Integrating technology into the workplace offers productivity enhancements essential to remaining competitive
Communication is an essential part of life. The ability to communicate clearly and effectively is one of the skills that businesses look for in employees. More than 81% of employees use their personal mobile devices and 91% of recruiters use social media for recruiting. Over the last five years, technology has been rapidly changing and expanding in every field imaginable. Smart phones are now capable of acting as standalone computer devices that can take pictures, internet, send or receive emails and text messages and off course they even make phone calls.
There are apps which help you to bind all the important documents at one place and all this you can share with people you need to. The use of Evernote and Dropbox to maintain access to the files and share those files with anyone from anywhere without being physically present at a place. Integrating technology into the workplace offers productivity enhancements essential to remaining competitive. For 
small businesses, technology can replace extra employee expenses, minimize geographic differences and help project a professional image. Increased technology may require employee training to ensure new technology devices are used correctly and integrated seamlessly into daily business processes.
As technology is growing and helping in making communication easier than how it use to be few years back, companies appreciate their employees to engage actively in social media. The technological advances achieved in the past few decades have brought about a revolution in the business world, affecting nearly all aspects of a working life. People can reach others throughout the world in a matter a seconds, with cost being increasingly negligible. Technology has also brought about changes in education, where, students can do online courses and do exams and get the various qualifications.
Technology seems to be in a state of constant evolution. New technologies are being developed all the time, and the impact this has had on the world of business communication is immeasurable. Instead of having to wait a week for a file to be delivered by mail, information can be instantaneously transferred via email or file sharing programs. Technology has made the world a lot smaller, especially in the context of business. People from different cultures interact on a frequent basis.
Global partnerships have become much more feasible as things like video conferencing have facilitated meetings that cost much less to conduct than flying halfway across the world. Because of things like smart phones, email, text messaging and instant messaging, information can be sent very quickly to anyone, anywhere. This has altered accessibility in a multitude of ways. People can work or communicate from anywhere and at any time.
But technology can have consequences of reducing person-to-person interaction without the device as an intermediary. Technology affects almost every aspect of our lives. As much as our personal lives have changed, the business world has revolutionized almost beyond recognition in the past few decades and it will continue to evolve as we speak. Many argue technology has blurred the line between professional and private lives. Here are the few pros and cons mentioned below:
Pros:
- Speed: work can be done faster/saves time
- Convenience: available anytime, anyplace and hence, allows people to be productive outside the office
- Network: can connect with people more easily
- Improves Communication: Email conversations can happen without any interruptions
- Mobility: Technology at workplace practically eliminates space and time
- Encourages innovation and creativity
Cons:
- Change: getting used to the easy way of doing things
- Dependence: becoming a slave to technology
- Limitation: not everyone is updated with the latest technology
- Causes distraction at work
- It can be expensive at times for few people
- Affects workplace relationship: No face-to-face interaction
Hardware advances like wireless internet, smartphones and tablets have made it easy to work from home. Similarly, software in the form of apps like Moxtra, Whatsapp, Viber, Line and others made it easier to communicate and collaborate. There is no question technology and mobile devices have changed the way we work and communicate. Technology in the workplace allows businesses to expand quickly and efficiently. Business technology such as video conferencing, social networks and virtual office technology has removed workplace boundaries that previously limited business expansion. By adopting these new technologies, businesses can now target a wider customer base and grow to higher levels.
Technology has changed the workplace significantly in the past few years. Remote access means thousands of people can work from a home office instead of commuting. Computers allow businesses to continue working while traveling. We are sure to witness more positive changes in the workplace due to technology. Obtaining and sharing knowledge 24/7 is becoming easier and faster and this is accelerating as mobile and Internet devices are becoming more accessible in emerging markets and from more remote locations. Allowing people to work remotely increases the opportunity to utilize people capability without requiring people to move. A smart office – a place that makes life easy for employees and customers, empowers employees and increases their ability to stay connected through the use of remarkable technological tools and solutions – has fast become the need of the hour.
The education industry seems to be picking pace as things are getting social in schools and universities. Social media might be a handy tool for bringing the outside world into the classroom. Students can ask questions and receive answers in real-time. In an effort to stay professors are more connected to their students, may set up social media accounts specifically for engaging in educational discussions outside the classroom. Social media is changing the way we communicate. From the layman users to businesses, almost everyone is part of the online social ecosystem. Now, the education industry seems to be picking pace as things are getting social in schools and universities. In a traditional classroom, some students may feel intimidated to join in class discussions. Most of the time, a handful of students actively participate and the teacher or professor must resort to calling on students in an effort to engage them. By utilizing Twitter or other social media platform in the classroom, teachers could invite students to participate and then the real-time results should be displayed for the class to see. What is talked about inside the classroom, with the help of social media, may carry over into discussions outside the classroom.
Social media is being a handy tool for bringing the outside world into the classroom. Students are able to ask questions and receive answers in real-time. Professors, in an effort to stay more connected to their students, may set up social media accounts specifically for engaging in educational discussions outside the classroom. The students typically come into contact with a wide variety of people such as professors, career counselors, peers, and potential employers at job fairs.
There are great educational opportunities, such as the growing use of Facebook and Twitter by teachers to communicate with students outside the classroom. Secondly, education-oriented action groups use social media to extend their informational and educational outreach. Thirdly, there is remarkable opportunity to create educational networks. Earlier technologies rarely met the educational potential expected of them and in this respect social networks are likely to resemble them.
The advantages of social media are ease of access, portability of technology, simplicity, and freedom of speech and expression. Using social platforms and other networking sites can help people reach their career goals more easily, while also educating people who may not know much about a particular field. Education can take place informally merely through the fact that people are interested in a subject. Today’s technology can provide teachers and students with opportunities for teaching and learning that were impossible in the past. Technology can be used for communicating with people literally a world apart with the help of these apps. It has become such an integral part of society, it is important to integrate its use in education in different ways. The use of computer technology has moved beyond computer assisted instruction in the form of tutorials or drill and practice, so as mobile phones and apps. The simple fact that students exposed to technology will be more comfortable with it later in life is only one of the many reasons to use it in hopes of preparing for the future.
Social media are entering into the employment sphere also. Soon the blog will replace the traditional CV. Students are already using social media to improve their marketable skills. Social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and even MySpace can be used to create discussions beyond in the classroom helping students establish their credentials with potential employers.
The advantages of apps are easier to access, portability of technology, simplicity, and freedom of speech and expression for all. Using social platforms and other networking sites can help people reach their career goals easier, while also educating people who might not know much about any particular field. Social media is entering into the employment sphere. Soon the blog or social page will replace the CV. Students are using social media to improve their educational skills.
At the very least, sites such as Twitter, Facebook and even MySpace can be used to create discussion in the classroom. Lectures in the form of online videos and podcasts are getting common nowadays. So as using Skype, Twitter and Facebook as a platform to discuss and share classroom materials in real time.
Apps, smart phones, and tablets are storming into classrooms around the world. There are the few apps which help in education, Dropbox is the magic and wonder of cloud computing, professors on the go can access their files from other devices they’ve connected to their personal networks. Then comes Documents To Go which is available for nearly all smart phone and PDA platforms, it offers up the full suite of Microsoft Office programs, and saving a file on one device makes changes to all connected ones as well. Lab Guru is something which a professor can use in iPad by signing up to draw up experiments and tote them into the field or onto the counter for note taking and sharing. Evernote being one of the most famous apps, sorts digital files into scrapbooks and make sure all necessary class materials sit in the proper place with one of the mobile world’s most lauded organization applications of all time. Moxtra one of the upcoming app enables users to collect any type of digital content, access remote files on desktops, personalize content with voice, and share content publicly on social media or collaborate selectively – all in one app.
Moxtra provides users the simplicity of having everything organized in one place, which, in this instance comes in the form of a mobile binder. Users collect their essential digital content from wherever: Dropbox, Box, remote desktop, camera roll, or take a photo or video, and add it to their Moxtra Binder. Users can see their content as if on paper with no need to “open” each file–the content is automatically and attractively displayed. Virtually any type of digital content can be added to a Moxtra Binder: photos, videos, notes, web pages, receipts, documents, email attachments, etc.
Moxtra helps in regular communication from anywhere and anytime of the day on real time. The Moxtra app provides a continuous collaboration experience and is built ground-up for our mobile lifestyle. It enables rich content collaboration by providing teams with mobile workspaces in the form of Binders integrated with rich Chat, Meet & Tools for collecting, expressing, and interacting (iOS, Android, Browser). Moxtra enables users to collect any type of digital content, access remote files on desktops, personalize content with voice, and share content publicly on social media or collaborate selectively – all in one app.
One key element of the Moxtra Binder is the Moxtra Note. With the Moxtra Note, you or anyone you invite to your binder can quickly create a multi-media presentation using annotations and voice-over to personalize pages in the binder. The Moxtra Note can be shared via email, SMS or Facebook. Also, any member of the binder can start a Moxtra Meet, allowing invitees to view pages in the binder from any browser within a real-time web meeting.
Technology has become such an integral part of society, it is necessary to integrate its use in education in a variety of ways. The use of computer technology has moved beyond computer-aided instruction in the form of tutorials or drill and practice to more social/collaborative education using mobile phones and apps. Today’s technology can provide teachers and students with opportunities for teaching and learning that were impossible in the past. Technology can be used for communicating with people literally a world apart. They can be used as tools to create instructional materials or as presentation devices to provide information in ways never before possible. The simple fact that students exposed to technology will be more comfortable with it later in life is only one of the many reasons to use it in hopes of preparing for the future.
.
