With mikes turned on, teachers find pupils tune in

[Rose Siding]

Barrington teacher Gloria Morton can be heard over a rattling air conditioner and her chatty 3rd grade pupils--not by raising her voice but by raising the volume.

With the help of a tiny wireless microphone pinned to her lapel, Morton's voice is bounced off infrared light, measured in decibels and reverberated through speakers. Welcome to the 21st Century classroom.

School officials across the nation are buying pricey sound systems equipped with the latest technology--some with speakers hidden in ceiling tiles--to amp up the teacher's voice as a way to improve behavior, attention and performance in the classroom.

The systems are widely used in Ohio, Florida and Michigan. The Chicago area jumped on the trend about two years ago.
.........
At a cost of $800 to $2,000 per classroom, some educators say the money would be better spent on books, computers and other necessities

http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-0410020200oct02,1,2914378.story?coll=chi-technology-hed

While classes are allowed to balloon to 70 students, like at some FL middle schools, some tech company will be making money.

[Massacure]

1. Classes won't balloon to 70 students

A teacher doesn't have enough time in the day to help all the children who need it and then correct 70 students worth of homework for 5 different classes (in upper grades) / subjects (in lower grades)

[DrWeird]

2. Classes shouldn't balloon to 70 students.

But that doesn't necessarily mean they won't be forced too. My wife had over fifty special education students in her class at one point.

[TrogL]

3. I wish all schools had these

My daughter and I both suffer from a hearing condition where we can't hear people talking if there's any sort of background noise.

When I taught, I would end up going hoarse in the middle of November.