Spend some time in an engaged classroom and you will most likely hear the buzz of teacher and students’ voices, multiplication tables being explored, pencils and crayons slide-tapping across paper, and a variety of devices whirring in the background (printer, tablets, 3D printers, science equipment, etc.). The classroom can be an incredible and dynamic space of active learning, but for some it can also be a cacophony of sound that makes learning difficult and communicating a challenge. 

Boxlight has earned a total of five awards in this year’s THE Journal and Campus Technology awards - four New Product Awards and one Campus Technologyaward! 

Good communication is essential between teacher and student. When teachers communicate effectively with their students, the impact on learning is clear – students have a better understanding of what’s being taught. Of course, the flip side is that when class communication breaks down there is misunderstanding and frustration by both teacher and students which can impede learning. If you’re a teacher and you’ve felt this frustration because your students couldn’t hear you or misunderstood what you said, here are four steps to try to improve communication. 

Technology continues to change the face of education, including how teachers and students interact in the classroom. Even after a swift move to greater technology implementation in the past two years, managing the use of laptops, tablets, a front-of-class display, and students remote learning can be exhausting for teachers. Add to that the expectation for personalized learning that meets each student’s needs and frustration can grow for both the teachers responsible for planning and facilitating instruction, and the students who may not feel motivated or focused to engage. What support can be offered to help alleviate the challenges being felt? 

Hello, I am a Lyrik that lives in the classroom. Sometimes I get to go to other places, but my teacher mostly uses me in the room to help students hear what she needs to say. Things have changed a lot in the last year or so. I used to see all the students in the classroom, and I always helped my teacher with clear and loud audio so that she could teach through just about anything. But now I only see half of the students on one day, and the other half the next. Hopefully soon I can see all the students together again! 

The ability to understand the lessons being taught in a classroom is crucial for student learning. If the teacher must strain to have themselves heard, or students cannot access the lesson because of hearing challenges, this can impede active learning. Jaime Mendez, Regional VP and Application Engineer for FrontRow by Boxlight, recently discussed the value of high-quality audio systems to support teachers and students with Larry Jacobs from Equity and Access PreK-12 (ace-ed.org).  

We may not even realize the breadth of invisible barriers our kids face each day during class. These include the inability to access the instruction because of how a teacher presents a lesson or where they are projecting their voice in the classroom, learning and/or language ability and level of the student, poor acoustics of the physical space, and downgraded audio quality when streaming lessons online. Technological advancements in classroom audio distribution systems (CADs) have helped meet a variety of such needs for teachers and students, with greater demand for easy-to-use sound technology given the rise of remote and hybrid learning, concerns regarding missed learning, and the need to ensure equity and access as education rapidly evolves. 

How was your classroom arranged this last school year? How did the arrangement affect your instructional practice? How did it affect student learning? Do you think having an audio system might have made a positive difference for everyone in the classroom? 

We know that if students can’t clearly see a lesson, they can’t be expected to retain the information. But did you know the same is true of hearing? Clear audio is essential to learning, but hearing loss, temporary impairment from an illness, and common classroom sounds can all get in the way of student learning.

View our new infographic to learn more about the role of hearing in the learning process:

In the first part of this series, I covered the various challenges that teachers face when dealing with sound in the classroom. When taking hearing loss, distance, and sound absorption into consideration, it can be hard for educators to find their teacher voice. So, what allows educators to be heard and can help improve teaching and learning in the classroom?