up automatically as soon as your employees turn on their PCs. It tracks URLs that your employees visit during office hours, apps they use, document titles they’re working on, and more.
The Pomodoro timer feature ensures that your employees remember to take breaks and avoid burnout during work. The Private time feature stops DeskTime from monitoring their activity if they need to take care of personal matters.
You can use it to schedule shifts and days off, calculate salaries based on work hours, and get reports on productivity and engagement levels.
DeskTime is an excellent tool for keeping an eye on your team during the COVID-19 crisis and after it.
Zoom
Zoom is a video conferencing tool that enables businesses and educational institutions to continue working in a virtual environment.
It offers a stable connection with HD video and audio, allows for huge virtual meetings with up to 1,000 video participants and 10,000 viewers, and it’s priced to suit most budgets.
One of its most exciting features is the custom virtual background. Users can completely change their background, upload a custom image, or even a video.
The tool is already popular since the start of the coronavirus and boasts over 200 million daily users around the world.
There’s a reason why most institutions turned to Zoom during these times. So give it a try and see for yourself how easy and convenient it is to use.
The Bottom Line
While it can be extremely challenging to continue working as usual during the COVID-19 outbreak, it’s not impossible.
These tools can enhance your e-learning, and help boost productivity, improve collaboration, and more.
Many tools are available at your disposal. Most of them are feature-packed and available at pocket-friendly prices. Give them a try and see how they can enhance your remote working and learning.
