COVID-19 quarantines and lockdowns have caused many disruptions to children’s education. It’s (hopefully) not going to be a regular occurrence because scientists have already developed Covid-19 vaccines, but in the meantime, it’s crucial that parents offer some form of home-based learning for their kids. With that in mind, you may be wondering what the best ways to engage with your children are. One answer is through the use of technology, and there are many helpful devices and tools your kids need for virtual learning.
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Devices and Tools Your Kids Need for Virtual Learning
1. Virtual Reality (VR) Headset
A cursory look on YouTube will reveal many VR-ready videos that allow viewers to enjoy an immersive viewing experience. The available video content ranges from rollercoaster rides and views of Earth from space to close-up videos in wildlife reserves.
VR headsets allow children to feel like they are at the heart of the action and enjoy a truly interactive and immersive experience. One fact about VR headsets is they are affordable. Inexpensive VR headsets start from $10 and can range up to around $500 for an Oculus headset.
2. Noise-Canceling Headphones
When your child has virtual school lessons via Zoom or Skype, they can learn and focus better in an environment free of distractions. Setting up your child’s computer in a quiet room is one way to do that. Sometimes, especially if you have a large family like we do, there are no quiet areas in a family home, though.
In these cases, it’s better to equip your child with noise-canceling headphones. They’re available to suit various needs, and it’s also possible to get headphones for autistic children who find it hard to concentrate when there are noisy distractions around them.
3. Tablet
It’s no secret that we all live in a digital age. Most people, even kids, have several electronic devices they use for communication and productivity. Tablets are essential for kids these days, and they’re easier for little ones to use than other computers. It’s smaller, cheaper, and more interactive to use than a laptop.
Your kids can use tablets as part of their virtual learning as you can download apps for productivity, video conferencing, and more with ease. Of course, you should moderate each child’s time on the tablet, so they cannot access online content unrelated to their learning.
Make sure your children are being safe online!! Check out my blog post, Keeping Kids Safe Online – 8 Simple Tips for tips and advice.
4. Touchscreen Pen
You will undoubtedly include creative learning as part of your child’s home learning curriculum. It’s for that reason touchscreen pens (also known as Stylus pens) make sense and are the perfect complementary accessories for their tablets.
With a touchscreen pen, each child can draw and color with ease on their tablet screen. Touchscreen pens help to foster your children’s creativity by letting them make artistic digital creations. Plus, if your child’s learning requires that they write words, sentences, or numbers, a touchscreen pen can help them do so neatly.
5. Activity Tracker
Finally, an activity tracker such as a smartwatch is ideal for kids who are taught physical education from home. Activity trackers are wearables that monitor a child’s physical exercise and give you and them an overview of their physical activity during a sports session.
Activity trackers are also useful for encouraging and motivating children during physical play as they can quickly check their progress. Plus, such progress can get reported via a linked fitness app on their tablet. It will help them get enough exercise and movement each day, and it can encourage them to set and meet goals.
If you choose a smartwatch as your child’s activity tracker, there are additional benefits, too. Many times, you can set up the watch to receive calls from recognized numbers (such as yours or a grandparent’s). Plus, you can track your child’s location in case you accidentally get separated from them.
Devices and Tools Your Kids Need for Virtual Learning
There are many devices and tools your kids need for virtual learning. You might already use some of these devices, and you can simply add the other tools to help your child out. This is an incredibly uncertain time and it is essential that we don’t let our children’s education suffer.
What devices and tools do you use for your kid’s virtual learning? Tell me in the comments and let me know if you recommend them!
