Students benefit from hearing technology
Straining to hear teachers talk over the noise of a full classroom or the rain on a tin roof is something of the past for students at Leschenault Catholic Primary School.
The school has been rolling out RedCat technology, which involves the use of high definition microphones and speakers, for the past four years and now features the devices in almost all of its classrooms.
Principal Paula MacKenzie said the technology was making a “huge difference” to the way students learn and particularly benefited those coming through with auditory processing problems.
“When teachers are talking and they’re going through sounds with children, it’s very hard for some children to hear some of the differences,” Ms Mackenzie said.
“This makes it really clear, because it makes it sound like it’s actually in the children’s ear.”
Each set costs about $2000 and Ms MacKenzie said the expense was well justified by the positive impact it was having.
“We’re actually doing the letters and sounds program right throughout the school, so when teachers are talking about all those different sounds, it just makes it really clear for the children,” she said.
Students are encouraged to make use of the microphones when presenting to the class and extra “pods” in the Year 6 classroom allow children to communicate with their teachers more directly.
Every class in the school will have access to the technology next year once the devices are installed in Years 4 and 5.
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