It is very often assumed that capturing teacher and student voices, and having speakers distribute this instructional audio, is a symptom of hearing loss. This concept – known of soundfield or classroom sound enhancement – is relevant to learners who need an auditory boost, however a summary of research adds weight to how it helps with a wider group of challenges.
Dr Pamela Millett is based in Canada at York University. An educational and clinical audiologist, Dr Millett conducted a study into research about soundfield.
Some compelling conclusions include:
- Children without hearing loss in rooms with soundfield had a better ability to discriminate words and spoken language.
- In rooms with technology like our Flexmike, Sharemike and Redcat, teachers concluded that learners’ peer interaction increased as did their verbal involvement in discussions. Further, it fostered proactivity and confidence of learners in discussions in learning spaces
- Teachers repeated themselves less, learners were more responsive to teachers’ statements and the incidence of students talking amongst themselves reduced
- Several studies show that referral rates of learners to special education facilities reduced following the use of soundfield
- For learners for whom English is their second language, speech perception scores increased by 30% when soundfield is used
- Teachers were able to speak more softly and use less effort with soundfield which translated to 27% of teachers reporting vocal fatigue after soundfield was installed where it was 70% before that.
Hear and Learn technology has the education industry’s smallest and lightest teacher and student microphones, and our solutions involved no onfloor footprint, slimline design and therefore minimal ligature risk.