[Athen] Assistive Hearing Systems in Classrooms

[Kressin, Lori L (llk2t)]

Hello Jeremy,

Others may have more information to share but thought I would throw in my experience.

I saw a demonstration of this type of solution at a conference last spring and you are correct, there is a significant latency issue. It made it difficult to follow the speaker and listen at the same time. There is also a battery drain issue for both the smart phone and the Bluetooth headphones.

For assistive listening systems, we have moved to hearing loop<https://provost.virginia.edu/subsite/coaa/hearing-loop>. In our classrooms we install multidirectional ceiling microphones allowing for the instructor to move around and be heard by the students as well as allowing the instructor to hear the students even when doing group work.

Good luck!
Lori
-----------------
Lori Kressin
Coordinator of Academic Accessibility
Office of the Executive VP and Provost • Univ. of Virginia
102 Cresap Rd • POB 400199 • Charlottesville, VA • 22903
[434] 982-5784
COAA Main Website<http://provost.virginia.edu/coaa>
Captioning & Transcription Assistance Form<https://virginia.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9zz42noPYpBIpdY>

I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land where I live and work today, the Monacan Nation, and I pay my respect to their elders past and present.
(LEARN<https://usdac.us/nativeland> why this is done)





On 1/31/24, 4:05 PM, "athen-list" <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu> wrote:


Thanks for those resources!



Our Campus Technology Resources folks came to us with this new technology that does not seem to be mentioned on those webpages. It involves a ceiling microphone station<https://www.sennheiser.com/en-us/catalog/products/meeting-and-conference-systems/teamconnect-ceiling-2/teamconnect-ceiling-2-black-509161?utm_source=linkshare&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=generic&utm_term=3829940&ranMID=42592&ranEAID=%2FjZHTpnCvx8&ranSiteID=_jZHTpnCvx8-gEwW3BvssATzne7C1pNv0g&LSNSUBSITE=Omitted_%2FjZHTpnCvx8&utm_medium=CPA&utm_source=Linkshare&utm_campaign=%2FjZHTpnCvx8> that includes multiple microphones that do an exceptional job of picking up a wandering professor and can be calibrated for other noise in the room, like the HVAC system. It then sends audio to the internet. A student would snap a QR code to get access to the webpage where they can tap into the audio feed. The student can then play the audio through their own device to Bluetooth headphones or have it input to transcription like Otter.ai. They say that one system for one room could run $15-20K, but could be moved into a different classroom between semesters as needed.



They are interested in experiences that other campuses have had with these systems, as they want to choose the right product to test out. One concern I have would be any lag between the professor’s speech in the room and it coming through over the internet. I am interested, though, in a system that allows a student to get equal access over their own devices that they carry around everywhere and without faculty needing to worry about a lapel microphone and the batteries and clunkiness that comes with it.



Jeremy Zhe-Heimerman (he, him, his)

Assistant Director, Disability Resources

SUNY Cortland

Memorial Library, Room B-121

P.O. Box 2000

Cortland, NY 13045-0900

O: 607-753-2358 | F: 607-753-5495

jeremy.zhe-heimerman at cortland.edu

Test Accessibility Scheduling System | Disability Resources Homepage

AccessCortland Student Portal | AccessCortland Faculty Portal



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-----Original Message-----
There are five basic types of assistive listening devices. Some are personal/one-on-one type devices between the instructor and a specific student or students, and there are induction loop types that are used for whole classrooms.

Here is a link for the types of assistive, listening devices that are common:
https://mn.gov/deaf-hard-of-hearing/assistive-technology/assistive-listening-devices/#:~:text=There%20are%20five%20general%20types,amplified%20system%20and%20Bluetooth%20systems.


You also might want to check with the National Deaf Center for more information about assistive listening devices in classrooms. They are a great resource! Here’s a link:
https://nationaldeafcenter.org/

Wink Harner
Assistive Technology Consulting and Training
Alternative Text Production
Portland OR.

foreigntype at gmail.com<mailto:foreigntype at gmail.com>


On Wed, Jan 31, 2024 at 10:48 AM Sebastian M Niles <smniles at ucdavis.edu<mailto:smniles at ucdavis.edu>> wrote:
Jeremy

I am interested in learning more about this kind of system because I've never heard about it before.

Sebastian Niles, CPACC (he/him/his)
Accessible Technology Assistant
Student Disability Center
University of California-Davis
Davis, CA 95616
________________________________
From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu>> on behalf of Jeremy Zhe-Heimerman <Jeremy.Zhe-Heimerman at cortland.edu<mailto:Jeremy.Zhe-Heimerman at cortland.edu>>
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2024 10:41 AM
To: athen-list at u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list at u.washington.edu> <athen-list at u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list at u.washington.edu>>
Subject: [Athen] Assistive Hearing Systems in Classrooms


Hi folks,



We are looking into purchasing some IP assistive hearing systems for classrooms that would allow students to stream audio over wifi through their own devices. If anyone else has these systems in place, I’d love to hear about your experiences, preferred brands, etc.



Thanks!



Jeremy Zhe-Heimerman (he, him, his)
Assistant Director, Disability Resources
SUNY Cortland
Memorial Library, Room B-121
P.O. Box 2000
Cortland, NY 13045-0900
O: 607-753-2358 | F: 607-753-5495
jeremy.zhe-heimerman at cortland.edu<mailto:jeremy.zhe-heimerman at cortland.edu>
Test Accessibility Scheduling System<https://webapp.cortland.edu/TASRequestForm/> | Disability Resources Homepage<http://www2.cortland.edu/offices/disability-resources/index.dot>

AccessCortland Student Portal<https://shibboleth-cortland-accommodate.symplicity.com/sso/> | AccessCortland Faculty Portal<https://shibboleth-cortland-accommodate.symplicity.com/sso/faculty>

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