Ergonomic Tips and Products for Students on the Go

The Cricket Laptop Stand, pictured above, can help alleviate eyestrain and neck pain while using a laptop or a mobile device like an iPad.

For many people, the classroom is the last place they would think of as being “ergo friendly.” It’s not easy for students to set up an ergonomic work space in the classroom. Luckily, even though most students are confined to those uncomfortable standardized classroom desks, there are ways to improve comfort and health while working in the classroom.

Before a student can set up a comfortable ergonomic work area in the typical classroom, it’s important to think about what the workstation needs are. The average college or high school student’s classroom workstation often only features a fixed-height student desk, paper notes, and maybe a simple laptop computer -- not an ideal situation. In order to create a more ergonomic workspace in the classroom, it’s important to address a few major ergonomic issues.

Laptops are rarely positioned at an ideal viewing height, which means students have to crane their necks or tilt their heads down to look at the screen. A computer screen should be at eye level or above if possible to eliminate eyestrain and neck pain. Laptops also usually have cramped, flat keyboards that can cause wrist pronation and discomfort. To alleviate these issues, students should consider using laptop risers and separate ergonomic keyboards to improve health and comfort. A document holder for referencing printed or written material at a comfortable viewing angle can also be helpful.

While there are plenty of items that can address these needs, the modern student is frequently on the move, so it’s important for these ergonomic accessories to be compact and portable. The Innovative Cricket Laptop Stand is a great solution for adjusting the viewing height of a student’s laptop or tablet, as the heavy duty design is sturdy and flexible enough to support larger laptops, but is easy to fold up and stash in a backpack at a moment’s notice.

The Goldtouch Go! Travel Notebook Stand is similarly compact and constructed from strong, lightweight aluminum. When not in use, the Goldtouch Go! Travel Notebook Stand folds flat and can be stowed away in the included neoprene storage case, which can double as a portable mousepad. These items will help students lift their laptop monitors to a comfortable eye level.

Once the laptop screen is adjusted to provide a more correct viewing angle, using a separate keyboard is the best way to type in a comfortable ergonomic position. Goldtouch again offers a great portable keyboard solution, the Goldtouch Go! Travel Keyboard. The Goldtouch Go! is extremely adjustable and can be splayed and tilted to provide a more ergonomically correct typing position, and the included key cover allows for it to be placed directly on top of a laptop keyboard if necessary. For those with newer laptops that have built-in Bluetooth compatibility, Goldtouch also offers the Goldtouch Go! Wireless Bluetooth-compatible keyboard.

With a laptop riser and portable ergonomic keyboard, most students will already find themselves far more comfortable while working. However, adding an ergonomic mouse and a document holder will bring them closer to a truly ergonomic work area. For example, the Mousetrapper Flexible Mouse provides a soft, compact and wireless alternative to a standard laptop trackpad. The Mousetrapper helps to prevent repetitive stress injuries associated with the use of standard mice and trackpads.

Notes and textbooks can also be easily positioned for comfortable viewing with the use of a document holder, such as the Humanscale CH900 and CH900B In-Line Document Holder, which is lightweight and easily portable.

College and high school can be tough, but with these ergonomic accessories, it can at least be a bit more comfortable. For more information or recommendations on how to make your student (or yourself!) more comfortable, please give us a call at 800-531-3746, or click here to contact one of our ergonomic experts via live chat. We’re happy to help make your workstation more comfortable.