Hearing Loops in Lecture Theatres and Classrooms

Hearing challenges in lecture theatres and classrooms

On top of the usual educational challenges faced by students, those with hearing loss face compounding issues in lecture theatres and classrooms.

Students are challenged to focus on the tasks at hand and respond and act on directions by lecturers or teachers. To complicate the matter there are often other distractions, noise and movement, bad lighting, and the inability to get close to the front of the lecture theatre.

In a lecture of 60 students, up to ten of those students could be battling with hearing loss of some form.

Combined with the usual challenges faced by people wearing hearing aids – poor acoustics and the need to hear different streams of sound and audio during the lecture – and students may struggle.

Josh Salisbury, a freelance journalist, wrote about his experiences in this eye-opening article in The Guardian.

How to improve sound in lecture theatres

One solution that works extremely well for students with hearing aids is the installation of induction hearing loops.

LoopMe by better Hearing Australia provides installation services for both permanent and temporary hearing loops.

it takes only a couple of hours at the most to set up a temporary hearing loop. Your students with T-Coil enabled hearing aids can then enjoy lecture presentation audio streamed directly to their hearing aids.

The loop is installed, tested, appropriate signage installed and guidance provided on the operation of the loop. No other interaction is needed.

If you have students with hearing difficulties who may not have a hearing aid, or have a hearing aid without a T-Coil, you can simply issue a headset for the duration of the lecture that picks up the hearing loop audio perfectly.

By installing hearing loops in lecture theatres and classrooms, educational institutions can go a long way in providing a better experience for their students with hearing loss.

Lecture theatre and classroom hearing loop solutions

With universities and college lecture theatres being housed in a variety of buildings, old and new, we can arrange a site visit and discuss the best option for your space.

LoopMe installs permanent and temporary hearing loops for universities, colleges and schools.

We can arrange a site visit to review needs for a permanent installation in a new building, retrofitting an existing venue, or installing a temporary loop.

Contact LoopMe by Better Hearing Australia for an install solution for all your educational needs. Call (07) 3844 5065 or use the form below.