Tech & Learning - June 2008 - (Page 46)

FEATURESTORY ® BASIC SOUNDFIELD SYSTEM BLOCK DIAGRAM Jim Henderson, director of instructional technology for the Granite district, says the current phase of the project — outfitting about 1,500 classrooms with soundfield systems and projection equipment — will cost about $4.7 million. “We are installing this equipment at the rate of about two schools per week,” he says. Installation work by Phoenix, AZbased AV systems provider Troxell Communications is mostly done in the evenings to avoid classroom interruption. “The studies we researched indicated that audio amplification is most effective in the younger grades, and the teachers were requesting it,” says Henderson. “Once we complete the elementary schools, we will move on to the junior highs and high schools.” The Granite school district installations each include soundfield microphones and transmitters, two access points for receiving the signals, a ceilingmounted projector, four ceiling-mounted loudspeakers, and an audio amplifier. The teacher’s computer is used as a source for the projector for DVDs, internet media, etc. “An interesting aspect of this project is that the teachers need to decide how the classroom is going to be oriented before we begin,” Henderson notes. “Rather than being able to move the desks around and change the front of the room constantly, they have to be oriented in the same direction from here on.” Each classroom installation includes four ceiling-mounted loudspeakers to provide uniform audio coverage and a ceiling-mounted Hitachi projector. Receivers for the Front Row soundfield system are placed in strategic locations to pick up the teacher’s microphone as he/she moves around the room. Henderson also says many of the installations require electrical retrofitting to accommodate the new technologies. “Classroom amplification makes an academic difference,” says Audio Enhancement’s Dobson. “It reduces or eliminates the effects of noise, distance, and reverberation. All students can hear the teacher and each other all the time. If we are able to communicate, we are more able to learn. We need to do all we can to make certain that every child has a maximum opportunity to hear.” Elaine Jones operates a PR agency specializing in the AV industry and is based in Salt Lake City, UT. She can be reached at elaine@ejonespr.com. DVD COMPUTER SOUNDFIELD RECEIVER MICROPHONE SPEAKERS PRESENTER PARTICIPANTS 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 normally. In fact, they can now use their voices to enhance their teaching, with tones ranging from a whisper to forceful, and the teachers find that they are less tired at the end of the day. Rachel Murphy, a teacher in Salt Lake City, agrees: “When my class starts getting out of control, all I have to do is turn on the microphone system and they settle down right away. The audio system seems to have a calming effect on the class, and it lets me use a regular voice instead of having to ‘project’ all the time.” 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 the installations. We are doing this at the rate of one to two schools per week.” For more info, head over to techlearning.com 46 | TECH & LEARNING http://techlearning.com

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Technology & Learning - June 2008 Contents Editor's Desk News & Trends They Said It: What Tech&Learning Insiders Are Writing Online Junket Justifiers Back Office Business Students of the World Unite! Get Small for Fall Summer Reading for School Leaders They Can Hear You Now What's New - NECC Highlights and More Leader of the Year Profile

Technology & Learning - June 2008

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