Tag Archives: EduMic

EduMic – The Easy FM Connectivity Solution

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We all know the importance of supporting children with hearing loss when distance, noise, and reverberation affect listening and learning in a typical classroom setting, but what do you do when the student wears a hearing device? What if they need to use an FM system in the classroom? Before your head starts to swim and eyes glaze over, I have great news for you—Oticon’s EduMic™ is a product you will fall in love with! Oticon Medical’s Ponto™ device[1] works together with the EduMic to maximize children’s speech understanding for language development, learning, and socializing opportunities.

The EduMic is a remote microphone system (RMS) featuring 2.4 GHz wireless technology. Built on the Velox STM platform, the EduMic features advanced signal processing, including OpenSound NavigatorTM technology. When noise, distance, and reverberation become challenging in the classroom, EduMic is a vital partner to the Ponto processor. EduMic uses the same innovative open sound technology found in other Oticon Medical[1] products to analyze, balance, and remove noise. It delivers stable and clear access to the teacher’s voice by continuously monitoring the environment and removing unwanted noise—even between words.

Designed for dynamic learning environments and built to last

Beside its ability to be used as a remote microphone, the EduMic provides easy access to an FM system in use at school without the teacher needing to wear two microphones. EduMic also enables access to a variety of audio sources to ensure that students stay connected and engaged during class. Teachers can plug the EduMic into a computer, smartboard, or tablet using the 3.5 audio microphone jack connection. The audio jack also allows easy integration with existing sound field systems, accessing multiple audio sources and microphones simultaneously. Smaller and lighter than many remote microphones at just 32 grams,  EduMic features a sleek, modern design and 10-hour battery life.

Built to last, EduMic is robust and designed to handle the demands of everyday life and withstand accidental dropping. EduMic uses a single rechargeable Li-ion battery that can be left charging overnight without fear of overcharging. Signal strength is also thoroughly tested in a typical classroom environment to ensure a high-quality connection. The 2.4 GHz signal is strong and stable even in a typical WiFi-heavy environment when the teacher is speaking through EduMic.

EduMic teacher and student benefits

Best of all, teachers love EduMic! A usability study conducted by Oticon Inc. examined teacher’s perspectives on ease of use, discreetness, attractiveness in relation to design, and also wearing comfort.[2] The study showed teachers have a strong preference towards EduMic’s design and comfort compared to a competitor’s remote microphone solution. Teachers rated EduMic as easier to use compared to a leading device on the market, very user-friendly to pair and mute, and very comfortable to wear.

According to a study at Boys Town National Research Hospital, researchers found a significant improvement in speech understanding in a noisy and reverberant environment for students fitted with hearing aids wearing the EduMic.[3] Speech understanding improved as 6 dB more noise could be tolerated in the noisy environment test condition when EduMic was used with hearing aids compared to using hearing aids alone. In the noise + reverberation condition, 5 dB more noise could be tolerated when EduMic was used together with hearing aids over hearing aids alone. The results support the positive impact of using EduMic compared to hearing aids alone in both noisy and noisy + reverberant acoustic environments. EduMic allows children with hearing aids to handle poor signal-to- noise ratios in the classroom.

EduMic is available as a Ponto accessory choice

EduMic and our Oticon Medical bone anchored hearing devices are based on our BrainHearing™ technology, which is designed to deliver what the brain needs to make sense of sound. We are excited to announce that this extraordinary remote microphone system  is now available as a free accessory choice with Oticon Medical Ponto orders! Do you have pediatric bone conduction patients to whom you would like to offer EduMic as an accessory option? To learn more about the many exciting features in our Ponto processors and their clinical benefits, including integration with the EduMic accessory, please contact your regional Clinical Specialist.

About the Author

Gail Leininger, Au.D., CCC-A is an audiologist who has worked with implantable technologies for over twenty years. She is an Auditory Technical Specialist for Oticon Medical.

For more information on EduMic, please visit:

[1] Ponto 4 and Ponto 5 Mini
[2] Gordey & Rumley 2019 Enhanced Learning with EduMic Oticon White Paper
[3] Data on file

Strengthening Connections in Challenging Environments with the EduMic

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Whether a child’s learning environment is in the classroom or virtually from their home, the ability to control the acoustics is difficult and underscores the need to optimize the overall speech signal.  Providing clear access to speech is critical for them to learn. Research has shown that children need quieter conditions and better signal-to-noise ratios than adults to have good speech understanding (Bradley & Sato, 2008). This is because children with developing language and auditory systems have a smaller vocabulary and are unable to rely on the redundancy of language to fill in missing words (Neuman, Wroblewski, Hajicek, & Rubenstein, 2010). Other studies have shown that an inability to understand the teacher due to poor listening conditions directly impacts the learning of new concepts (Yang & Bradley, 2009; Leibold, Hillock-Dunn, Duncan, Roush, & Bess, 2013). The exertion of mental energy and listening effort are also much higher when poor acoustic conditions exist (Bess, Gustafson, & Hornsby, 2014; McGarrigle, Gustafsson, Hornsby, & Bess, 2019).

The EduMic classroom solution

With the release of the EduMic™, Oticon Medical offers a unique solution for children to optimize listening effort in challenging environments. The EduMic – a remote microphone system (RMS) –features 2.4 GHz wireless technology and integrates with the Ponto 4 sound processor.  Built on the Velox STM platform, the EduMic features advanced signal processing, including Open Sound NavigatorTM technology. The EduMic preserves speech, operating within a wide bandwidth of 150 Hz to 10000 Hz while analyzing, balancing and applying noise removal to the streamed signal.  To improve the signal in outdoor environments, the EduMic also features Wind Noise Management, which employs an added level of “cleaning” to the signal.

While the primary function of the EduMic is in the microphone and transmitter mode, it has additional modes that are useful in and outside the classroom. The EduMic can stream stereo audio from various sources by connecting via a 3 mm jack cable, connecting to Frequency Modulation (FM) and Digital Modulation (DM) devices via a universal receiver, or it can function in telecoil mode. Additional features to help with the management of the device include LED indicators, a retention clip and protective skins.  The EduMic is robust and durable, provides stable transmission of the speech signal and provides the user with approximately 10 hours of use on a single battery charge based on internal device testing (EduMic Technical Data Sheet).   Figure 1 highlights the EduMic design and functionality.

Clinical evidence concerning EduMic supports both device usability and the improvement of speech understanding in complex listening environments. In fact, when the EduMic was subjectively evaluated by a group of educators, 80 percent reported a preference towards the EduMic over a competitive remote microphone system (RMS) and described it as “easy to use and comfortable to wear” (Gordey & Rumley, 2019).  When assessing the effectiveness in a noisy environment using a simulated classroom study design, the EduMic demonstrated improved speech understanding in children with hearing loss in both noise and noise plus reverberation environments when compared to using their hearing aids alone (Gordey & Rumley, 2019).

We encourage the use of the EduMic in all environments, including a child’s home where incidental learning occurs. This powerful solution provides children with an effortless transition into any environment because of its ease of use.  Finally, this product is a great balance of design and usability combined with advanced hearing technology to optimize the learning experiences of children with hearing loss.

To learn more about the EduMic and how it might benefit your patients contact your clinical specialist.

References:

Bess, F. H., Gustafson, S. J., & Hornsby, B. W. (2014). How Hard Can It Be to Listen? Fatigue in School-Age Children with Hearing Loss. Journal of Educational Audiology, 20, 1-14.
Bradley, J. S., & Sato, H. (2008). The intelligibility of speech in elementary school classrooms. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 123(4), 2078-2086.
Gordey, D. and Rumley, J. (2019). Enhanced Learning with the EduMic. White Paper. Oticon, Inc.
Leibold, L. J., Hillock-Dunn, A., Duncan, N., Roush, P. A., and Buss, E. (2013). Influence of hearing loss on children’s identification of spondee words in a speech-shaped noise or a two-talker masker. Ear Hear. 34, 575–584.
McGarrigle, R., Gustafson, S. J., Hornsby, B. W., and Bess, F. H. (2019). Behavioral measures of listening effort in school-age children: examining the effects of signal-to-noise ratio, hearing loss, and amplification. Ear Hear. 40, 381–392.
Yang, W., & Bradley, J. S. (2009). Effects of room acoustics on the intelligibility of speech in classrooms for young children. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 125(2), 922-933.

About the Author:

Carissa Moeggenberg is an audiologist who has worked in the hearing healthcare field for the past 28 years. She is presently the training manager for Oticon Medical.