| There’s a reason why school desks used to be | | | | just read. This also means you are less mentally |
| slanted back in the old days. Unfortunately, most of | | | | fatigued by the end of a reading/study/writing session. |
| today’s classrooms seem to have forgotten what | | | | Buy a whiteboard. Reading and writing slant boards |
| that reason is. Educators recognized a long time ago | | | | being sold today are created with the intent of |
| the benefits of using a slanted surface to read and | | | | providing students and people in general with an |
| write. Slanted surfaces make both activities easier for | | | | optimal environment in which to work and study. |
| students, facilitating learning and preventing posture and | | | | Pioneering studies, the results of which have been |
| vision problems. It is all based on ergonomics, the | | | | published in scientific journals like the American Journal |
| science of designing work and learning equipment and | | | | of Optometry Archive, have shown that there is a |
| environments so that they fit human beings in a way | | | | strong relationship between a person’s learning |
| that is optimal both to the health of the worker/student | | | | working efficiency and his/her posture, work distance |
| as well as his or her productivity/learning ability. | | | | and work surface. |
| | | | Learning performance improves especially when the |
| In terms of reading and writing, the ergonomics of | | | | right conditions are established during near-point visual |
| slanted surfaces is based on the simple fact that, | | | | activities, i.e. reading and writing. To this end, the optimal |
| when we are reading, we have a natural tendency to | | | | angle for reading and writing surfaces has been found |
| tilt the material towards us. It is more comfortable to | | | | to be between 20 and 23 degrees, with the person |
| have material slanted towards you. Using a slanted | | | | sitting at a fist-to-elbow distance from the working |
| writing and reading surface automatically lets the | | | | surface. |
| letters on the page come into focus better without | | | | Adjustable slant boards let you find your optimal angle. |
| needing to strain you eyes. It also lets you track lines | | | | Many slant boards also come with additional built-in |
| with greater ease and keeps letters and numbers in a | | | | features like a whiteboard, so that you won’t need |
| consistent perspective as you make your way down | | | | to buy a whiteboards separately. A proper reading and |
| the page. | | | | writing set-up will help reduce your heart rate, help you |
| The result of all these factors is that your brain | | | | maintain a better breathing pattern and reduce neck |
| doesn’t have to work as hard at interpreting the | | | | and body tension by compelling you to sit using proper |
| written symbols, thus leaving it with more resources to | | | | posture. |
| actually comprehend, learn and analyze what it has | | | | |