Download the guide to technology for working remotely and share it with your colleagues.

If you are a school leader who is new to leading school staff remotely, start with the basics. Check with your staff about their internet connection, ensure they have a laptop, PC, iPad or tablet. Ideally, they should also have headphones and webcam to join conference and video calls. Do they have the technology for remote working that they need?

If broadband for some of your staff members is not of a high enough speed for video calls then you might consider supporting them short term by providing a small subsidy to cover the costs of upgrading. 

Below we share some of the free technology you can use for communication, collaboration and home working. We are not including technology specifically aimed at managing student work or communicating with parents.

Packaged software and tools for teachers

Google and Microsoft both provide fairly complete packages free to schools and you are likely to be using at least some of this already.

Google G Suite for Education or Microsoft Office 365 Education

Best technology for working remotely. Guide for school leaders and staff

G Suite is overall more intuitive and easier to get started whilst Office 365 is more robust with additional features. The choice may come down to the systems you already use, though both can be used on Windows and Apple operating systems. 

Calendars

You will already use a calendar across the school, probably Outlook or Google. Explore sharing facilities and link colleagues’ calendars to improve remote collaboration. You don’t have to have them all in view and can just add and remove them as you want to interact. Encouraging staff to do this will help lesson feelings of isolation and encourage individuals to plan their day and highlight availability.

Video calling or sending video messages

You can use Google Hangouts or Microsoft Teams. We use Hangouts as our core meeting platform and this works well right up to conferences of up to 250 people. We regularly talk remotely when we work in different parts of the country and with our development teams.

There are also good standalone platforms too, such as Skype, Skype for the classroom and Zoom (which we also use) – the 40 minute limit for group calls has been lifted temporarily for all schools. Be aware of possible security issues if using for sensitive calls.

BombBomb is providing a free account for every teacher. This is an easy to use video alternative to e-mail. Record and send straight from your laptop or phone to save time and share messages with colleagues and students. They even provide dedicated teacher training.

Instant chat and messaging

Colleagues can keep in touch with quick messaging and they also help keep that feeling of having regular conversations with those they are working with.

Sharing and storing files

Working together, collaborating and managing tasks

Personal wellbeing for school staff and teachers

Isolation or social distancing will have an impact on personal wellbeing for many of your staff. However, there is an opportunity for staff to better look after their own wellbeing. There are plenty of apps to help them on a personal level. A few that we really like are shown below.

This is not an exhaustive list of tips and technology to help home and remote working and if we have missed any of your favourites then do let us know. We will be adding to this and making it available on-line. Please email services@welbee.co.uk.

Download the guide to technology for working remotely and share it with your school leader or colleagues.