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Tools to Facilitate Online and Distance Learning
Adobe
Amazon
Apple
Autodesk
Cisco
Dell
Facebook
Google
IBM
Intel
Microsoft
SAP
Samsung
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
VMware

Tips and Guidance for Remote Instruction

Adobe
Apple
Cisco
Google
Facebook
VMware


Tools to Facilitate Online and Distance Learning

Adobe

Adobe offers a full suite of mobile, browser, and desktop apps to support the teaching and learning of creativity, communication, collaboration, and digital literacy, suited for both in-person and remote learning. Learn more about the various types of digital content that educators and students can create with Adobe, and which tools are best for creating different kinds of projects and content here.

The Adobe Education Exchange is a free, online resource for educators and school leaders and administrators. It provides free online, self-paced professional development in digital literacy and creativity, as well as training for educators on how to teach and support student learning using specific Adobe tools and resources. With thousands of searchable lesson plans, projects, curricula, and other resources, including dedicated resources for distance learning, the Adobe Education Exchange supports educators designing digital learning experiences in all types of environments, from brick-and-mortar, to blended, to fully online or distance learning classes. The Education Exchange now features enhanced tools for distance learning, including ways to run interactive sessions with Adobe Connect, convert homework and other papers to PDF, and convert classroom training into online courses with Adobe Captivate and Spark (information about available trials here). Learn more about the latest Education Exchange offerings here.

With many schools moving to online learning due to COVID-19, Adobe has announced that it is expanding access to Adobe Creative Cloud apps to facilitate distance learning. Find more details here.

In addition, Adobe is giving its higher education and K-12 institutional customers globally — who currently make Creative Cloud apps in on-campus labs — the ability to request temporary “at-home” access for their students and educators. This will be granted through May 31, 2020 at no additional cost. To learn more and request access, follow this link.

Adobe also has a vital role to play in schools, businesses, and government agencies, and is now offering free 90-day access to Adobe Connect, a web conferencing solution, until July 1, 2020. This offer gives users the ability to join meetings, trainings, and virtual classrooms from home. To learn more, check out the Adobe Connect blog here.

Read more about how Adobe is helping to support educators, students, and parents through distance learning across the globe here.

Amazon

For instructors looking for ways to communicate with students, Amazon WorkSpaces offers a managed, secure cloud desktop service. A customer can use Amazon WorkSpaces to provision either Windows or Linux desktops in just a few minutes and quickly scale to provide this service to thousands of desktops and workers across the globe. Users can access it anywhere, anytime, from any supported device. In addition, Amazon Chime is a high-quality communications service that facilitates online meetings with an easy-to-use app which works seamlessly across all users’ devices. Users can schedule and attend online meetings and video conferences, and chat, call, and collaborate, inside and outside their organization, all with a single app.

Amazon currently has a credit program available for its remote workforce solutions, including Chime and Workspaces, referenced above.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is offering free AWS Digital Training. This includes on-demand digital courses that help you learn new cloud skills and services when and where it’s convenient for you. Additionally, AWS Training and Certification (T&C) extended its virtual Instructor-Led Training (vILT) offering to include public courses delivered by AWS.

Given current concerns and guidance regarding COVID-19, all Public ILT courses will be moved to vILT before March 20, 2020. This delivery format will be in place until further notice. Private training delivery format and scheduling will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Public vILT courses delivered by AWS and its ATP partners are available here by viewing the Learning Library for Classroom Training, selecting a course, and selecting the Virtual Classroom Live button. For more information, email amazonc19@amazon.com.

Apple

Apple has curated recommended apps for anyone learning and studying from home, found here. In addition, teachers can join Apple Teacher, a free, self-paced professional learning program, to build skills on iPad devices and Mac computers that directly apply to activities with students.

Apple has also developed a series of on-demand webcasts to support successful Apple deployments.

You’ll find sessions for IT staff on device deployment and management, as well as tools and curriculum sessions designed to support teachers.

IT administrators can learn how to set up remote learning resources and apps available from Apple and third parties via Mobile Device Management (MDM) to ensure a quick and easy transition to remote learning for your school.

Apple devices come with built-in accessibility features to accommodate all learners, such as VoiceOver for students who are blind or have low-vision, Voice Control for students with motor disabilities, and closed captions for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Learn more about accessibility in Apple devices.

Autodesk

Autodesk has numerous resources for educators, students, and parents to support distance learning opportunities. Educators in higher education can select an area of focus and access a list of content to help deliver quality online instruction in areas including manufacturing, mechanical engineering, architecture, engineering, construction, media, and entertainment. K-12 educators can find resources for activities and access comprehensive tools that help teach core skills in engaging ways. Autodesk also offers parents resources to supplement children’s school assignments or give them an activity to keep them engaged and learning.

Cisco

Cisco is offering schools and universities free 90-day Webex accounts and resources that will keep classrooms connected so that learning doesn’t have to stop even though schools have been shut down. To help make for a seamless transition to online learning quickly, Cisco has extensive online resources available for K-12 teachers, students and parents, and for university faculty and students. Those resources include virtual lesson plans, preparing students for virtual classes and group projects, and best ways to reach students at home. More information is available here.

Dell

Dell’s education strategists are working with a variety of education institutions to help determine their needs and what is needed to facilitate distance learning with limited resources. These individuals are former educators spread across the country with extensive backgrounds in successful implementation of technology and learning initiatives. Additional information regarding available solutions can be found on K-12 Education Strategy and Higher Education Solutions.

Facebook

Facebook creates programs, tools, and products to build diverse learning communities that bring the world closer together. Facebook is enabling educators, learners and parents to come together in unique and meaningful ways through Facebook for Education.

To inquired about whether your education organization qualifies for discounted access to Workplace Advanced, visit workplaceforgood.com or email education@fb.com.

Google

Google supports schools by providing G Suite for Education, a free range of productivity tools to enable teaching & learning. These cloud-based tools (which include Google Classroom, Gmail, Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Forms) are currently used by more than 100 million teachers and students worldwide, and can be used from any device.

To help schools and other educators affected by COVID-19, the Google for Education COVID-19 resource hub is a primary source of information for distance learning resources including:

  • Expedited G Suite for Education domain sign-ups. Schools can sign up for G Suite for Education (free)
  • YouTube Learning Hub: In partnership with education-focused content creators on YouTube, Google also launched the Learning Hub as a destination for safe, curriculum-relevant learning content.

Additionally, Google’s Teach from Home Hub offers a collection of resources and tools for schools, families and educators to help facilitate distance learning. Resources include tips for teaching online, how to make lessons accessible to students, and ways to collaborate with other educators.

Teach From Home is currently available in English, with toolkits available in Danish, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Arabic and Polish. Additional languages will be added soon.

Google also donated $10 million to the Distance Learning Fund to support organizations around the globe that help educators access the resources they need to provide high quality learning opportunities to children, particularly those from underserved communities.
IBM

Open P-TECH. IBM is releasing Open P-TECH, a free digital education experience platform, available for everyone across the globe, with the goal of equipping young people and educators with knowledge about cybersecurity, AI and cloud computing, plus professional skills like resume writing and interviewing. IBM has extended its online education resources to all for free. Learn more here.

IBM Skills Site to Help Teachers and Students. IBM Skills helps students, professionals, and organizations build critical technology skills for today and stay competitive tomorrow through thousands of online courses, free training programs, and custom enterprise offerings created in partnership with universities from all over the world. Explore IBM Skills weekly webinars and learning resources for students and teachers here.

Partnership to Implement Distance Learning. IBM and Cisco partnered to implement school distance learning tools in Europe. Currently the program is being adopted in the following countries: Italy, Spain, Portugal, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Belgium, Poland, Ireland, Finland, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands, with over 2,000 IBM employees volunteering to support 70,000 students in 1,000 schools.
Intel

As part of its $50 million pandemic response technology initiative, Intel launched the Intel Online Learning Initiative, which will support education-focused nonprofit organizations and business partners to provide devices and online learning resources to students without access to technology. In close partnership with public school districts, the initiative will enable PC donations, online virtual resources, study-at-home guides, and device connectivity assistance.

Microsoft

Microsoft's Teams is a tool and resource offered to facilitate remote education. It is a unified communication and collaboration platform that combines workplace chat, audio conferencing, video meetings, file storage, and can help users—employees, students and volunteers—stay connected. Teams is a part of Office 365. If you work in education and want to set up teachers, students, and administrators on Teams, use Office 365 A1. This free version of Office 365 is available to all educational institutions, and more information is available here. Microsoft is offering a free version of Office 365 to all educational institutions.

Educators can learn more about Microsoft Teams and how to get started by watching these free webinars:

  • Online Classes & Lectures With All Your Students: Explore how you can create a persistent online classroom with meetings for up to 250 participants. This webinar is designed to help first-time users of Teams get started and host classes and lectures with online meetings. More information is available here.
  • Online Meetings with Student Groups or Anyone via their Email: Discover how you can keep students engaged with online meetings for small groups. This webinar is for educators who need to create ad-hoc meetings with select groups of students and will cover virtual office hours, tutoring sessions, and other group meetings. More information is available here.
  • Online Education and Business Continuity for IT Administrators: Learn how to deploy and manage Teams for students, faculty, and staff. This webinar is designed to assist IT Administrators in setting up Teams for online meetings, collaboration, and more. More information is available here.
SAP

Digital Learning. SAP’s new digital learning initiative offers innovative, interactive educational content to support students, professionals and anyone wishing to continue to learn during this challenging time. The initiative is free to everyone and includes massive open online courses (MOOCs), learning journeys for university students as well as the SAP Young Thinkers program targeting pupils and teachers. Get started here.

XM Solutions. SAP has developed solutions to help public institutions and businesses understand and respond to the needs of their communities. From an online, guided COVID-19 pre-screen questionnaire to K-12 and Higher Education Remote Learning Pulses to a Customer Confidence Pulse, all available now for free. Learn more.
Samsung

In certain regions, Samsung is donating smartphones to patients in quarantine to help them keep in touch with their families and friends, as well as air purifiers and other appliances to hospitals and quarantine centers. Samsung is also donating tablets to educational institutions in certain regions so that children can continue to learn outside of the classroom and making CSR education modules available online so that children have access to more enriching content at home. To continue to support customers, Samsung is offering round-the-clock customer care at Samsung.com and by extending manufacturer warranties. More details can be found at the Samsung U.S. Newsroom.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)

TCS' Ignite My Future in School is a free, online platform filled with real-world and relevant teacher lesson plans and other resources to integrate computational thinking across all core subjects. Created in partnership with Discovery Education, this robust set of resources is aligned to Common Core, CSTA, NGSS, etc. standards for Grades 6-8. Teachers across every K-12 subject area can easily ladder up or down content with a relevant task for students, and lesson plans are searchable and can be filtered by subject area and/or computational thinking skill.

TCS will host informational overviews via WebEx online conference for the Ignite My Future in School program. The overview will cover what computational thinking is, resources, and information about how leverage content for online learning modules. Overviews will take place each Thursday in April from 7pm-8pm EST.

VMware

The intersection of educational learning and technology innovation has created sizable transformation in the way learning institutions deliver and enhance their student’s learning experience. To improve the delivery of student learning, VMware’s Solutions & Innovations team is introducing the Advanced Learning Environment built on VMware’s Digital Learning PlatformTM (DLP). The Advanced Learning Environment is developed as a turnkey solution designed to meet the immediate mission and business needs of customers’ organizations and transforms the student experience through digital learning technologies, delivery and mechanism of the applications and content which drive learning, and end-to-end solutions and services of the environment. The Advanced Learning Environment (ALE) is designed for Educational organizations seeking the ability to overcome the common challenges of traditional learning lab environments including:

  • Workstation accessibility;
  • Physical constraints;
  • Re-purposing of classroom labs;
  • Lack in practicality-of-usage;
  • Lackluster application delivery; and
  • Student/user experience.

The solution delivers educational and learning institutions the capabilities to control flexibility in student lab volume and resources, supply and grow applications and hands-on labs, consume labs in an “as-a-Service” model, and acquire installation and managed services to drive the ROI in deployment, usage, and adoption.

The Advanced Learning Environment is designed as an off-premises solution which best meets the functional, security, and consumption-based requirements in the Higher Education space. It is designed as a feature-rich and powerful solution to deliver students a platform to consume learning content and employ hands-on learning simulation with real-world applications. The solution offers flexible delivery of applications (via client, web, browser, etc.) within a traditional desktop experience, while embracing elements (collaboration platforms, application catalogs, and hands-on labs) specific to learning environments. This results in the enhancement and increased productivity of the student’s learning experience.

For more information related to the Advanced Learning Environment, the Digital Learning Platform, and the Solutions & Innovations team, follow on Twitter @VMwareEDU and visit VMware’s Industry Solutions Pages.

Tips and Guidance for Remote Instruction

Adobe

Delivering engaging experiences through distance learning is a new paradigm for many teachers and faculty. Adobe curated resources to help educators and school leaders discover inspiring projects, best practices, and new ideas so they can continue to drive valuable learning in virtual environments. For more information on Adobe’s distance learning resources, please click here.

Apple

#AppleEDUchat is a weekly forum for educators around the world to share ideas, ask questions, and learn from each other on Twitter. Many chats are focused on discussing remote learning ideas on Twitter. In addition, privacy and security are built-in to Apple devices, software, and services. Learn more about privacy and security for Apple products in education.

Cisco

To ensure educators can stay connected and help each other during this period, Cisco has created an online community where educators can discuss best practices for remote learning.

Google

The Google for Education COVID-19 resource hub offers guidance and tips for educators overseeing distance learning including:

  • Teach from Home Hub offers a collection of resources and tools for schools, families and educators to help facilitate distance learning. Resources include tips for teaching online, how to make lessons accessible to students, and ways to collaborate with other educators. Teach From Home is currently available in English, with toolkits available in Danish, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Arabic and Polish. Additional languages will be added soon.
  • Distance Learning Resources: Available on the new resource learning hub, in addition to a series of blog posts as well as a webinar on distance learning. Google is collecting and sharing tips and best practices through its Teacher Center and social channels including Twitter and Facebook.

Google also donated $10 million to the Distance Learning Fund to support organizations around the globe that help educators access the resources they need to provide high quality learning opportunities to children, particularly those from underserved communities.

Facebook

Handling a wide range of conversations involving coronavirus (COVID-19) and overall health concerns in your schools and communities can be difficult, especially when trying to parse fact from fiction. If you’re looking for reliable content to share with your members on the prevention of coronavirus, or dealing with anxiety surrounding the virus, Facebook has compiled some helpful information from leading health authorities. Facebook has also included information about tools you can use to continue building a connected learning community. Learn more here.

VMware

Isolating employees to reduce the risk of disease spread doesn’t mean the end of productivity, in fact, moving toward a remote-first strategy now, can leave your organization stronger than before. VMware offers tools to help create a productive and secure environment for employees to thrive from anywhere.

Learn more here.


Industry Partner

The technology industry is working together to make sure communities have the tools, information, and guidance they need to cope with this crisis. Additional resources from our industry partner:


Tech for Learners is a web-enabled resource providing a searchable database for tools to support those involved in education and the workforce, at all levels, and from all communities as they scale up capabilities for online learning and continue teaching, learning, and working from home.