John sends this:
Ben,
This year, our school began using a voice amplification system in all classrooms. All teachers must wear a wireless microphone, and our voices come out through two speakers which are placed on each side of the room near the ceiling. The goal is not to make us louder, but to make sure all students in the room are hearing the teacher’s voice at the same level. This, in effect, eliminates the discrepancy between what front row and back row students hear and comprehend. When we were introduced to the technology, a representative cited studies saying that students at the rear of a class understand (that is comprehend) something like 30-40% less information than students in the front-and-center, even when they can hear the teacher.
They also cited the negative effects of teachers raising their voices, many of which I can relate to. They are: voice fatigue/loss on the part of the teacher, and an increase in the students’ perception that the teacher is angry–thus raising the affective filter. Also, it has been shown that an increase in teacher voice volume does not increase comprehension because people can only raise the volume of their vowels, not consonants.
These studies also reverse the connection between seating and achievement, saying that sitting far from the teacher can CAUSE lower achievement, rather than lower students necessarily choosing to sit in the back. I’m sure the two are very related, but it was interesting to hear the chicken-egg reversal.
For language teachers, and for CI teachers in particular, this is essential technology, because it will help us be understood by all students in our classroom. If teachers have any students with hearing loss or auditory processing difficulties, this will help immensely as well–and if it is an accommodation for these kinds of students (IEP, speccial ed, etc), schools probably have the money to spend on it. After 6 months I don’t have any hard data on student comprehension levels compared to last year–too many variables, but I have found that I don’t have to raise my voice, ever, and as a result my voice has been less strained than in previous years. This is the first year I have not lost my voice. If I need to shut down a chatty class, I just hold the mic closer to my face, and they all hear me. I teach very small classes (15-18 students) and I consider this essential equipment now. If I taught a larger class, I can imagine that this would help me immensely, since I did a lot more yelling when my classes were 25-28.
I’m not recommending one brand over another, but I wanted to share the link to the research that the company we use has cited, just for more information about the effects of amplification in general.
http://gofrontrow.com/en/classroom/case-studies
Has anyone else had experience with amplification in the classroom?