Before

Modern teaching is based on both independent and group work communication which acoustically speaking poses a real challenge. Allowing several people to speak at the same time does not just increase the number of sound sources but can also affect behaviour.

Thomas has been a teacher for a long time but finds it difficult to get the students engaged in the lessons in this room and he is struggling to make himself heard in the busy classroom. The students are distracted or fight for attention in the disturbing background noise from other students. All find it difficult to fully follow what is said, concentrate and remain on task.

After

The classroom is now fitted with wall panels on two adjacent walls, one being the back wall. By absorbing unwanted reflections on both walls, the sound waves pass the room only once, making speech sounds remain close to the people it is intended for and to be heard more clearly.

For Thomas this means he no longer has to raise his voice to be heard by all students in the classroom and classes can begin more quickly without the need to settle the class first. When the class can be taught without anyone needing to speak loudly to be heard, both teaching and learning is more efficient as you have a better opportunity to hear more clearly, actually understand and remember later.