By: Joshua Choe, Staff Writer
Online learning keeps many students on a digital screen for hours on end and often, there is no reprieve for the physical body because of copious amounts of work. A few solutions can be utilized to remedy this, and these items will be useful in the long run as distance learning continues.
There are numerous technological items and software pieces available to enhance your online experience. A wifi-extender can help with a spotty connection in spots of your home where the connection doesn’t reach well. Tp-link’s wifi extender can provide full connectivity at an affordable price of only 30$ and can be found on Amazon. Along with wifi-extenders, extra monitors can contribute to a more efficient workplace. These monitors provide larger screens for easier viewing and help with organizing information to see multiple sources at once. With an extra monitor, a student is able to view their Zoom call, as well as their digital assignment on two different screens. If you use a compatible browser, AdBlock can be downloaded for your computer to get rid of annoying ads that may slow down your computer. Personally, AdBlock does wonders for me, as it helps websites load faster and prevents advertisements from interfering with any work or reading I’m doing.
As well as technological items, there are more physical items that help preserve your body’s overall wellness. Standing desks can help reduce fatigue on the back and shoulders from sitting down all the time, as well as help with fidgeting. Feeling antsy? Just shift your feet around and stretch to shake off those feelings. Blue light glasses help keep your eyes safe during long work sessions of looking at a screen. Any digital screen emits large amounts of blue light in an effort to keep on-screen colors appearing crisp. However, this is unhealthy for your eyes, causing them to be dry and fatigue. The light also tricks your brain into thinking it’s daytime, interrupting your natural sleep schedule as well. The glasses are specialized in filtering such blue light out of the waves emitted, thus reducing eye fatigue from long work sessions. Lap desks can also be utilized for completing work from the comfort of your bed. If you’re someone that can’t bother to trudge out of a warm bed in the morning to hunch over a desk for class, a lap desk may be perfect for you. Depending on the design, the desk will sit over your legs or balance on them, so you can work from the comfort of bed.
With these items, an online work experience can be enhanced, keeping you safe and helping to reduce mental fatigue. All items above can be found online on Amazon, Ebay, or at most retail companies all of which offer a wide selection of items to choose from.
