Voice amplifier for teacher in classroom

[BlueSkies]

Hi there,

 

We have a teacher who has been recommended by their OT to use a voice amplification system when teaching in the classroom.

 

We ordered a Zoweetek amplifier with a headset from Amazon back in September which was great - but it has now given up the ghost and won't hold its charge any more, so will probably be sending it back.

 

Has anyone else purchased something like this recently? I had a search back through and found some old posts from years ago but just wondered if there is something else on the market nowadays that might do the job.

 

Any suggestions/advice would be welcomed!

 

Thanks in advance.

[dhicks]

I had a search back through and found some old posts from years ago but just wondered if there is something else on the market nowadays that might do the job.

 

I had a demo from Lightspeed a few years back at the BETT show - I think this is now their website:

 

https://lightspeed-tek.com/

 

Confusingly, this is different from the Lightspeed who do the network filtering systems (who were big enough to be one of the main BETT sponsors a few years back). This company do voice amplification / distribution for teachers and similar. They used to use a rather snazzy ultrasonic(?) speaker, which made for a very directional speaker that could project audio exactly where is was aimed at. That was a few (10?) years ago, I'm not sure if they are at the BETT show this week.

[PotNoodleTech]

If you dont want to go specialist what about normal A/V kit, about some kind of wireless microphone with hip battery playing into any amp/speaker combp or all in one speaker unit?

[dhicks]

some kind of wireless microphone with hip battery

 

Depending on what exactly is wrong with the teacher's voice, if they really can't speak very loudly at all then a throat mic might be worth a try. A quick Google for "throat mic" mostly turns up results that seem to be for paintball enthusiasts, but starting at £20 they might be an affordable option.

[SamanthaD]

I've just had a quick Google and found this https://cpc.farnell.com/monacor/wap-5/waistband-amplifier/dp/LS05027 Monacor are at least a brand I've heard of before! Option to use dry batteries as well as rechargeables, or run it off a PSU. Might be worth a look?

[DrBeaker]

The ironic thing is with the 'progession' in tech in classrooms....some schools used to have an amp with multiple inputs, wired speakers and a socket for a 6.35mm jack for a microphone.

 

So via the amp you could talk loudly to the whole room using the microphone.

 

So subsequent "improvements" have removed this functionality. 🫤

 

In reality I think they were hardly used but still... Always thought what a good idea in case.

[jmak]

I had a demo from Lightspeed a few years back at the BETT show - I think this is now their website:

 

https://lightspeed-tek.com/

 

Confusingly, this is different from the Lightspeed who do the network filtering systems (who were big enough to be one of the main BETT sponsors a few years back). This company do voice amplification / distribution for teachers and similar. They used to use a rather snazzy ultrasonic(?) speaker, which made for a very directional speaker that could project audio exactly where is was aimed at. That was a few (10?) years ago, I'm not sure if they are at the BETT show this week.

I had a free trial of one of these after speaking to them at BETT.

 

At the time we had a teacher who was having voice problems and they thought it was great. Unfortunately it was too expensive for us at the time - although an OT recommendation might have sold it.

 

I thought that compared to the cost of supply teacher cover for the repeated laryngitis absences it looked excellent value...

[Mixed]

We have these in each classroom, probably aren't used by 80% of teachers but work just fine when they are used and very simple for teachers, no issues in the 5 years I've been here.

 

https://www.connevans.co.uk/catalogue/1689935/Swift-Digital-system-packages

 

Not sure how they compare in terms of pricing as I believe these were donated to the school by a parent before I joined.