Wireless collar microphones give teachers their voice back

BENGALURU: School teachers have got a new friend in the classroom — wireless collar microphones. Mics pinned to clothes have become easy accessories that ensure teachers are heard till the last bench in class.
With wireless mics becoming smaller, easier to handle and more easily portable, teachers find them a useful tool while in class. “There is no longer the ‘teacher’s voice’.People prefer to speak in normal voice, which is good to ensure classroom volumes stay low. Teachers talk in a normal, comfortable volume but can be heard across a large room,” said Shanthi Menon, principal, Deens Academy.
While mics used to be a boon for those with issues with vocal chords following years of teaching, they’re now used more widely. Some schools like St Joseph’s have procured them in large numbers and all teachers are free to use them. “... the new formats have made them more user friendly. At least 50% of our teachers use microphones as we have disturbance from traffic on Museum Road,” said Fr Sunil Fernandes, of St Joseph’s High School.
Microphones are more popular among primary school teachers. “We had a teacher who resigned because she was losing her voice. She took a year’s break and is back this year with a microphone. The device really helps teachers make their work less strenuous as they need not scream for everyone to listen,” said Seema Gupta, principal of Navkis Educational Centre.
‘A positive trend’
“Being sensitive to teachers’ well-being, especially the health of their voice, is a very positive trend,” said Maya Menon, founder-director of The Teacher Foundation.
“A teacher’s voice is a vital tool that brings alive the teaching process in the classroom. While doing BEd or DEd, we aren’t taught how to modulate our voice and use breath control to project our voice down a class of 45 or 50 students. We end up abusing our vocal chords, develop vocal nodules, and lose the suppleness and timbre of our voice. Many teachers who may have enjoyed singing lose their singing voice through years of teaching and speaking loudly in class. Apart from this, our voices sound tired after teaching several periods daily, right through a long teaching career. So, having sound amplification is a good thing. But teachers still need to learn with simple vocal exercises, like singers do, to use their voices effectively,” she said.