The Future of Digital Audio
1st in a series about new technologies for educational audio hardware
Technology. It’s ever improving and ever changing at an increasing rate of change and each generation has early, middle, and late adapters. This is just as true with audio-focused technologies used in schools. But regardless of how we’d classify ourselves on the spectrum, it’s no secret that the more we understand a technology and what it enables us to do, the more comfortable we become using it, which in this case means applying it to teaching.
One example of this is would be media players. Dating back to the introduction of phonograph players into schools in the 1940’s, the next two generations of students used media players for individual and group assignments. With the development of portable storage devices (beginning with cassette tapes up to SD cards), students were recorded for a variety of benefits. But CDs and particularly cassettes, while still used today, no longer have the same mind share they used to. The focus for classroom audio visual equipment has inevitably begun switching to digital media.
A recent development for media players and PA equipment has been the integration of computer-like abilities, specifically built-in memory. This feature enables students to record and immediately replay student responses for instance, and is found on the Music Maker™ USB and the smaller, more personal 8101 MP3 player/recorder. Each offers 512MB flash memory and can record up to 18 hours of audio. These media players are useful in a classroom environment but what if your digital needs call for a venue much larger that of a classroom? The PowerPro™ SD portable speaker, aside from being the first speaker to wirelessly transmit it audio to supporting companion speakers, is also the first of its kind to boast an internal memory. It not only plays digital files but can also make digital recordings of speeches or announcements. All three digital players also have a built-in SD card slot so digital files can be recorded onto an SD card and subsequently played on either the Spirit SD, Music Maker USB, MP3 player or PowerPro.
There’s no doubt that technology will continue changing (school-focused) audio visual equipment. Read the second article in this series.
