The French National Noise Council (CNB) has published a guide for designers to nurseries, kindergartens and Day Care, to help them take better account of the sound environment in these institutions During the 7th National Conference on quality of the sound environment in Lyon, Segolene Royal, Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, expressed the […]
Education
Kids with special needs need more than acoustic standards
Intervention study about behaviour and acoustics In January 2015 Ecophon and LOOP.bz started an intervention study at Søgårdsskolen in Gentofte municipality in Denmark. This school is a public school for kids with social cognitive challenges and learning disabilities (ADHD, autism, brain damage, Downs and others). With this group of children it is not possible to […]
Sound Advice – from the Ear Foundation
Hearing loss is one of the world’s most common disabilities and yet one of the least supported. Fortunately, in the UK there is somewhere to go for help. Nottingham’s Ear Foundation has a dedicated team of support professionals, including audiologists, educators, signing tutors and researchers as well as speech and language therapists. The charity provides the […]
Do classroom acoustics work for today’s activities?
Recent and ongoing debates about the PISA Study Results and educational outcomes in Sweden have led to a focus on the suitability of the acoustic environment for today’s teaching and learning activities. Some renowned Swedish academics have questioned the suitability of present day classroom acoustics for today’s education and suggest a different room acoustic approach […]
School canteens in Sweden creating acoustical food for thought!
“After a full morning at work, would you choose to eat your lunch right beside a busy highway?” Perhaps there would not be many takers for a seating arrangement like this, however, a recent study by Sveriges Radio (SR – Sweden’s public service broadcasting organisation) showed that over one in four of the school canteens it tested had […]
Acoustic Design of Schools – performance standards (UK) New BB93
In order to demonstrate the new changes to BB93 Acoustic Design of Schools: Performance Standards, Ecophon UK commissioned Adrian James Acoustics to produce this video auralisation, which has been endorsed by NDCS, The National Deaf children’s Society. BB93 Part 2 (Guidance Notes) will be released June 2015. For more information, or a BB93 CPD, contact Shane […]
Students and staff delighted as acoustics improves at the architectural college of Madrid
In an effort to improve the comfort, the students’ cafeteria at the architectural college of Madrid, ETSAM-UPM, was acoustically treated. Dr. César Diaz and his team at ETSAM-UPM, grabbed the opportunity to make measurements before and after, to quantify the improvement. Results showed that a large reduction of the reverberation time (from 2.3s to 0.8s) and an increase […]
Teachers most at risk from hearing loss
A recent American survey conducted by the EPIC Hearing Healthcare, uncovered the scope of the problem for teachers specifically. According to the report last September from EPIC Hearing Healthcare, 15 percent of teachers report a diagnosed hearing loss, compared to 12 percent of workers nationwide. That might not seem like a huge difference, but EPIC also […]
Sports lessons can have a big impact on our hearing!
Acoustics in Dutch sports halls In the Netherlands a short item was broadcasted on national TV by SBS6 Hart van Nederland it was made to demonstrate the impact sports hall acoustic have on our hearing and especially the teachers who spend much of their time there as they feel the impact on their working conditions. […]
Acoustic emergency in schools discussed in Italy
(Above) Interview (In Italian) with Ing. Anna Marchesini and Ing. Cesare Trebeschi commenting on the outcomes of the seminar and the Progetto De.C.I.So (Deaf Children: Improvement of class room Sound quality) in particular A recent study in Italy found that 90% of the schools involved do not comply with acoustic regulations. In some cases the […]
