While instructing, physical education teachers often turn their bodies and voices away from students, making it hard for students to hear instructions, according to an article in eSchool News. And noise from scuffling feet, bouncing balls, or chatter among students can blanket a teacher’s voice. Students rely on a teacher’s voice in physical education classes just as much as they do in a traditional classroom.
A critical link exists between hearing clearly and learning, according to research conducted in the past 40 years. Students need to hear at least 90 percent of what teachers have to say to fully digest the information. Young students, especially aged 6 to 9, often struggle to understand voices amid background noise. Amplifying a teacher’s voice by 5 to 15 decibels above surrounding noise helps focus students’ concentration by minimizing competing sounds and movements. This is particularly important in physical education, where indoor or outdoor noise from activity and movement can muffle instruction.
Technology such as mobile instructional audio systems can improve communication. Instructional audio are wireless audio systems that distribute a speaker’s voice evenly throughout a space via an amplifier and speaker. This technology has existed for more than 30 years, providing low-volume, highly intelligible speech throughout a classroom.
Some instructional audio systems are portable, all-in-one, grab and go systems that offer flexibility both indoors and outdoors. Wireless microphones used by teachers and students amplify their voices as they move around. Some models include Bluetooth technology that connects to laptops, mobile phones and other devices. Other models wirelessly connect to compatible speakers or other mobile systems to expand amplification for larger spaces.
Instructional audio overcomes many communication barriers in physical education. In one school, a physical education teacher added music to activities to encourage students to move more. But it could be difficult to hear over the music. So, she piloted a mobile instructional audio unit in her K-6 classes, connecting her phone to a portable instructional audio system via Bluetooth and streaming music over the speaker. She was able to continue playing music without interruption and seamlessly continued her lesson.
Instructional audio also allowed her to facilitate two-way communication. Her students engaged more in exercises and were heard by their peers by sharing her wireless microphone with other students. Portable devices also maintain clear communication between teachers and students if a class is divided into groups.
Instructional audio units are valuable for a variety of other school applications — making announcements at games, in lunchrooms, or in lines, for example.
And benefits go beyond communicating with students. Amplifying teachers’ voices with instructional audio systems improves vocal endurance, reduces fatigue, and enhances voice clarity, according to researchers Joseph J. Smaldino and Carol Flexer. Systems can also decrease teacher absenteeism due to voice and throat problems by 8 to 13 percent.
eSchool News
