Using Personal FM Systems and microphones in the elementary classroom for students who are hard of hearing
Research done by Crandell and Smaldino (2000) about classroom acoustics for children with hearing impairments found that "the most common complaint of listeners with (hearing loss) is difficulty understanding speech, particularly in noisy learning environments.... the addition of a hearing aid did not improve perceptual ability, and, in fact, made understanding even more difficult in many listening conditions".
Many elementary aged-students who are hard of hearing come to school every day with either a hearing aid or cochlear implant. These devices are very helpful to boost overall hearing perception, but can cause difficulties in elementary school classrooms, which tend to be louder and have more people speaking at one time than a normal every day conversation. These students need to utilize additional hearing devices inside the classroom in order to hear what only the teacher is saying, instead of boosting the overall noise level, which would also include distracting background noises.
Research done by Crandell and Smaldino (2000) about classroom acoustics for children with hearing impairments found that "the most common complaint of listeners with (hearing loss) is difficulty understanding speech, particularly in noisy learning environments.... the addition of a hearing aid did not improve perceptual ability, and, in fact, made understanding even more difficult in many listening conditions".
In 2005, the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, gave a grant to 4 researchers in order to test the benefits of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) enhacing devices in classrooms. The researchers, Anderson, Goldstein, Colodzin, and Inglehart found that “hearing aids and cochlear implants have limited ability to improve speech perception if the desired speech signal that enters the microphones of these devices has degraded across listening distance, been masked by background noise, and been perceptively smeared due to excessive room reverberation".
The research done for the U.S. Department of education found that "difficulty perceiving speech under typically noisy classroom conditions has spurred the use of signal-to-noise (SNR) enhancing technology for children utilizing hearing aids or cochlear implants” (Anderson et al., 2005). One of the signal-to-noise enhacing technology is the personal frequency modulation, also known as personal FM systems. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association explains on their website that “personal frequency modulation (FM) systems are like miniature radio stations operating on special frequencies. The personal FM system consists of a transmitter microphone used by the speaker (such as the teacher in the classroom, or the speaker at a lecture) and a receiver used by the listener. The receiver transmits the sound to your ears or, if you wear a hearing aid, directly to the hearing aid” (2012).
Researchers using the grant from the US Department of Education conducted 3 experiments with 28 participants, ranging in age from 8 to 14-years old, who use hearing aids or cochlear implants. The researchers had the participants use 3 different types of assistive listening devices, including the personal FM system. In addition to the hearing aid or cochlear implant, the results found that “64% of participants believed that the personal FM device provided easiest listening”, and 26 of the 28 participants preferred the personal FM system for use in a classroom (Anderson et al., 2005).
Barbara Chotiner-Solano (2012), an Exceptional Needs Specialist for deaf and hard of hearing, says that of all assistive listening devices, personal FM systems do the best job of eliminating “background noise, and provides the clearest and most consistent pattern of the teacher’s voice”. Crandell and Smaldino (1995) studied accoustics in classrooms, and found that personal FM systems contributed to “increased listening test scores... increased language growth... reduced special education referral rate”. Another benefit for personal FM systems is that it allows the students who are hard of hearing to sit anywhere in the classroom. These FM systems can also be connected to TVs and computers, allowing for students to hear any media being shown to the classroom, without having to used closed captioning. The transmitter portion of personal FM systems are easily transferrable from the teacher to other people, which is useful during assemblies, or when students are presenting to the class.
These reasons strongly support why personal FM systems and microphones should be implemented in Elementary School classrooms that include students who are hard of hearing. Although hearing aids and cochlear implants are extremely useful, students need an added assistive learning device in the classroom in order to be as successful as possible. Personal FM systems would be the most beneficial device for these situations.
Citations:
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2012). FM Systems. Retrieved from http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/FM-Systems
Anderson, K., Goldstein, H., Colodzin, L., & Inglehart, F. (2005). Benefit of S/N Enhancing Devices to Speech Perception of Children Listening in a Typical Classroom with Hearing Aids or a Cochlear Implant. Journal of Educational Audiology, 12. Retrieved from
Chotiner-Solano, B. (2012). Itinerant Connection. Retrieved from http://www.theitinerantconnection.com/teachers.htm
Crandell, C., Smaldino, J., & Flexer, C. (1995). Sound Field FM Amplification. Retrieved from http://www.hear-more.com/classamplification.htm
Crandell, C., Smaldino, J. (2000). Classroom Acoustics for Children with Normal Hearing and with Hearing Impairment. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 31, 362-370. Retrieved from http://gofrontrow.com/files/documents/background_research_classroom_acoustics_for_children_with_normal_hearing_and_with_hearing_impairment.pdf
