During the summer, my kids and their friends enjoy using technology for fun and games. But as the summer ends, it is time for me, and them, to get serious about a home technology setup that supports the dreaded "H" word: Homework. With the right environment, kids can more easily transition from the fun of summer to the rigors of school and put their technology to work. Here are the five main components of setting up a home technology workspace for students of any age.
1. Tablets, Laptops, and Desktops
With countless options available, choosing the device best suited for your child’s homework can be overwhelming. My philosophy has been to buy on an "as needed" basis and not overwhelm my kids with options. When my kids were young, they had access to a desktop that was in a public family area. When my oldest turned 12, he needed a laptop for school projects. He then developed a passion for filming and editing video, both as a hobby and for school reports. That required a more powerful desktop computer. When his little brothers started getting assignments online, they inherited the old laptop. Our plan is to one day replace them with something like an Ultrabook, a very thin and light laptop that boots up quickly, includes SSD drives and has long battery life.
The first step in creating a student workspace at home is finding a well-lit location. This allows for projects, paperwork, and supplies to be spread out, while living in harmony with technology. Proper ergonomics, including sitting position and distance to the keyboard, help to avoid physical strains. Desktops also force kids who like typing in bed to sit in a chair at a desk and exercise better posture (that was our reasoning... and it worked!).
A laptop workspace with a full size wireless keyboard, mouse and monitor can provide laptops the same comfort as a desktop for longer homework assignments. For those kids determined to do homework on their bed (or the living room floor, or the lawn...) a lapdesk with a thick heat shield coating really comes in handy. Some kids prefer using tablets for reading, in which case any comfortable spot will do provided the lighting doesn’t cause eye strain on glaring, glossy, high resolution screens. Tablets also have numerous dock and case options that offer a sturdy position to touch and view as well as wireless keyboards to type.
3. Wi-Fi and Parental Controls
Wireless routers help spread the Wi-Fi love throughout the house for families with multiple computers and tablets. If your house has Wi-Fi dead spots, such as a room in the back of the house that is far from the router, then a Wi-Fi booster can help extend coverage.
Some parents separate "gaming areas around the house from "homework" areas and it’s an idea with merit. In my house, even the most disciplined child cannot resist the draw of a gaming console nearby while doing math problems and grammar worksheets. Similarly, there are also many ways a kid can surreptitiously play games or use social networks online during what should be homework time. Solutions include setting internet time limits using the house’s wireless router as well as using the operating system’s parental controls. These system settings, along with SafeSearch settings on browsers, will help make sure kids are not visiting inappropriate sites. Of course, no amount of software can replace having a family talk about homework time versus social and gaming time on electronics.
4. Tech Accessories and Peripherals
Some kids like to listen to music while they do their homework, so wireless speakers or speaker docks that charge will allow kids to stream their music while they study algebra, Hemingway or chemistry. When siblings share a workspace, some good noise-cancelling earphones can help dual music tastes co-exist in close quarters. To round out the homework spot, add an all-in-one wireless printer. That will let kids print from any device in the house and scan class handouts into electronic form. For kids who plan to scan a large volume of documents, a dedicated wireless scanner can handle multiple documents of different sizes across devices and store them in the cloud. Another handy back to school tech accessory – a graphing calculator for math and science class.
With schools now using the cloud to store homework assignments and so many cloud storage options available, families can join the parade and use this technology as well to access media from any device. Backup drives, some that can also stream media wirelessly, are helpful for storing files like the videos my oldest son creates for his school presentations. Media and data storage heavy households may want to look into installing a dedicated home media streamer or cloud server. For simple mobile storage, kids may also need a 2-8 GB USB drive that can be personalized with designs such as Star Wars to give your little Stormtroopers the tools they need to succeed at school.
These are the building blocks of a tech and mobile ready workspace for any student. What type of tech workspace do you have (or want to design) in your home?
Image courtesy of istockphoto snapphoto