Students and Headphones....

[_techie_]

Hi all,

 

Is it just me, or do computer activities with students and headphones/mic's rarely work? Half the time, the headphones just get broken, students plug them into the wrong sockets, the system sound settings get changed/muted by students in the lesson previously, and even if I lock them down, the students find a way around the restrictions to fiddle with the sound settings. Sorry for the rant, but getting to the end of my tether here!

 

We have bought robust headphones which cost more, but they still get broken, and we then end up getting cheap headphones, and replacing them very often, and at great cost to the school!

 

If someone else has had similiar problems, speak up and let me know.

 

Thanks.

[localzuk]

Oh I know the feeling. I've had calls 20 minutes into a lesson because a person can't get sound to work. And the class are still settling down to the task.

 

The problem is, how do you use sound for subjects like MFL if not via headphones?

[elsiegee40]

My son's secondary school has gone down the route of telling the kids to provide their own in-ear headphones. They can be bought for a couple of quid through the finance office or you can use your own. The kids soon get the message that there's no sound unless they bring headphones!

[gibbo_ap]

My son's secondary school has gone down the route of telling the kids to provide their own in-ear headphones. They can be bought for a couple of quid through the finance office or you can use your own. The kids soon get the message that there's no sound unless they bring headphones!

 

not a bad idea in theory. our head would never go for this as it would make the school look 'weak' or poor etc and if we give the parents the reason why will make it sound like the teachers cant control the class.

 

the main prroblems we find are kids not returning the headphones with the cable wrapped up, the box then just looks like a jumbled mess and takes ages get the

 

we have just purchased a load of new headphones at about £4.50 each!!! the whole idea is silly i agree.

 

i noticed a post by someone yday i think it was who pointed out they work in an all girls school and have very little damage! how i envy you!

[ozzy]

Sound on computers and headphones GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR:mad:

[laserblazer]

Don't get me started The kids here think they have the right to spend half the ICT lesson searching for headphones so they can watch youtube. I have refused to replace broken sets because they are so badly treated so kids go and take them from Learning Resource (who look after their stuff) and then just leave them at the end of the lesson. The teachers let them get away with it.

[SpuffMonkey]

I refused to buy anymore after the first couple of hundred sets got destroyed.

[p858snake]

...students plug them into the wrong sockets, the system sound settings get changed/muted by students in the lesson previously, and even if I lock them down, the students find a way around the restrictions to fiddle with the sound settings...

 

Try having the setvol and mute utilites tools (they can be scripted, so you can have all the machines the same at login).

 

Also try getting the headphones that have the coloured sockets (if your desktops have the ports with the rings of colour around them).

 

 

...the main prroblems we find are kids not returning the headphones with the cable wrapped up, the box then just looks like a jumbled mess and takes ages get the...

 

Depending how you keep your headphones (eg: a set per classroom you could try)

1. If theres a storeroom or cupboard, on the back of the door have several rows of cup hooks and they just put them back after use

2. Box and each set are put in a resealable plastic bag (glad snap lock bags come to mind)

3. Have a hanging wall sheet with pockets for them, Have a talk to your home ec/sewing departments about these, although my attach piccy of it shows seperate pockets the one that the science deptarment had at school just had one long bit with the pockets sewen inbetween.

Image attachment key:

1. Cup Hooks

2. Peice of wood

3. Fabric

 

[contink]

Try having the setvol and mute utilites tools (they can be scripted, so you can have all the machines the same at login).

Didn't know about that.. thanks for the tip.

 

Depending how you keep your headphones (eg: a set per classroom you could try)

1. If theres a storeroom or cupboard, on the back of the door have several rows of cup hooks and they just put them back after use

2. Box and each set are put in a resealable plastic bag (glad snap lock bags come to mind)

3. Have a hanging wall sheet with pockets for them, Have a talk to your home ec/sewing departments about these, although my attach piccy of it shows seperate pockets the one that the science deptarment had at school just had one long bit with the pockets sewen inbetween.

 

The hook think is a disaster waiting to happen unfortunately but ideas 2 and 3 are inspired... You have just solved my major headache.. Thanks

[andy_d]

love the diagram :D

[contink]

Been on a hunt and found this sort of thing..

 

Shoe organiser – Crème or Taupe - Home Storage Systems From Store

 

The only problem I can see with it is that the high pockets are too darned high for the reception kids to reach.. It would be easy to get a small rail installed to hold the things though.

 

Hmm... any aspiring business types want to earn some cash churning out some custom made wall hanging - headphone pocket organisers?

 

 

EDIT: Ahah... this may be more like it:

http://www.aplaceforeverything.co.uk/shop/index.php?page=1056&offset=15&ret=427

[LeMarchand]

My main school (primary) has 'phones permanently plugged into the desktops. Despite children only being allowed in the suite supervised (hmmm), they are regularly broken or unplugged. The latter is particularly puzzling as it's actually quite difficult to get to the sockets (even for me), so whoever is supposed to be supervising must be ignoring the little darlings clambering over/under the desks...

[Andrew_C]

At the moment, I work for the ML Dept here. With the Tanberg language lab, the headsets are robust things that you can get spare parts for . They have a modular plug that connects to a custom pod. The software deals with resetting microphone and headphone levels.

 

We don't pay this much, but the headsets are the same as these. Linky

[BJG]

My son's secondary school has gone down the route of telling the kids to provide their own in-ear headphones. They can be bought for a couple of quid through the finance office or you can use your own. The kids soon get the message that there's no sound unless they bring headphones!

That's a good idea. They get destroyed here as well.

[rdk]

not a bad idea in theory. our head would never go for this as it would make the school look 'weak' or poor etc and if we give the parents the reason why will make it sound like the teachers cant control the class.

 

..........

 

 

i noticed a post by someone yday i think it was who pointed out they work in an all girls school and have very little damage! how i envy you!

 

I work in an all girls school, and we tell them to bring their own headphones. The mp3 player types hardly cost anything, and they all have them, most of them probably at school in their bags anyway.

 

Now microphones are a separate problem...

[Sylv3r]

We ask students to provide their own headphones for use during all lessons.

 

In one suite which we use for extended schools etc we have the headphones with the single cable to one ear and we hang them up in a cupboard with a broom shank across. I.e. hooking the headphones across and let them dangle - much better than gettign the students to wrap the cables up etc.

[jedmondson]

Try having the setvol and mute utilites tools (they can be scripted, so you can have all the machines the same at login).

 

Also try getting the headphones that have the coloured sockets (if your desktops have the ports with the rings of colour around them).

 

 

 

 

Depending how you keep your headphones (eg: a set per classroom you could try)

1. If theres a storeroom or cupboard, on the back of the door have several rows of cup hooks and they just put them back after use

2. Box and each set are put in a resealable plastic bag (glad snap lock bags come to mind)

3. Have a hanging wall sheet with pockets for them, Have a talk to your home ec/sewing departments about these, although my attach piccy of it shows seperate pockets the one that the science deptarment had at school just had one long bit with the pockets sewen inbetween.

Image attachment key:

1. Cup Hooks

2. Peice of wood

3. Fabric

 

[ATTACH]4039[/ATTACH]

 

Theres a problem with 2 - we found that even when each year-group had there own earphones they where never put back properly whatever happened . Only when it came to cat tests did they get more.

 

Least you don't have proper speakers in the rooms as well.

[maniac]

We are going to supply 1 in-ear headphone set per student at the beginning of this year, and if they break or lose them then they will have to supply a new pair themselves.

 

If you hunt around the internet, you can get bulk deals on them for as cheap as 50p a pair, and that works out a lot cheaper than buying decent headphones for the places that need or want them.

 

Mike.

[fergalmj]

My son's secondary school has gone down the route of telling the kids to provide their own in-ear headphones. They can be bought for a couple of quid through the finance office or you can use your own. The kids soon get the message that there's no sound unless they bring headphones!

 

This year I have added headphones and a data key as 'essential kit' to the academic year booklist for all students, so that they are responsible for their own warez. If broken then they replace them at their own expense.

 

Just waiting to see what the response is like when we go back to school!

[gshaw]

We're lucky in Adult Ed that stuff doesn't get trashed but storing the headphones is always an interesting problem... they usually end up all over the desk but the new PC tower holders have drawers in so they can go in those now

 

As for the volume on mic I noticed this when building the new image for summer... what you need is microphone boost enabled and the setvol utility that's floating round here somewhere to reset the volume to say 75% at each boot