AV Technology - May 2008 - (Page 37)

move around the room and even face away from the class while still the installations. We are doing this at the rate of one to two schools per being heard. week.” Gentner says some hearing-impaired students may refuse to use a Jim Henderson, director of instructional technology for the Granite personal assistive listening system out of embarrassment or the notion district, says the current phase of the project — outfitting about 1,500 of inconvenience, but gladly use a soundfield because it won’t “mark” classrooms with soundfield systems and projection equipment — will them as different from the other students. And everyone benefits, not cost about $4.7 million. “We are installing this equipment at the rate just the hearing-impaired child,” he says. Gentner notes that many of about two schools per week,” he says. Installation work by Phoenix, soundfield systems also have the ability to work with assistive listening AZ-based AV systems provider Troxell Communications is mostly done devices, so it isn’t necessary to have two separate systems in the room in the evenings to avoid classroom interruption. “The studies we to accommodate everyone. researched indicated that audio amplification is most effective in the There is a secondary — but equally important — benefit of soundyounger grades, and the teachers were requesting it,” says Henderson. field systems: teachers’ voices are spared from the strains of harsh daily “Once we complete the elementary schools, we will move on to the use. “Teachers are among the most likely people to have a vocal probjunior highs and high schools.” lem sometime during their career — about 32 times more likely — due The Granite school district installations each include soundfield to the constant strain on their vocal cords,” Front Row’s Merline says. There is another subtle problem, he says: “The louder voices used in a non-reinforced classroom can actually be perceived as hostile by young students.” When using reinforced audio, he says, a teacher no ® longer has to stress every word and can speak The Califone PowerPro™ PA 916-SD is a self-contained portable PA system with outstanding sonic performance and easy portability. It is well-suited to normally. In fact, they can now use their voices a wide range of commercial applications including outdoor events, houses of worship, conference facilities, museto enhance their teaching, with tones ranging ums, theme parts, government facilities, rental inventories, auditoriums, athletic facilities, shopping malls and trade show/exhibit booths, to name a few. It is also available in a wireless powered support speaker. from a whisper to forceful, and the teachers find that they are less tired at the end of the day. Come visit us at InfoComm Booth # C1149 Rachel Murphy, a teacher in Salt Lake City, Front panel LEDs indicate agrees: “When my class starts getting out of constatus of power, RF and Programmable CD audio reception for each player. trol, all I have to do is turn on the microphone of its two wireless microphone receivers. system and they settle down right away. The audio system seems to have a calming effect on MP3 player/recorder the class, and it lets me use a regular voice with 512 MB of onboard memory. instead of having to ‘project’ all the time.” Portable To Start PUTTING SOUNDFIELDS TO WORK The Granite School District, based in Salt Lake County, UT, comprises some 3,000 classrooms. Utah schools have the highest pupil-to-teacher ratio in the country, and district officials were concerned about students’ ability to hear the teacher as well as having access to modern technology. The district embarked on a large project in January 2008 to outfit its classrooms with soundfield systems and other AV technologies. School officials plan to put a combination of audio amplification and projection in every classroom in the district, starting with the elementary schools. Such large-scale school projects require a consensus of opinion, according to Larry Hudgins, Granite School District’s project foreman. “I have a committee of six people who do a walk-through when we first start a school project. We meet with the school, determine the classroom layouts, then our integrator and electrical team come in and get started on may 2008 | AV TECHNOLOGY | 37 Plays to/from SD memory card port. Mini-USB port offers easy connectivity to other media devices or computers. Two wired microphone controls with full line-in and line-out capabilities. 16-channel UHF transmission with 300’ range to an unlimited number of UHF Califone loudspeakers. DC power supplied by an onboard rechargeable battery (up to 8 hours) or universal AC power. Voice Priority feature automatically lowers music volume for announcements. Speaker mute switch mutes main speakers and connects speakers (wired & wireless). Califone, Inc. http://califonepro.com http://califonepro.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of AV Technology - May 2008

AV Technology - May 2008 Contents Precedent Corporate: How to Qualify an AV Supplier Education: Working Smarter AV Technology's Guide to Networked AV Government: IPv6 — Why You Should Care Calculating ROI on Your Digital Signage Investment Enhancing Audio in the Classroom Minimizing Equipment Theft Smart AV The Tribe Has Spoken AV Enables Interactive Research AV Image Enhancement Product Spotlight Tech Horizons Product Review New Products AV MO

AV Technology - May 2008

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