With smart boards and great WiFi, make your home’s study corner the ideal learning zone

The new academic year starts in a couple of weeks, so it's worth considering creating a dedicated area for school work at home. A quiet place for children to concentrate can help optimise their environment and improve their focus. But a study nook can be a lot more than just a desk and chair. At its best, it can be the perfect learning environment, with an organised space for all their school supplies, and a hub for the digital devices they use to work on projects or stream recorded lessons.

Check out our curated list of items you could consider for your home’s study nook. You can even enjoy up to 40 per cent off on select items from Amazon's Home Fest sale. Buy these items with Amazon Prime and get them delivered to you as early as tomorrow!

A clock is a good idea for any study space. But what if the clock didn’t just set alarms, but also answered questions and helped your child along with any homework? The Echo Dot is a smart speaker, and its Alexa voice service can respond in both English and Arabic. You can even use the speaker as an intercom from another part of the house, letting your child know it’s time to take a break and have lunch.

Now, it’s easier to take notes than ever. When your child solves a maths problem on the whiteboard or when you get them to practice writing out their multiplication tables, don’t wipe the board just yet. Use the Rocketbook Beacon app to scan the whiteboard through the phone and save the image directly onto Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive or other storage apps. This way, your child has multiple ways to refer to his/her notes and revise. The whiteboard itself has smooth, adhesive backing that you can stick onto a wall with no drill or hammer required.

Designed for children, this comfortable headset has a built-in microphone that your child can use to talk to team members when working on group projects. Lightweight and portable, the headphones can be used for fun, too – just hook them up to a tablet via the cable or Bluetooth and let your child play games or watch his/her favourite shows. Equipped with an anti-tangling cable, and a volume setting that never exceeds 85 decibels, they're safe and ideal for kids. Plus, the active noise-cancelling feature eliminates all distractions and helps students focus better. See more options for children's headphones here.

Warranty: Amazon offers a 1-year extended warranty for Dh18 and a 2-year extended warranty for Dh29.

Help your child stay organised, with this set of three stackable storage compartments that can be placed horizontally or vertically on the desk. Each piece contains four slots, serving as a handy way to prevent items from sliding out. Easily arrange pens, pencils and other school supplies. For students who sketch diagrams often, this rotating art caddy is also a great addition to the desk, and it's composed of nine removable bins to fit scissors, markers, staplers and more.

A single router may not be enough for your whole home – it can have limited WiFi coverage and cause dead zones around the house. This can be difficult to deal with when your child is in the middle of a research report or has to upload his/her project online. With TP-Link WiFi 6 extender, enjoy a strong signal that doesn’t arbitrarily disconnect, even while it supports up to 30 devices at once. The network runs at optimal speed by choosing the fastest connection path to the router, boasting speeds of up to 1.8 Gbps. It’s easy to set up and manage! Find more WiFi repeaters here.

If your home’s study nook has a desk but you find yourself in need of more storage space, it’s worth looking into adding a drawer, rather than splurging on a whole new desk. This under-desk drawer is wear-resistant and durable and can hold a variety of items, from tablets to staplers, and from headphones to pens and pencils. The drawer has a self-adhesive, environmentally friendly rubber surface, so it’s very easy to set up. Another minimalist option is this set of two drawers that fit slim supplies, like calculators, rulers and pens. They glue on easily under the desk and even work well as desktop storage.

Bonus: Save an extra 10% by applying a coupon to this purchase.

If your child revises from online lectures, and uses a tablet for the purpose, a sturdy aluminium stand will allow him/her to be hands free for the duration. The UGREEN tablet holder fits any 4.7- to 12.9-inch display device – from the iPad Air to the Galaxy Tab – and also works with smartphones. Its holder tilts 180 degrees and the arm folds up to 270 degrees, allowing for multi-angle viewing. It’s simple, ergonomic and doesn’t take up much space on the desk – perfect for any study nook. If you're looking to upgrade from an old school tablet, find our best picks here.

Your child's study monitor or laptop will be the focal point of their nook. If they use a separate keyboard and a mouse, this acrylic monitor stand tucks everything away. Slide the peripherals under the two-tier stand, while the display screen stays at a comfortable eye level. Go-to notepads and headphones can be stored on the shelf space, where they'll always be within reach. Pair this with a desk lamp from our list below, and you're nearly halfway through with your setup. On the lookout for a reliable student laptop? See our list.

Today’s teens need a place to charge their many gadgets to ensure they’re always connected. This power extension cord has smart charging technology that auto-detects connected devices and reaches fast-charging efficiency without the need for converters. The strip powers eight devices in one go, and has three USB-A ports, four AC outlets and even a type C port. Its five-metre cable means it can extend right from the power outlet to under the desk, even if it’s far away. Check out other power adapters here.

Whether it’s for homework or for a reading assignment, a desk lamp is essential to every study area. This minimalistic desk lamp is foldable and dimmable, and has seven brightness levels. Its built-in light sensor adjusts the lamp’s brightness according to the light in the room. It also has an intelligent touch control system, with a USB port charger that allows you to charge your phone by connecting it right to the lamp!

Warranty: The manufacturer offers one-year warranty.

Our recommendations are independently chosen by Gulf News editors. If you decide to shop through links on our website, we may earn an affiliate commission, as we are part of Amazon Services LLC Associates Program.

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