Studying or working at home offers is beneficial to families, as it enables flexibility for work schedule, eliminates daily commute, increases productivity and promotes work-life balance.
Today’s technology combined with the Internet makes it easier than ever to work and study from the comfort of your own home, as there’d always be an app or website wherein you’ll find all the information you’ll need.
Free Apps for Virtual Meetings
When working from home, you need a reliable online tool for your virtual meetings. Google Hangouts, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and even Facebook Messenger allow for virtual meetings via the Internet complete with options to enable video, virtual presentations, as well as file-sharing.
Free Apps to Help your Productivity
There are also apps that are convenient and safe for file-sharing. Google Drive, Microsoft One Drive, WeTransfer, and Dropbox. You can use these apps to easily share confidential and large documents.
You can also take advantage of apps for taking notes, calendars, timers, and to-do lists. Some even offer the ability to sync with your laptops and mobile phones.
Free access to important government and news sites
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important to stay updated even when working or studying at home. These sites are important for daily viewing to get the latest news and credible information:
Government websites
- COVID-19 Tracker (ncovtracker.doh.gov.ph)
- National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (www.ndrrmc.gov.ph)
- Philippine Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)
- Department of Health (www.doh.gov.ph)
News outlets
- ABS-CBN News (news.abs-cbn.com)
- BusinessWorld (www.bworldonline.com)
- CNN Philippines (cnnphilippines.com)
- GMA News Online (www.gmanetwork.com/news)
- News5 (news.tv5.com.ph)
- Philippine Star (www.philstar.com)
PLDT Home is providing its WiFi Prepaid and volume-based plans subscribers free access to these important government and news websites. You can access them whenever regardless of the data status of your connection.
Free educational tools at home
There’s always an opportunity to learn, grow and discover new skills, even when working at home. Whether it’s studying a new language, trying out a new recipe, or even learning how to make videos or graphics online, there are tons of resources for you to explore.
YouTube is one of the best places to start, with billions of videos available on just about any topic, including tutorials for anything you want to know. You can even listen to podcasts for free.
For families with kids who are home-schooling now, this is the best time to enjoy those free audiobooks and ebooks online. Audible for example is offering catalogs of children’s stories, free-to-listen. These are even available in six different languages.
You can also explore hundreds of museums in the world right at the comfort of your home. Google Street View’s Arts and Culture section now offers free virtual tours and exhibits of different museums and galleries, including Tour Eiffel in Paris, British Museum in London, Taj Mahal in India, and Lizares Mansion in Iloilo. The National Museum of the Philippines is also offering a 360-degree virtual tour on their website.
PLDT Home is also extending its Double Data promo for Wifi Prepaid until April 30. That means PLDT Home Wifi Prepaid subscribers can still get twice the data allocations from their FamLoad packages.
Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.
