A recent topic on Schoolhouse Beat — The Blog got readers' attention:
The Prince George's County (Md.) district is spending up to $1 million a year to install voice-amplification systems in every classroom. The blog posed the question: Do you think putting microphones on teachers is an effective way of addressing classroom acoustics?
Some of the responses:
”NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! PLEASE spend the million a year on quieting the classroom and creating a suitable natural speaking environment.”
”Solve the acoustical problems first before resorting to sound systems.”
”Voice-amplification systems do not solve the underlying problem. In fact, they create more noise that can compound the problem and are likely to disturb adjacent classrooms.”
”Electronic band-aids do not assist with two-way communications or student-to-student interactions. The room background noise needs to be controlled and acoustical treatments used to decrease reverberation and increase speech intelligibility. No batteries needed!“
