Microphone systems in the Classroom
Many classrooms and large lecture halls on campus have a microphone system available for the instructors to use. It makes sense, the lecture halls are HUGE and the teacher would have to yell the entire time in order for the students to hear him/her. But what about in small classrooms (Elementary, Secondary, and even College) where a microphone isn’t absolutely necessary? Is there a benefit to using one in those rooms of only 20-30 people?
I was observing a 5th grade classroom today and the teacher was using a microphone system. She didn’t have anything too fancy – it was just a wireless microphone clipped to her shirt and one single speaker in the front of the room. I noticed a large difference in the attention of the students when she was using it and when she was not. With it on she was loud enough that the kids in the back of the room could hear just as well as the kids in the front and they seemed to pay attention more.
This was not the first time I have seen teachers at the elementary level use microphones in the classroom. I was in a kindergarten classroom a few years back that had a much more expensive system installed in the room. In this room the teacher had the same wireless microphone, but the speakers were small speakers mounted into the ceiling all around the room. It had the same effect – the kindergartners listen better and paid more attention with it on.
I think that having some sort of sound system in your classroom can have profound impacts on the students’ learning. It doesn’t matter if it is an installed, expensive system, or just something simple that you have purchased yourself. It is worth looking into.
Here is an article I enjoyed about sound systems in the classroom: Classroom Sound-Field Systems
Uncategorized | Comments (3)3 Responses to “Microphone systems in the Classroom”
Leave a Reply
Some really good thoughts on this. I never had considered using a microphone in a regular classroom but definitely see some advantages to it now.
I think that using microphones in the classroom is a great tool for teachers and students. I want to teach deaf and hard of hearing children, and for these types of children, having teachers wear microphones in elementary school is very common. Microphones are great for these students because without them, they have to strain to listen to the instructions that the teacher is giving. However, I think that Microphones can benefit all students. They allow the students in the back and the front of the classroom equal opportunities to hear the teacher, and they also call the student’s attention to the teacher when she is speaking.
[...] Abby had an interesting post on how some elementary teachers have found using a microphone/sound system helps children listen/pay attention better: Microphone systems in the Classroom [...]