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TechCoronavirus

Don’t get cut off by the coronavirus. Here are (mostly) free tech tools for work, education, and fun

By
Don Reisinger
Don Reisinger
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 19, 2020, 5:28 PM ET

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While quarantined or isolated because of COVID-19, it might seem challenging to figure out how to work, learn, stay in touch with family and friends, and, yes, weave some entertainment into an at-home schedule.

And seriously, sitting at home just watching or reading too much coronavirus news isn’t a healthy habit.

For parents, there are the added tasks of teaching kids at home and keeping them from needling one another into full-on meltdowns. Have toddlers? Keeping them entertained is its own kind of challenge.

But technology is here to help. Many companies are offering services for free or at a discount. Fortune has compiled them here to help kids and adults get through their days in isolation—without spending too much extra money.

Get work done

Jamm

Jamm sells voice and video collaboration tools for remote workers. During the coronavirus pandemic, the company is offering the service for free for the next three months.

Loom

Loom, a video-messaging service, is $5 a month through July for at-home workers, a 50% savings. The service is also helpful for teachers offering remote learning. Classroom users can access the service for free.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is offering 16 professional development videos free of charge. The lessons include tips on working remotely, maximizing productivity, and managing stress.

Keep kids’ education moving ahead

Learn how to doodle

Children’s author Mo Willems is live-streaming a doodle tutorial each weekday during the coronavirus outbreak. You can watch the doodle tutorials live at 1 p.m. ET on the Kennedy Center website.

Virtual story time

Penguin Random House Canada is offering free access to virtual story time and sing-alongs for kids. The sing-alongs are on YouTube while the readings usually take place on Facebook Live and Instagram Live. Most are for young children. Times vary.

ABCMouse

ABCMouse offers a slew of learning tools for children. The company is offering a free 30-day trial to help kids from preschool through eighth grade get ahead on reading, math, science, and art. Click here to learn more.

Adobe at Home

Schools that have Adobe Creative Cloud, which includes everything from Photoshop to Illustrator, can provide their students with the program at home for free through May 31. Learn more here.

Barbara Bush Foundation

The Barbara Bush Foundation is serving up digital classroom and at-home learning tools for free to parents who are teaching their children at home. The tools help kids learn how to read and include tip sheets from the U.S. Department of Education to help parents improve their teaching skills.

Play some games

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Game developer Ubisoft is offering free access to the open world adventure game Assassin’s Creed Odyssey through March 22. The freebie is available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PCs. Learn more.

Team Alto mobile games

Team Alto, the developer behind the wildly popular mobile games Alto’s Odyssey and Alto’s Adventure is offering free access to its games for the next week. Learn more.

Epic Games

Epic Games is serving up several of its titles for free, including first-person exploration game The Stanley Parable and Watch Dogs, which centers on a hacker seeking revenge. The company will roll out other freebies soon.

The Sims 4

The Sims 4 lets users create and live a full digital life (and there’s no COVID-19 to speak of). Origin is offering the game for $4.99—an 88% discount.

Apple Arcade

Apple Arcade, the iPhone-maker’s cloud-based game-streaming service, provides access to more than 100 titles across iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. Apple Arcade costs $5 per month after a one-month free trial.

Google Play Pass

For Android devices, Google Play Pass serves up a deep well of 350 streaming games. The service costs $5 per month after a 10-day free trial.

Exercise both body and mind

Peloton

Peloton is offering a 90-day free trial for its on-demand, at-home training app. Access both live and on-demand classes, no Peloton bike (or any bike) necessary since they also provide yoga and strength-training sessions.

AMC

AMC and its networks have extended their free trials in the wake of COVID-19. Watch content across AMC, AcornTV, Sundance Now, and others for free for 30 days. Just use code Free30.

Audible

Immerse yourself in some fiction or non-coronavirus nonfiction with audiobooks on Audible. The company bumped up their 30-day free trial to include three free titles (membership costs $14.95 per month). Not into subscribing? They’re also offering hundreds of free audiobooks for kids of all ages in seven different languages.

Sling

Streaming service provider Sling has rolled out a new Sling Free Experience that provides access to ABC News Live, as well as thousands of on-demand movies and TV shows for every age.

PBS

The Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera may not be able to perform for live audiences right now, but that won’t stop its performers from putting on a show. The Met has launched a free live-stream series with a new opera offered up each night.

Shudder

More must-read stories from Fortune:

—Inside Xerox’s audacious quest to buy much bigger rival HP
—Uber’s CEO to investors: The coronavirus won’t kill our business
—A new iPad—and era, perhaps—arrives via press release
—Hong Kong launches a surveillance operation to track suspected coronavirus patients
—Listen to Leadership Next, a Fortune podcast examining the evolving role of CEOs
—WATCH: Best earbuds in 2020: Apple AirPods Pro vs. the Sony WF-1000XM3

Catch up with Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily digest on the business of tech.

About the Author
By Don Reisinger
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