While the impact of COVID-19 has been one of the worst in the history of mankind, it has been conducive for digitalization, particularly that of the EdTech industry. Schools and other academic institutes were forced to change their brick-and-mortar learning methodology altogether. Students were encouraged to learn through online platforms using their laptops and mobile devices. This is when everyone involved in the process realized the potential of the EdTech industry and creative solutions started flooding in to bridge the gap.

Given this, digital or hybrid learning emerged as the best-suited option for students to engage actively during lessons. But the real paradigm shift was brought in by one of the key EdTech players, NetSupport.

NetSupport manifested this and developed a plan regarding a cloud-based solution for better classroom management and instruction regardless of whether learning took place in or outside of the classroom. So, NetSupport went to the cloud with classroom.cloud, their cloud-based teaching and online safety platform that was easy to use and would provide essential tools for instruction and classroom management – without causing teachers EdTech stress.

Released during 2020 with hybrid learning in mind, classroom.cloud includes tools such as teacher screen and audio sharing (to make explanations visual and easier to grasp), ensures students have a voice (via chat, message and help request functions), and helps teachers gauge topic understanding with tailored surveys. The platform aims to ensure that teachers and students can stay interactive to foster a better learning environment and boost student engagement.

This EdTech company offsets every shortcoming encountered due to the conventional education system. In recent times, given the high adoption rate of technology in schools, it has become easier to promote digital learning platforms for sharing knowledge and up-scaling their skills in diverse fields.

“I started my career in finance but very quickly found that the advent of tech in business was something that interested me more. So, I moved into the software industry and ultimately became the head of a software company. In parallel, I got involved in education because I had children myself and thought the best way to support our local schools was to roll up my sleeves and get involved! That interest grew, and for the last 30 years, I’ve worked in both schools and the technology space — learning the lessons from one side and being able to adapt and deliver solutions from the other,” says CEO Al Kingsley.

The following are some challenges faced by the EdTech arena in the pandemic situation, which NetSupport helps solve-

After the world succumbed to the novel virus COVID-19, the education sector underwent massive transformation. Academic institutions deployed many solutions to help students and teachers perform with the best of their capabilities. However, they seem to have difficulty in monitoring and evaluating the software programs.

The goal was clear, schools require a sustainable digital platform.

In order to accomplish this goal, the company's CEO, Al Kingsley, co-developed the Digital Strategy Guide  as a resource to help schools and districts evaluate their EdTech solutions to maximize their resources and ensure they are utilizing future-proof tools that will be able to flex to their growing needs.

In addition, their IT asset management solution, NetSupport DNA, supports schools with technology management, e.g., by revealing where unused software or hardware can be redeployed, proactively alerting to issues before they escalate, automating tasks, and much more, to ensure they not only know what IT assets they have, but are using them effectively.

The following list encompasses the features, benefits, and capabilities of NetSupport:

NetSupport has been developing software for over 30 years and our award-winning solutions are a result of co-producing them directly with the people who use them in their classrooms and offices. Understanding pain points and ensuring our technology is accessible to everyone, as well as keeping pace with platform and device changes, are all central to benefits being gained from their use.

• NetSupport School: full-featured classroom management and assessment

• classroom.cloud: essential tools for in-school and remote learning

• NetSupport DNA: IT Asset Management for organizations (plus an online safety module for the education sector)

• NetSupport Manager: remote control and IT management solution

• NetSupport ServiceDesk: browser-based help desk

• NetSupport Notify: mass notification and alerting

The company always matches their deliveries with their promises. Their brilliant solutions have led them to win several accolades like the ‘Best of 2021 Secondary Education’. In addition, they have been recognized as winners or finalists in over 300 awards and are relied upon by over 18 million users in 120 countries worldwide.

The following are some examples of projects, which were undertaken by NetSupport, who handled them in the most creative way possible-

The company aims to make its technology easy, smooth, intuitive, and user-friendly. NetSupport worked closely with the teachers to develop their solutions to ensure it offers the tools that teachers truly need. They aimed to understand the requirements of their clients and equip them with the best possible solutions. As a result, the entire process has enabled students to intensify their attention on their academics rather than the technology itself, while using the virtual learning platform.

International magazines applauded NetSupport for their initiative and effortless execution. Their clients have also expressed their satisfaction and love the flexibility and ease with which they could navigate through their solutions.

As per the reviews collected from genuine portals, end users had never experienced a better and smoother EdTech connection before NetSupport. What further makes this platform a leader in the niche is that it enables the teacher to use the resources to track all their student’s progress at the same time.

Amongst all the companies in the market eager to secure the #1 position, NetSupport uses the following strategies to outbeat the competitors and stand on solid grounds-

There are various EdTech providers present in the U.S. market. And, it would not be an exaggeration to say that NetSupport has established itself quite well in the industry, due to the flexibility and scalability it offers. NetSupport flourishes with co-production strategies, multi-platform support, flexibility, and the independent evaluation and recognition of our solutions in industry awards.

The key to their success is consistency. Their success is evident in the spike of their sales and is also reflected in the reviews of long-time users. They express their satisfaction now and then. Due to their promising service, NetSupport has garnered a lot of clients who invest their trust in their creative solutions to help address teaching and learning, IT management, and online safety needs.

Collaborating with professionals and experts in the education industry, NetSupport is constantly working towards evolving their solutions. Hence, any constructive feedback they receive from any client is taken quite seriously. They utilize all those suggestions and feedback to modify their workflow and bring enhancements to their solutions. In addition to offering great EdTech solutions, NetSupport also provides valuable resources for educators through different podcasts, several debates, contributed immensely to imminent articles, and topmost practice guide books in the education press arena.

The company is also the founder of a YouTube show called Check It Out! show. This YouTube series aimed to help several other EdTech vendors showcase any of their products or services to schools or educational institutes every month. Also, quite recently they have come up with a quarterly collaboration project for teachers and educators, which is the R.I.S.E. Magazine.

The future strategies of NetSupport, i.e., any expansion or enhancement plans for the virtual learning platform are as follows-

NetSupport aims to continue the promotion of its products and services with the goal of making teaching and learning with technology easier than ever before while creating a safe learning environment for all students to flourish.  In addition to gathering feedback from their end users, NetSupport is constantly evolving their solutions to provide teachers, counselors, and IT staff with tools to help elevate technology across the school or district.

“I’m in a very fortunate position to have spent the last 30 years working across both the education and corporate sectors, so I’m able to bring those two perspectives together. I have 20 years experience in school governance leadership in the United Kingdom, and I’m the chairperson of a board that focuses on providing the best support and opportunities for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND),” says executive officer, Al Kingsley.

Speaking of the technology developed by the company, they plan to introduce updates regarding classroom.cloud, NetSupport Manager, and NetSupport DNA this upcoming year.

“The last 24 months have been a catalyst for change. We reflected on the role of our technology, as any good organization should do, and identified a gap in terms of providing seamless delivery of “remote” classroom instruction with our current, locally-focused solutions. We worked hard on developing our new classroom.cloud solution that provides a continuity of learning experience, irrespective of location. That mindset of one solution which can be used anywhere is key to usability for schools,” says CEO Al Kingsley.

We make certain our technology is intuitive and easy to use – and we worked directly with teachers on classroom.cloud to ensure it would deliver what was needed. Life Source International Charter School told us, “classroom.cloud has made it possible to focus on the academics rather than the technology while learning virtually.” This is exactly what we were aiming for, so it is great to hear it being confirmed.

Our customers also appreciate the ease of use and flexibility in NetSupport School. Next Level Solutions uses it in its training sessions for students in multiple locations and told us, “I would absolutely recommend NetSupport. It’s the only tool I’ve found that does remote connection smoothly, and the only one I’ve seen that has the ability to check up on multiple students’ progress all at once, rather than remoting in to each individually…it’s been a game-changer.”