Classroom Audio Distribution Systems (CADS)

Source: Creative Commons. https://freesvg.org/1547932402

In 2007, I taught 4th grade in a public school in Charlotte, NC. All fourth-grade teachers were sent an email invitation to apply for the Instructional Technology Interactive Whiteboard Grant Award. Applications required teachers to partner with someone from their school. I partnered with the computer & technology lab teacher. In January, we were accepted into the grant program along with other 4th grade teachers in the district. We received a SMARTBoard brand Interactive Whiteboard package completing a 15-hour training course. At that time, interactive whiteboards were not as prominent, and the boards installed through this grant program were some of the first in district elementary schools. Although interactive whiteboards are well documented as effective teaching and learning tools, I will not focus on that technology in this blog post. Instead, I would like to turn the reader's attention to a smaller "accessory" item installed in my classroom and the technology lab as part of this grant program: 

Front Row: Speaker Voice Amplification System

Source: (n.d.). Front Row. photograph. Retrieved July 7, 2022, from https://www.gofrontrow.com/products/juno-systems/

Front Row has updated and expanded its systems since 2007, but the components of a basic Classroom Audio Distribution System (CADS) are similar. CADS generally consists of a wearable pendant and/or handheld microphone, an amplifier, and a speaker(s) system.

 

Source: (n.d.). Front Row. photograph. Retrieved July 7, 2022, from https://www.gofrontrow.com/products/juno-systems/

Other CADS systems are Audio Enhancement, Lightspeed, and Teach Logic. 

In hindsight, I wish I had access to the Front Row system during the previous school year when I had a student who was hard of hearing in my class. This student used an FM amplification device attached to his hearing aid. I remember the FM device being a frequent topic of discussion between us: 

Where is it? Don't play with it! Please leave it at school. 

The device was not necessarily kid-friendly as it was tiny, fragile, and easily forgotten, hiding behind the ear of a young student.  

 I can't help but wonder. Would the combination of a CADS and the FM device have made the classroom environment more accessible for all my students? There is research to support this theory.

From personal experience, I enjoyed having the Front Row system in my classroom. My anecdotal and personal review is positive. The only negative I recall was the inefficiency of passing and placing the pendant between students. I certainly would have used a handheld device more frequently. Using the Front Row CADS system:

• I experienced less voice strain as a teacher.  

• Students with softer voices could be heard when wearing the pendant. 

• Students enjoyed wearing the microphone pendant for class presentations. 

 

Additional Resources: 

This video by St. John's Medical Center explains how individual FM devices work for a student and, most notably, how classroom conversation sounds without the system.

 

This PDF created by Oticon (producer of pediatric hearing aids) provides information on integrating classroom audio distribution systems and individual FM systems.  

These PDFs from the Educational Audiology Association on the importance of good classroom acoustics and using CADS to improve speech-to-noise ratios in classrooms. 

 

If you haven't already, may I suggest reading the book El Deafo by Cece Bell? It is a graphic novel autobiographical memoir and was awarded the Newberry honor in 2015. 

Source: www.amazon.com