by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
A teacher explained,
I am a teacher and had my school put a hearing loop in my classroom. It has been a lifesaver for me. With easy access to the t-coil on my hearing aids, I can decide when to use the loop, and when to hear via the microphones on my hearing aids.
When my students are doing debates (I teach high school) they use a hand-held microphone. They love it. It makes them feel very important. Otherwise, I use boundary microphones that just lay on the table. I teach in a room with a seminar type table in front of me. The students sit around the table.
This hearing loop has saved my job. High school students aren’t known for their diction and this hearing loop is marvelous.
Also, when the students display information on their laptops there was no way in the past that I could understand the audio. Now, I just place the wireless microphone in front of their computers and hear via the room loop.
Incidentally, if you wanted to hear even better sound from your students’ computers, you could have a long patch cord and plug it into the audio out on the computer you want to listen to. Plug the other end into your loop amplifier. That would eliminate any background noise your handheld microphone might pick up and also eliminate the distortion that occurs from converting sound from electronic form to air and then back to electronic form again.
You can learn a lot more about room loops and various looping alternatives here.
There must be a better way than a long cord. If not wrong I think a bluetooth dongle transmitter in the USB port of the computer (as little as $2 on Amazon)can pair with a bluetooth receiver plugged into the loop amp. Just move only the dongle from computer to computer. No mic and no cord. If dealing with only a few computers, you can put a dongle in each and pair as required. I can do that with my bluetooth pendant on my Phonak aids. I can change pairing between the TV, PC 1, PC 2 cellphone and landline bluetooth adapters. Hope this helps.
Please help me. I have been asking for my room to be looped for two years now and no one seems to know how. I am bilateral with Advanced Bionics cochlear processors. I have the t-coil program on my processors as my third program. I asked for it thinking that getting my classroom looped would be not be a big deal. Apparently, it’s huge. I have tried explaining it to an audiologist at Vanderbilt, working with the Vocational Rehabilitation of Alabama, etc. NO one knows how to help me. I would think looping my room and placing stationary mics would work best since I have many student desks (my biggest classes have 31 kids in them). Any ideas? How do I get help?
Hi Christie:
If always just teach in one classroom, a room loop can be a great accommodation for you.
How complex a job it will be to loop your classroom depends on the materials used in your school. For example, if there is a lot of metal in the floor or ceiling, a simple perimeter loop won’t be sufficient. You’ll need a more complex loop configuration to make up for the metal loss.
Also, in order to limit spill-over to other classrooms beside, above or below yours requires a low spill-over loop configuration.
The other consideration is how many microphones and their placement in order to hear your students. Instead of using several microphones throughout the room, you could use a single VoiceTracker microphone mounted on the front wall.
If you want me to, I can get a professional loop installer to come and give you an estimate for installing a loop in your classroom. Let me know the city and state you are in.
Once that is done, you just need to pry the dollars out of the budget for the room loop and you should be in business!
Cordially,
Neil
I would LOVE for someone to look at my room and give me the configuration needed. I teach at Guntersville High School in Guntersville, Alabama. If you are able to find someone willing to help me, I would be very grateful.
Hi Christie:
The best loop installer in your area is Nick Hobbs at Active Life Hearing Loops. You can reach him at nickhobbs@activelifehearing.com. His phone number is 770.345.4000. He’s a great guy.
Cordially,
Neil