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As many schools switch to teaching online, students may need to spend up to 6–7 hours a day or more with their computers. With so much screen time, it will be important to set up an environment so that children can learn in the most effective way possible:<\/p>\n
– Less time and effort switching between tabs and apps<\/p>\n
– Less noise and fewer distractions<\/p>\n
– Less strain on the eyes<\/p>\n
– Less time and effort to manage and maintain equipment<\/p>\n
– Less confusion<\/p>\n
– Less time fixing things<\/p>\n
– Lower risk and more secure<\/p>\n
– Easy to use, and simple to set up<\/p>\n
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<\/h1>\nThe less time students spend switching between different applications and windows the better. Otherwise it’s easy to get distracted and lose time trying to find the right window to open.<\/p>\n
We recommend connecting a second display, so that one screen can be used for video meetings and the second screen can be used for taking notes, accessing reference materials, etc.<\/p>\n
The second display does not have to be very big. A 19” to 24” monitor should be more than enough. You can order a24″ Acer Class FHD IPS Monitor<\/a>from Costco, a21.5″ LG Full HD Monitor<\/a>or a21.5″Acer Full HD Monitor<\/a>from Amazon.<\/p>\n If you have more than one person participating in video meetings in the same area at your home, it can become noisy. If two computers are simultaneously used for video meetings, you will hear audio from at least 4 different parties — each person and whatever audio that will be heard on each of the devices. Noise can have an impact. Not only can it end up making everyone tired faster, but these audio distractions may interfere with each person’s activities by reducing their focus and ability to maintain their concentration, which in turn can reduce learning effectiveness for your kids.<\/p>\n We recommend using a pair of USB headphones with a microphone for each person. Not only will headphones block out external noise (so one can hear their own video meeting without having to hear other people’s conversations nearby), but other people around will not be distracted or disturbed by the audio coming from each computer. While it’s possible to use regular headphones with a 3.5mm connector, a built-in unidirectional microphone with acoustic noise cancellation will make it easier for other video meeting participants to hear your child.<\/p>\n Headphones should be very comfortable to wear, given that they will be used 6–7 hours or more each day. For those who prefer an around-ear style, you can consider getting theMicrosoft LX-3000<\/a>, and for those who prefer an on-ear style, try theLogitech Stereo H650e<\/a>.<\/p>\n When choosing a computer, we recommend going with a Chromebook. They boot quickly and are virtually maintenance free, easy to use, and secure (no need for antivirus and malware protection). In addition, no backup of your disks is required (files are automatically uploaded to the cloud with Google Drive).<\/p>\n You can read more about Chromebooks, e.g.,How to switch to a Chromebook…<\/a>(Forbes) andBest laptops for students<\/a>(Verge).<\/p>\n Size matters here. Given that the computer will be the primary tool for learning and will be used for a significant amount of time each day, a 14” or 15” display will be less tiring for the eyes (reading small fonts is manageable for a shorter period of time, but not for a full day). A touchscreen is preferred. As a comparison, it is not typical for an average employee who uses a computer as the primary tool for their job to be issued a laptop less than 14” in size by their company.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, most Chromebooks do not come with an HDMI port (our guess is that they were designed prior to the current pandemic assuming that students would bring their computers to school without having to use two screens), thus it’s important to select a model that comes with a USB-C DisplayPort compatible with DP Alt Mode so that you can use aUSB-C to HDMI adapter<\/a>orUSB-C to HDMI cable<\/a>to connect an external monitor. Not all Chromebooks have this type of port.<\/p>\n However13.5″ Acer Convertible Chromebook Spin 713<\/a>and14″ Dell Inspiron 2-in-1 with Full HD Touchscren<\/a>do come with HDMI ports.<\/p>\n Some ASUS Chromebooks come with a USB-C port that can be used to connect an external display, for example 14” display modelsC434<\/a>,Cu433<\/a>,C423<\/a>,C425<\/a>,C436<\/a>and the 15.6” modelC523<\/a>, or theSamsung 15.6” Chromebook 4+<\/a>andLenovo C340 2-in-1<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you have an older PC or Mac, you can install aCloudReady version<\/a>of ChromeOS from Neverware (it isfree<\/strong>for personal use).<\/p>\n Companies likecleanbrowsing.org<\/a>. andCloudflare<\/a>provide filtering services that help block access to malware, adult content and other sites unsafe for kids. If you’d like to learn more about filtering services, check a review provided byGeekflare<\/a>.<\/p>\n Family Filter<\/strong>provided bycleanbrowsing.org<\/strong><\/a>will help block access to<\/p>\n – Adult, pornographic and explicit sites<\/p>\n – Proxy and VPN domains that are used to bypass the filters<\/p>\n – Mixed content sites (like Reddit)<\/p>\n – Malicious and Phishing domains are blocked.<\/p>\n Family Filter will also limit Google, Bing and Youtube to Safe Mode. To activate theFamily Filter<\/strong>provided bycleanbrowsing.org<\/strong><\/a>, you will need to change your router’s DNS settings to the following IPv4 addresses:185.228.168.168<\/strong>and185.228.169.168<\/strong><\/p>\n To activate theCloudFlare DNS Filtering service<\/strong><\/a>, you will need to change your router’s DNS settings to the following IPv4 addresses:1.1.1.3<\/strong>and1.0.0.3<\/strong><\/p>\n If you’d like to use parental control software, you can tryWebWatcher<\/strong><\/a><\/strong>(which is available forChromebooks<\/a>, Windows, Mac, iOS and Android devices), orFlexiSpy<\/strong><\/a>(it’s not available for Chromebooks, but can be used for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices).<\/p>\n To set up an effective environment the following 6 items will make it easier for you and your children:<\/p>\n 1) Chromebook<\/strong>(13.5″- 15″) with a touchscreen and either with an HDMI port or a USB-C port compatible with DisplayPort Alt mode, such as13.5″ Acer Convertible Chromebook Spin 713<\/a>and14″ Dell Inspiron 2-in-1 with Full HD Touchscren<\/a>do come with HDMI ports, or ASUS 14” modelsC434<\/a>,Cu433<\/a>,C423<\/a>,C425<\/a>,C436<\/a>and the 15.6” modelC523<\/a>, as well as theSamsung 15.6” Chromebook 4+<\/a>andLenovo C340 2-in-1<\/a><\/p>\n 2) External Monitor<\/strong>(19″-24″), such as a24″ Acer Class FHD IPS Monitor<\/a>, a21.5″ LG Full HD Monitor<\/a>or a21.5″Acer Full HD Monitor<\/a><\/p>\n 3) Cables or Adapters<\/strong>to connect a computer with an external display, such asUSB-C to HDMI adapter<\/a><\/strong>or USB-C to HDMI cable<\/a><\/p>\n 4) USB Headphones with a Microphone<\/strong>, such as theMicrosoft LX-3000<\/a>(around-ear style) orLogitech Stereo H650e<\/a>(on-ear style)<\/p>\n 5) Content Blocking DNS Services<\/strong>, such as Family Filter provided bycleanbrowsing.org<\/a>, or DNS Filtering service provided byCloudFlare<\/a><\/p>\n 6) Parental Control Software and Service<\/strong>, such asWebWatcher<\/a>(available forChromebooks<\/a>, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android) orFlexiSpy<\/a>(available for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS)<\/p>\n If you’d like to find out more information about these and other options, please see our Medium article at school.officeflo.com<\/a>or visit our webpageofficeflo.com\/school<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tags: back to school<\/a>, hybrid learning<\/a>, Online Education<\/a>, Online Learning<\/a>, Online School<\/a>, Remote Learning<\/a>, school reopening<\/a><\/p>\n Tags:<\/b> Entrespace Media Relations, press@entrespace.com<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Headphones with a Microphone<\/h1>\n
Chromebook<\/h1>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/icrowdnewswire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/client-1.png\")
<\/h1>\nContent Blocking DNS Services<\/h1>\n
Parental Control Software<\/h1>\n
Summary<\/h1>\n
See Campaign: <\/strong>http:\/\/officeflo.com\/school<\/a>
Contact Information:<\/b>
Entrespace Media Relations, press@entrespace.com<\/p>\n
<\/a>, IPS<\/a>, iCN Internal Distribution<\/a>, Extended Distribution<\/a>, English<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nContact Information:<\/h3>\n
As many schools switch to teaching online, students may need to spend up to 6–7 hours a day or more with their computers. With so much screen time, it will be important to set up an environment so that children can learn in the most effective way possible: – Less time and effort switching between … Continue reading How to get ready for your kids to start their school online<\/span><\/a> Continue Reading