By Jennifer Shell

Noise is expected in a number of public places: restaurants, the cafeteria, gymnasium, and auditoriums. But it also includes classrooms. 

What can educators and clinicians do to maximize the acoustic environment for all learners? Improving the signal to noise ratio of a particular auditory environment helps ensure that hard of hearing individuals have access to the most important auditory information around them.

Improving classroom acoustics means making adjustments to the sounds within the environment of a classroom in order to help everyone hear better. It means being intentional about furnishings and listening for extraneous noise so that the primary speaker can ensure the most important message is louder than the competing and often compounded background noise of a particular environment. 

This is important because good acoustics can prevent hearing loss and make it easier for students to listen to their teachers, participate in activities, and focus on their lessons without struggling to hear. 

Tiny Adjustments

As a longtime teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH), I have found that just as a library has soft carpets and walls filled with books to absorb sound, improving classroom acoustics is like creating a quiet space where everyone can easily hear and focus.

Making tiny adjustments create a more favorable learning environment for all learners. Minimizing background noise ensures attention can be more easily focused on the most important message. Improving classroom acoustics involves setting up the classroom in a way that enhances clear communication and understanding. 

In order to help students better understand speech in the classroom, I use a remote microphone or FM transmitter. When playing video material on a whiteboard, tablet, laptop or other electronic device I make sure to turn on captions or activate the text to speech setting on the devices. 

When I speak, I face the students and speak clearly and at a comfortable rate. Many people, regardless of their hearing status, rely on speechreading information in order to understand what is being said. 

It is not necessary to slow speech way down or yell to enunciate words. This will not help students, D/HH or otherwise, understand me better. Instead, I try to reframe what I am saying in a different way rather than repeating the same thing over and over again.

Specific Actions

Here are some additional tips for improving classroom acoustics for teachers to consider and parents and caregivers to advocate for.

Use Carpets and Curtains

Placing carpets on the floor and curtains on windows can absorb sound, reducing echoes and making it easier to hear.

Add Acoustic Panels

Installing acoustic panels on walls can help to reduce background noise, making it clearer to hear what is being said in the classroom.

Manage Noise From Furniture

Go on a “listening walk” around the classroom. What ambient sounds do you hear? Is there a squeaky door or drawer that needs to be oiled? Or a table or chair that wobbles and creates additional noise when the students move around?

Felt pads placed on the bottom of furniture or chair legs can reduce the noise furniture items make. Many teachers cut open old tennis balls to fit around each leg for an effective and inexpensive muffler.

Do flexible seating options create additional noise when the students move around? Is the music playing in the background enhancing or interfering with classroom learning? These are other considerations for the room.

Use a Soundfield or FM system

Utilizing hearing assistance technology in the classroom can greatly improve the signal to noise ratio of the primary speaker over the additional background noise in a classroom. Many of these devices are now wirelessly connected and provide ear level access to sound even when the speaker is at a distance. 

It’s important to note that these devices are designed to make the speech signal more salient and clear, not necessarily just louder. Just having a loud voice isn’t enough and loudness beyond a certain level only distorts what is being said, rather than improving a speaker’s clarity.

Use a Wireless Remote Mic

Using a remote microphone that can be passed around can also ensure that students are speaking one at a time and not all at once which makes it easier to hear what each student has to contribute to the classroom discussion. Many FM transmitters or phones can be used in this fashion. 

For example, I have an app on my phone that allows me to use my phone as my remote microphone. I encourage my students to use their transmitter in small group situations or instruct them to take turns in the group wearing the microphone when each of them is the one speaking. This not only encourages appropriate turn taking but assists in students speaking one at a time rather than over each other or all at once.

An Inclusive Environment for All

By implementing these simple acoustic improvements and using appropriate technology, educators can create a more inclusive and effective learning environment for all students, especially those who are deaf or hard of hearing. These small changes can have a big impact, ensuring that every student has equal access to classroom information and the opportunity to succeed.

Jennifer Shell, M.DEHS., CED., LSLS Cert. AVEd., lives in Texas. She has a genetic hearing loss and has been a Deaf educator for two decades, including now at the Hill Country Special Education Co-op serving several rural districts.

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