REMOTE POSSIBILITIES

Covid-19 has led to a huge rise in working and learning at home as whole families begin embracing technology to attend meetings, perfect their algebra and entertain themselves

Since the Covid-19 lockdown was enforced, working from home has become the new normal for many people and it looks likely to stay that way for some time to come, as businesses are forced to adjust how they operate to ensure the health and safety of their employees in a post-coronavirus world.

After the company’s success in moving to a working from home structure, social media giant Twitter has told its staff that they can work from home “forever” if they wish to. Meanwhile both Google and Facebook are allowing their employees work from home until the end of the year.

The dramatic rise in home working has led to a monumental surge in the use of video conferencing platforms, such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Slack and Skype for Business.

With so many of us now working from home, people’s tech needs have changed...

We all know those home workers who are worried about their esteemed colleagues seeing piles of dirty laundry, untidy shelves, or their dodgy wallpaper while they’re taking part in a video conference, as well as those who simply want to liven up their Friday afternoon meeting. In response to this, the BBC has made several of its iconic sets from popular TV series available to download as Zoom backgrounds, so you can turn the tiny spare room into Dr Who’s Tardis, or give the lounge a Strictly Come Dancing makeover. GROWING DEMAND In late March, Microsoft reported that the number of daily active users of its Microsoft Teams platform grew from 32 million to 44 million – an increase of 12 million users (or 37.5%) – in just one week.

With so many of us now working from home, people’s tech needs have changed. For example, there’s now an even bigger demand for more robust and reliable wi-fi, to cope with more data and heavy usage.

Since the pandemic outbreak, mobile operator Vodafone has seen a 50% rise in internet use in some European countries. It attributes this to an increase in the amount of people working from home and also the growing popularity of streaming services, such as Netflix, as families are forced to stay indoors and need to entertain themselves.

RELIEVING PRESSURE To help reduce the ever-increasing pressure on broadband across Europe, a number of popular streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+, as well as both Facebook and YouTube, lowered the quality of video streaming.

As more people look to making the shift to working from home more permanent, retailers need to make sure they’re making the most of this trend.

Customers will want the latest laptops and accessories, such as monitors, wireless mice and keyboards, while some customers may even be looking to update their outdated home wi-fi, so that it can cope with the increased demand and traffic. According to tech analyst ABI Research, there will be a need for mesh wi-fi products, which are capable of boosting a network connection across the whole house.

But it’s not just your wi-fi that’s under strain if you’re working from home for extended periods, your personal life can suffer too, as it’s harder to retain that work life balance.

For people who work hard, but also want to play hard, how about indulging in some virtual pub quizzing with friends and family via video chat, or even popping for a pint or two down at The Queen Vic thanks to the EastEnders set backdrop that’s available on Zoom? Lets be honest - who doesn’t enjoy a ‘lock-in’ while they’re on lockdown?

SCHOOL’S OUT!

We’ve all heard that a good education begins at home, but when schools closed in March, as part of the Covid-19 lockdown, the theory was really put to the test, as children and parents have had to switch gears and learn vital lessons outside of the classroom.

It’s clear is that over the past few months, technology has played an important role in helping people to educate themselves at home, whether it was confused mums and dads who were teaching their kids, but had to first brush up on their mathematics skills, or overly-energetic children, getting a daily dose of PE in their living rooms from Joe Wicks’ fitness lessons on YouTube.

In April, the BBC delivered its biggest ever push on education, with the launch of its BBC Bitesize Daily service across the red button and online. The service, which is designed to cater to primary and secondary students, includes 14 weeks of educational programmes, as well as quizzes, podcasts, videos and articles. In addition to the BBC’s offering to support the hard work of schools in delivering a remote education, a new online classroom and resources hub called the Oak National Academy was launched. Created by 40 teachers from a selection of the country’s leading schools, the initiative – which is backed by government grant funding – provides a whopping 180 video lessons each week, across a broad range of subjects from maths and science, to art and languages, for every year group from Reception through to Year 10. These services are sure to be lifelines for busy parents and carers who have been juggling the pressures of work with the need to school their little ones. In order to ensure less disruption to the kids from less wealthy backgrounds, Education Secretary

...while technology has played a vital role in helping people to educate themselves and their kids at home

Gavin Williamson announced that many vulnerable and disadvantaged young people across the country would receive free laptops and tablets, as part of a push to make remote education accessible for all pupils staying at home during the coronavirus outbreak.

POTENTIAL Education Technology (EdTech) is one of the fastest growing sectors in the digital economy. According to the Education Foundation, the global market for EdTech is estimated to hit £128 billion this year – up from £45 billion just five years ago.

Hardware and software providers alike have latched on to the huge potential for using gaming devices to help educate users, especially during these challenging times.

Xbox has added a new Education category to its Minecraft Marketplace, which allows parents and children to download free, educational content, including the chance to explore the International Space Station, learn to code with a robot and even find out what it’s like to be a marine biologist.

GAMING Microsoft’s Xbox wireless controllers are also compatible with iPads, which are widely accepted as valuable educational tools. For added peace of mind, many devices, such as those from Apple and Microsoft, now have great screen time-limiting settings.

For those youngsters who want to get to grips with the basics of coding, Kano offers Disney Frozen 2 and Stars Wars coding kits so they can discover the magic and unleash the power of The Force.

When children go back to school, it will be interesting to see what the home learning experience has taught them about how technology can be used to make education (and homework!) more interactive and fun. Perhaps it’s a lesson for everyone to learn, including those teachers who, until now, have preferred a more traditional approach in the classroom.

Speak to your Exertis account manager today to learn more about stocking some great working from home kit and EdTech resources that your customers will want to equip themselves with for this brave new world.