Whether you’re learning from home, returning to the classroom or a mixture of both, here are some helpful tech that make the most of the new school year.
Ask any parent about the chaos of home learning and you will hear how having a routine is essential. It starts with a good night sleep where Hatch Rest and Hatch Restore help you start your day rested and refreshed by creating a sleep routine.
Hatch Rest
Rest is Hatch’s original all-in-one sleep product with over 2,300 5-star reviews on Amazon.
Created to help the young ones develop a healthy sleep schedule.
Rest combines a smart night light with a variety of color options, soothing sound machine with a library of sleep sounds and a helpful time-to-rise schedule. Hatch Rest is available for $59.99 on hatch.co
Hatch Restore
Back-to-school affects the whole family’s sleep schedules. Parents can rest easier with Hatch’s first sleep product for adults called Restore. It allows people to customize their own personal sleep routine from sunset to sunrise combining soothing sleep sounds, a bedside reading light and a sunrise alarm in one sleep design. Hatch Restore available for $129.99 on the Hatch website hatch.co
SureCall Flare 3.0
One of the biggest challenges in America for families forced to have their kids at home learning is a robust internet connection. Problem solved. SureCall named it the Flare. It boosts your cell phone signal inside your home up to 8 times.
With more people in your home making calls, surfing the web and using data simultaneously especially with students learning from home, the Flare doubles uplink transmission power to connect users with reliable call, text and 4G LTE data coverage in the weakest signal environments.
Covering up to 3,000 sq feet, it’s compact and easy to install. Flare 3.0 provides 8 times more connecting power for homes and offices in the most challenging signal locations. Works with all wireless carriers. Available at retailer like BestBuy and Amazon. $379.99.
New My Passport SSD from WD portable drive
Just launched this fall, the new WD brand My Passport SSD delivers blazing fast speeds in a sleek, compact metal design so students can save, access and protect the content that matters, from coursework to photos and videos.
The palm-sized drive is drop resistant up to 6.5 feet which is great when you’re on the go between classes. Password enabled hardware encryption helps protect valuable content simple.
Any of the 4 colors, blue, red, gold and grey come with a 5 year limited warranty.
And the grey color is available now at wd.com and major retailers. My Passport SSD from WD is available in two capacities 500GB $119.99 and 1TB $189.99.
Back To School Laptop Shortage
A shortage of 5 million Chromebook laptops is expected as kids return to classes amid the pandemic. U.S. schools are having trouble sourcing laptops and Chromebooks due to increased demand combined with sanctions levied by the US against China.
Big laptop maker Lenevo told one school it had to turn down a 5,000 Chromebook order because one of the components was restricted by US. US Customs and Border Protection told the AP that the agency did not have any record of detained laptops. Lenevo is reporting a 3 Million shortfall from demand. One school district says it is still waiting for 6,000 Dell Chromebooks ordered in May and June but now revised to arrive in November!
So if you are expecting to get a Chromebook provided by your school and there are none, you may be forced to shop on your own. Good news is that some of the individually sold Chromebooks are still available online and at stores like BestBuy and Amazon.
Students prefer the sub-$500 Chromebooks which are coming and going in inventory availability as if they are paper towels and toilet paper at the beginning of the pandemic. The average price is around $300 for a Chromebook ready for school. Make sure to check with your school for exact requirements before buying any.