Photo credit: Flickr user @indigo_iggy
Audio Enhancement has been around for 38 years, providing audio system solutions to classrooms worldwide.
Every classroom in my school district (Palm Beach Co.) has the Audio Enhancement sound-field system in place, Does your classroom have a sound system installed? Are you using it? If not, why not? Many teachers say they don’t need it because they have a good “teacher voice” or just “don’t like to use microphones.”
Well, here’s something to consider. What if you went to a concert, paid lots of money for your ticket, and the musician decided not to use a microphone? You would want your money back, right? What if the musician instead decided to stroll through the audience and sing and play louder, but still refused to use the microphone? Would that satisfy you? Probably not (and it shouldn’t). For one, you would likely only hear the musician when she was near you, and if you could hear her, the music would be distorted because she was playing and singing louder than natural.
Louder is not better. Clarity is better.
Now think of your students. Learning begins with hearing. When you wear your microphone, you allow the Audio Enhancement system to distribute your natural voice throughout the room, so that every student can hear you better and more clearly. Teachers using the microphone system can speak in nurturing tones, can be heard over disturbances (such as sneezing, coughing, shuffling papers, hall traffic, A/C, fans, etc.), and have less vocal strain and fatigue.
Still think your “teacher voice” is sufficient?
One of the most common reasons for a communication breakdown is poor speaking etiquette of the individuals involved in the communication process. Clear speech is a speaking style that focuses on clearer pronunciation of sounds, speaking at normal rate (not too fast or too slow), and using pauses to allow the listener time to process what is being said. It is common for people to speak too loudly when they think someone can’t hear them. Louder is not better. Consonants convey most of the information in a word. They are more important to speech intelligibility than vowels. It is usually possible, for example, to figure out a word if you remove the vowels, but if you remove the consonants, you’re lost. When you speak louder, you can articulate the vowels louder, but not the consonants. That’s why you may hear someone say, “I can hear the words, I just can’t understand them.” Since consonants are spoken more softly than vowels, they tend to get drowned out in noisy environments.
For your students’ sake, use your microphone and speak in a natural tone. Ensure that every student hears you clearly, and at the same time improve classroom management, on-task learning, and enhance student engagement. Now save your “teacher voice” for the next football game.
Audio Enhancement, Inc. was founded in 1978 by Claudia Anderson with the simple idea that “learning begins with hearing.” As the mother of two hearing impaired children, Claudia wanted to provide them with the best education possible. She began to design audio systems to aid hearing impaired children in the classroom. It quickly became clear that the use of sound reinforcement would help all the students in the classroom. Classroom Audio Systems allow the teacher’s voice to be heard clearly, no matter where the students sit in the classroom. Audio Enhancement’s mission is to equip every classroom with the technology needed to empower learning at the highest level.
