The 2023 back-to-school season begins, do you prepare well for the new semester? At the beginning of the new semester, you may have just become a primary school student, a middle school student, or a college student, and you may face new life and new challenges. In this case, students with vision loss might need new tools to support their study and overcome the barriers. To improve the experiences of the learning journey for visually impaired students, 3 excellent digital magnifiers are recommended in the article, in order to encourage low vision students to access more educational resources.
What Do Low Vision Students Need at Schools?
As a student, reading and writing shall always be the priority during their study period. To recommend digital magnifiers to students with low vision, it’s essential to understand what they truly need at different school levels.
In primary school
Primary school curricula are generally simpler and more accessible. The required reading materials are often rich in illustrations and graphics. Therefore, besides reading textbooks, they also need to read picture or story books, and other materials with short words and colorful patterns. Additionally, they need to participate more in classroom activities, observe teacher demonstrations, and interact with their classmates.
As primary students are still at a young age, small and handheld electronic magnifiers will be suitable for them. This kind of visual aid can not only help visually impaired students at primary school see details in books more clearly but also enhance reading comprehension and learning. Meanwhile, handheld electronic magnifiers can assist students in better participating in the lessons and communicating with peers.
Furthermore, primary school students often require more physical education and outdoor activities, which are vital for their physical coordination, growth, and overall well-being. There are also many studies proving that outdoor activities are very meaningful for the development of children’s vision. During the activity, the focus of their vision will constantly switch and focus on different places, thereby exercising their visual ability. And, for students with low vision due to disease, outdoor activities can also promote their medical treatments to some extent.
In high school
For high school students, their learning tasks are heavier than before. At this stage, they gradually begin to learn more knowledge, and the text content in the textbooks is gradually increasing. This can present new challenges for low vision students at high school, who require clearer vision to cope with more complex learning demands. In this regard, visual aids play a key role. Vision aids, such as electronic magnifiers, screen readers or so, can help visually impaired students read textbooks, notes, and assignments more easily.
These tools enable them to understand class content better, increase their reading speed, and participate in class discussions with more confidence. In addition to academic aspects, visual aids also have a positive impact on high school students’ social participation and independence. They can help students participate more actively in classroom and activities, and improve their social confidence.
In the university
For college students with visual impairments, visual aids can be beneficial to them in a variety of ways. College students, for instance, frequently have to work with more academic texts and documents for their studies, thus visual aids like text-to-speech technologies, screen readers, and electronic magnifiers can significantly enhance their visual experience. They are able to access online resources more quickly, understand challenging academic material more clearly, and conduct research projects more successfully.
In class, visual aids can also help low vision college students quickly and accurately record lecture content and discussion points, which is crucial for learning and review. Vision aids help low vision students take notes, and also enable them to write and edit theses, reports and other academic documents more conveniently. Also, some college students may face the choice of job hunting after graduation. During this process, low vision students can use vision aids to access more career resources, write professional resumes and cover letters, and prepare for interviews. These tools provide equal opportunities for them to enter various career fields and demonstrate their skills and potential.
What kind of Visual Aids Can Help?
In order to meet the needs of different low vision students, the overall characteristics of visual aids should focus on the following key aspects. For instance, electronic visual aids that are small, lightweight, portable, and easy to hold are more suitable for primary and secondary school students according to the age and body shape of the students. In this case, they can easily put the visual aid into their school bag or pocket for easy carrying. Moreover, the easy-to-hold design is also important to ensure that students can hold the visual aid comfortably and adapt to their needs when participating in outdoor activities. It’s an important feature especially for low vision students at primary school.
Vision aids should be simple easy to use to make sure students can easily adjust settings and functions. Also, the quality aspect cannot be ignored. Electronic video magnifiers should have high-quality manufacturing and durability to extend their lifespan. The last but not the least, the screen resolution of the device must remain sharp, and even a small screen should be able to display text and images clearly enough to ensure students can easily read and watch what they need.
To speak of the functions of digital visual aids, here are some functions that should be particularly acquired to make sure they can help students with low vision as much as possible:
Adjustable Magnification and Contrast: Digital visual aids should allow users to adjust magnification levels and color contrast to accommodate varying degrees of visual impairment. For students with visual impairments, this is the most basic function for visual aids.
Auto-Focus: Visual aids equipped with auto-focus capabilities ensure that content on the screen remains sharp without the need for manual focus adjustments, which somehow increases the learning efficiency at the same time.
Screen Capture and Sharing: Students may need the ability to capture and share screen content for later review or collaboration with teachers and classmates. It’s definitely a necessary function to use digital visual aids at school.
Long Battery Life: For electronic visual aids, long battery life is crucial to ensure long-term use throughout the school day. This feature can indirectly improve the learning efficiency and increase the confidence of students in social interactions as well.
Text-to-Speech Function: The device with text-to-speech function is more helpful for students with low vision at the university. It helps them access academic content more effectively, and makes it easier for students to comprehend and listen to information.
Introduction of 3 Perfect Video Magnifiers
To support the learning efficiency of students with low vision at school, here is the introduction of 3 excellent electronic video magnifiers to meet the needs of visually impaired students at different school levels.
Zoomax Luna 6
For low vision students at primary school, Luna 6 becomes the first choice. It’s lightweight and pocket size for young students to carry everywhere. The built-in handle allows them to use during the outdoor activities. Furthermore, the high screen resolution of Luna 6 is high enough to demonstrate clearly the colorful picture in the textbooks. The compact design is also comfortable to hold even for students of younger ages who have small hands.
Zoomax Luna 8
Being students in the high school, the lessons shall change as well. Students begin to learn more knowledge and start to do more complex tasks. At this time, Luna 8 can play a crucial role in their learning process. The 8-inch screen is able to demonstrate more content, and the functions of the device become more powerful to satisfy the needs of high school students. And with the 8-hour battery life, Luna 8 can easily help students with their study at school for the whole day.
Zoomax Snow 12
Zoomax Snow 12 is a high-end electronic video magnifier with more abundant functions. It’s definitely a perfect choice for college students who have visual impairments. Snow 12 is able to save pictures up to 1000, which can provide extraordinary help for the academic process. Every single function of the device can be useful for low vision students at the university. The foldable stand also makes the writing process easy and convenient.
In fact, a student with vision loss may often need more than one visual aid. If you have the budget or can apply for some welfare, it is best to choose both a small-screen portable visual aid and a large-screen visual aid that is convenient for more efficient reading and has writing space to meet different learning and living needs. If you’re interested in the welfare for low vision students in different states of the US, please visit: Helpful Tips for Students Learning with Low Vision.
Of course, there are many great digital magnifiers on the market to offer help to low vision students. The point is always to choose the one that can fully meet your needs. Getting a digital magnifier, you probably find it can help a lot with your learning journey for the new semester. If you are still wondering which digital magnifier is suitable for you, please feel free to contact us. We’re happy to help anytime.
