The Best Distance Education & Road-School Supplies

Schooling on the road isn’t the same as schooling at home. You’ve got limited bench space, patchy power, unreliable internet, and a kitchen table that doubles as a classroom, a workshop, and a dinner setting. The gear that works in a suburban study falls apart fast in a caravan. What you actually need is compact, durable equipment that runs off 12V, survives corrugations, and works offline when Telstra gives up.

This is our rundown of the supplies that earn their space in the van. We’ve focused on what holds up over 12 months or more of daily use, not the cheapest option that cracks on the first dirt road.

What Matters When Buying Road-School Gear

Before you spend a cent, understand what makes road-school gear different from home gear. Space, power and durability are the three constraints that shape every decision.

If your child is enrolled through a state distance education school, check their device requirements first. Most schools specify minimum hardware, and some issue a device or a stipend toward one. Don’t buy a laptop before you know what the school expects.

Devices: Tablets and Laptops

The device is the single most important purchase. For primary-aged kids, a tablet does almost everything. For high schoolers, especially those in years 11 and 12, a proper laptop with a keyboard becomes essential for longer written work and exams.

Printing and Scanning on the Road

You will need to print. Distance education involves worksheets, and you’ll need to scan completed work back to teachers. A compact wireless inkjet is the answer. Skip laser printers entirely: they draw too much power for a van setup.

For scanning, you don’t strictly need the printer’s scanner bed. A free app like Adobe Scan or Microsoft Lens turns your phone camera into a document scanner that produces clean PDFs. It’s faster than a flatbed and takes zero space. Keep the printer for when you actually need paper in hand.

Staying Connected for Lessons

Live lessons, video calls with teachers and portal uploads all need decent internet. Your phone’s hotspot works in town but struggles on the edge of coverage. A dedicated mobile setup makes the difference between a lesson that runs and a morning of frustration.

A phone signal booster paired with an external antenna pulls in reception where a bare phone shows one bar. For families relying on scheduled live lessons, this is not optional. We cover the full range of options in our connectivity guides, but the short version: budget for a Cel-Fi booster or a good external antenna, and treat internet as a school expense, not a luxury.

Stationery and Storage

Stationery seems trivial until you’re digging through three drawers looking for a glue stick while a lesson ticks over. The trick is containing everything in one grab-and-go kit that lives in a set spot.

• A2 or A3 art folder: Flat storage for completed work waiting to be scanned and posted. Slides behind a seat.
• Zippered pencil cases, one per child: Each kid owns their own so there’s no fighting over the shared scissors.
• Stackable document trays: One tray per child for current work, one for completed. Keeps the table clear.
• Laminated whiteboard sheets: Reusable for maths drills and spelling, no paper wasted.
• Waterproof storage tub: A single 30L tub with a clip lid holds the lot and stays sealed against dust.

Setting Up a Workable Classroom Space

Kids concentrate better with a defined space, even a small one. The dinette works for most families, but the packing and unpacking each morning wears thin. A few pieces of kit make the daily setup faster.

Power is the constant battle. Set up a dedicated USB charging station so devices top up overnight off your battery bank without hogging the one 240V point. A multi-port 12V USB charger wired into your van’s system keeps four devices going at once. For the bigger picture on running a van’s electrical system to support all this gear, see our power setup guides.