“We wouldn’t teach reading in a classroom without lights. Why then do we teach in acoustical darkness?”
-John Erdreich, PhD
Imagine trying to learn when you can’t hear clearly. It shouldn’t be difficult. After all, we live in a noisy, distraction-rich world. Although we’d like to think that once a classroom door closes, children and their teachers can shut the noise out and get on with their work in a comfortable-sounding space, that’s not the reality for many students.
Noise-related distractions are linked to lower test scores, shorter attention spans, and higher stress – the exact opposite of what parents hope for, teachers strive for, and students require to learn.
In a typical classroom, students can miss up to 1 in 4 words. And, although classrooms are rarely – if ever – referred to as critical listening spaces, anyone involved in education knows just how vital being able to hear and be heard is for students and teachers.
At Primacoustic, our goal is to help you make any space where hearing and being heard are critical sound great, which is particularly important in school classrooms.
The Problem of Poor Acoustics
Problems caused by noise and poor acoustics in educational environments have been studied for over 100 years, and despite guidelines aimed at improving the situation over time, many schools remain, acoustically, ‘unfit for purpose.’
Most classrooms are not designed with acoustics in mind. They tend to have many hard surfaces (large windows, blackboards, bare walls, and floors) that reflect sound – creating reverberation and echoes that distort what should be clear, intelligible speech and leading to poor outcomes for students and teachers.
Research by theAcoustical Society of America (ANSI) shows that classrooms with little or no acoustic treatment have a reverberation time nearly three times (1.9 seconds) greater than the recommended standard of 0.7 seconds.
As Julian Treasure put it in his 2012 Ted Talk, classroom noise is a problem that’s heard, not seen, something Treasure refers to as “the invisible architecture” of sound.
The Impact on Students and Teachers
For students, the downsides of poor classroom acoustics are obvious; if you can’t hear what’s being said it’s extremely difficult to remain engaged and learn effectively. Straining to hear means your brain has to work harder to fill in the blanks, causing fatigue and difficulty retaining information. For children with learning disabilities, auditory processing disorder (APD), or hearing aids, the problem is exacerbated.
Noisy classrooms are also unhealthy for teachers, forcing them to raise their voices day in and day out. Some studies estimate teachers are 32 times more likely to suffer from vocal strain and long-term damage than other professionals, with roughly half developing from some type of voice disorder during their lifetimes.
The Problem with Classroom Amplification
Some schools attempt to mitigate classroom noise by adding sound reinforcement via microphones and loudspeaker systems. That may allow teachers to lower their voices but fails to address the core issues – the problem of reverberation, muddied and indistinct speech, and ambient noise levels.
According to ANSI, amplification without acoustic treatment doesn’t improve intelligibility. Instead, microphone amplification systems can add to the problem – creating more sound, more noise, and more pronounced reflections from hard surfaces. Microphones also pick up additional, unwanted sound sources, including ambient noise from HVAC systems, student chatter, and noise from external sources.
By contrast, acoustic treatments offer a far simpler, long-lasting, and more cost-effective solution.
How Acoustic Treatment Fixes the Problem
Installed on classroom walls and ceilings, acoustic panels reduce reverberation and absorb sound. That lowers the level of ambient noise overall, providing a quieter, more pleasant environment and results in enhanced student engagement and better learning outcomes. The results speak for themselves, with teachers reporting “very significant improvements in rooms with the shortest reverberation times1,” lower stress levels, better behaviour, and improved comprehension from students across the board.
Even a small amount of acoustic treatment can make a big difference. Covering just 17-25% of wall surfaces can reduce reverberation time to even less than the recommended 0.7 seconds.
Acoustic panels can be installed creatively, above and around reflective surfaces like windows and blackboards, or, if wall space is limited, ceiling-mounted panels and T-bar acoustic tiles that are equally effective.
A Flexible, Cost-Effective, Future-proof Solution
Compared to microphones and a PA system, acoustic treatments may seem unexciting, but they are far more long-lasting and remain as effective as they were on the day of installation for many years.
At Primacoustic, we recognize that every school’s and every teacher’s approach to educating students is unique.
Our mission is to provide great sound for educational environments of any type with highly flexible acoustic treatments for any need and budget that provide exceptional sound absorption while enhancing aesthetics.
Primacoustic offers complete, turnkey solutions, a comprehensive range of sound control products, including panels that can be created specifically for your needs in terms of size, thickness, and colour, made-to-order options in a range of custom colours and designer wood grain textures, sustainable, eco-friendly products, as well as fully customizable products that can be printed with educational graphics, high-res photos, or pretty much any image you can imagine.
Elevate and Enhance the Educational Experience with Primacoustic
If you have a problem with sound control in your classroom, chances are you’re aware of it but unsure what to do next. That’s where Primacoustic comes in.
Our customer service and technical support teams are here for you throughout the entire process, ready to answer any questions you may have and help you find dealer partners to aid with installation. So you can transform your classroom into a space where students can thrive, and teachers can focus on what matters—teaching.
Visit Primacoustic.com today to learn how you can improve communication and learning outcomes by transforming your classroom into an optimal environment for student success.
Whatever your needs, whatever your budget, we’ll help you Be Heard.
