Assistive Technology in Education

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DEFINING INBUILT AMPLIFICATION SYSTEMS IN EDUCATION SETTINGS

Is the National Construction Code (NCC) up to date in defining what an inbuilt amplification system is and how fit out is determined and who decides?

All too often when class 9b assembly buildings are constructed the audio visual installations are declared out of scope, not in the construction package or other conversation designed to avoid assessment against the requirements of D3.7 of the NCC and DDA Premises Standards.

In education settings communication is mission critical for teachers and the children in terms of equal access to oral communication.

With Covid all around us the issue of telecommunications for online learning or mixed on-line and classroom learning has never been so important and front of mind for all involved.

People with hearing loss experience significant disadvantage if the communication systems are ineffective or non-existent. Often through too much background noise and interference and poor speech intelligibility.

Which brings us to the question - is a large screen display fixed to the wall or ceiling with speakers that have volume control inbuilt amplification and how should we interpret clause D3.7 of the NCC? By the sheer fact that the visual display device, call it a TV if you like, has speakers then is inherently amplified sound and given the permanent installation then it must be captured by the scope of clause D3.7.

While the NCC is relatively clear about which rooms and uses within a building that have inbuilt amplification require hearing augmentation which then setouts options for ‘an induction loop” or “a system requiring receivers or the like” it does not fully describe what the second type of system is. Traditionally, it has been interpreted to mean frequency modulated “FM” or infrared (IR) systems. However, as technology is forever evolving and as teaching delivery methods change it is clearly evident that the NCC and Access Consultants also need to change.

In a world of Bluetooth, WiFi and phone apps people can become walking receivers of information and the NCC must expand the scope of systems to embrace new technology and the importance of assistive listening systems within education settings.

While you could argue that the Performance Requirement DP9 provides the scope to instruct the need to install other types of systems, the Deemed to Satisfy requirements of clause D3.7 do not suitable clarity concerning classroom solutions that interface with visual display devices with amplified sound. Clause D3.7 obviously requires expansion to specify new technology based systems, especially in education and multi-lingual environments.

So where to from here; read on to learn about new assistive listening systems, research the options and arm yourself with the information for your next class 9b education project and consider how the NCC should be modified to provide better clarity.

WHY ARE ASSISTIVE LISTENING SYSTEMS IMPORTANT AND WHO BENEFITS?

What hearing system and technology will benefit your situation? Whilst the answer for everyone will be individual when it comes to home and social situations, the one common factor all your children have is the ability to hear and process information in the classroom. With the ever-evolving technology in hearing devices it is hard to keep on top of what devices are best and what technology will benefit your child at school.

As we see the introduction of Bluetooth™ into more and more hearing aids and the ability of direct connectivity to mobile devices and tablets, we tend to forget about the conversation over distance and noise. While it is great to be able to give access to mobiles and tablets in a social situation this does not necessarily assist in classroom as much as other remote microphone technologies and access to multimedia the teacher may be playing through the projector and/or televisions in the classroom.

With such technology we need to be able to cover voice and media devices at the same time. While a child will be supplied with a personal microphone they are limited in the classroom to just one media at a time. Having access to equipment up to the age of 26 through hearing providers they can now have access to hear multiple aspects; When assistive infrastructure is in place it can assist everyone not just a person with a hearing aid.

SIGNAGE

D3.7 stipulates a braille sign must say the type of hearing technology and where a receiver is available. While the telecoil receivers are available the need for a child to wear one is limited as they have access to equipment through hearing providers.

ROGER REMOTE MICROPHONE

Roger™ microphone systems have long been and remains the gold standard for hearing in noise and over distance, verified in a study by Wolfe, J. et al. 2015. Figure 1 shows the outcomes of remote microphones systems verse Phonak Roger™ microphone system as shown in Figure 1 1 . As you can see the Roger Microphone system has been found to outperform standard remote microphone systems particularly in noise, this is crucial in classrooms and recent studies conducted in Australia have shown average classroom noise is 68dBA 2 .

Is there a hearing device that can give you access to both Bluetooth™ connectivity and access to the Roger remote microphone systems? Yes! Whether it be the latest Phonak Sky Marvel, or another manufacturers' device there is options to have both access to stream mobile and tablet media direct to hearing aids whilst accessing the Roger microphone system in the classroom. Just ask your audiologist about options to have a Roger™ receiver added to your hearing device, to ensure you’re fitted with a hearing device that has Roger receiver compatibility. Wolfe et al. looked standard remote microphones vs Roger microphones 3 . This showed a 25% improvement at 65 dBA and 49% at 75 dBA of background noise, shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Performance of Roger Microphones and standard Bluetooth microphones in background noise.

Figure 1: Group performance data across all 5 conditions with each of the 4 device configurations. Errors bars represent the standard error of the mean.

ROGER FOR EDUCATION

The dedicated Roger™ for Education portfolio has been specifically designed for the classroom providing many benefits:

Easy to use microphone with touchscreen display, for easy use by teachers and school staff Easy connection to multiple students Connectivity with equipment being installed by most education departments in the new and refurbished buildings.

Ability to connect with multiple students simultaneously meaning simplicity for the teacher to ensure the system is being used.

One microphone for transmission of voice to students’ device and soundfield speaker providing quieter classroom for all 4 .

Pass-around Mic for access to other students’ conversation in the classroom when group work and presentations are taking place.

With all the flexibility and connectivity, the Roger for Education system can provide in conjunction with the equipment being installed by Education departments as part of their infrastructure program, your child can gain access to all content they need to at school.

ROGER DYNAMIC SOUNDFIELD SYSTEM

The use of dynamic soundfield system over no soundfield system at all can provide significant benefit in classrooms with noise above 65 dBA, with the best ever speech-in-noise improvements for normal hearing children of up to 28% at 65 dBA of noise and 50% at 70 dBA over no soundfield, Roger Soundfield is a class above the rest 5 . Refer to Figure 3.

Figure 3

In Australia research has shown classroom noise averages 68 dBA.ii Showing the need for good quality personal remote microphone and soundfield systems are important for our learning spaces. Multimedia devices that are used in classrooms, e.g. TVs, MP3 players, smartboards, laptops and tablets can easily be connected to the Roger Multimedia Hub, which wirelessly transmits to Roger Digimaster loudspeakers. When used in a network, the audio mixing feature in the Roger Multimedia Hub allows a teacher’s voice to be heard simultaneously with an audio signal.

STUDIES

Rural Queensland - Massie et al 2004 6 Australia - Massie & Dillion 2006

Sydney - Mealings et al 2015 7

UNOCCUPIED ANL (DBA)

36-46 dBA

OCCUPIED ANL (DBA)

62-75 dBA

64-72 dBA (Median 68 dBA)

68-72 dBA

Regardless of the size, Roger Soundfield delivers crystal-clear sound to an entire room, making listening, focusing and learning easier.

Roger Digimaster 5000 is the perfect solution for average-sized classrooms. Coupled with a Roger SF Touchscreen Mic, this system offers the ultimate instant-sound performance. Roger Digimaster 7000 is the system of choice for bigger spaces. The system can transmit over a larger area and has the option of being connected in a network of two or more speakers, therefore covering at least double the range of one Digimaster 5000. The Digimaster X receiver can be plugged into an existing soundfield system to ensure every listener enjoys Roger-quality speech understanding. Classes can be recorded by attaching it to a recording device.