This is ideal for beginning readers, ELL students, and fantastic center activities. The AV Tutor offers the reading practice students need without having to team up a parent or aide with every student. I love that the students hear the words and can record them too...
By Ken Royal Product Editor
Blog: District Administration Magazine
Source Link: View
For many students hearing is the fastest route to understanding
Califone® jackboxes are the most cost-effective way for educators to expand the number of students who can participate in small group sound field activities. Whether creating groups of 2 or more, these jackboxes ensure that each student can use a headphone to listen and read along with the rest of the class and not be left behind. Whether the classroom technology utilizes a ¼" plug from a boombox or the need is to stream audio from a computer through a USB port and capture verbal responses, Califone® offers a variety of stereo and monaural jackboxes that meet the demands of growing classroom sizes, including 3 brightly colored jackboxes that will appeal to younger listeners.
JACKBOX PRIMER
In an environment where group activities prove to be efficient methods of teaching, it’s critical to create an atmosphere where students feel comfortable working in teams or can gain confidence following along with others at their same level of reading. Setting up groups with Califone® jackboxes is an integral part of achieving improved reading skills and language learning. Selecting the proper jackbox best-suited for the tasks at hand is an important part of that process. The following descriptions will help you determine which jackbox can best satisfy your needs, whether it be a stereo jackbox used in conjunction with a Califone® media player, a monaural jackbox coupled with a cassette player/recorder or a USB jackbox connected to a computer.
Some of the most common equipment used in classrooms today are CD players and MP3 players. When lesson plans call for grouping students together to work on a joint project, combining these media players with stereo jackboxes facilitates that task.
A wide variety of reading materials are available on both CD and cassette and for the budget-conscious educators, using Califone® stereo jackboxes with their media players is key when teaching multiple students at a given time. Choose between 4-position with both ¼” and 3.5mm jacks and 10-position with only ¼” jack so you can build upon language lab or special education groups. These jackboxes give you the flexibility needed when preparing lesson plans to create activities for a group environment that benefit students with the same individual needs.
Getting young children to want to pay attention and learn can sometimes be half the battle. The other challenge is often getting them to work together. You can meet that challenge by using one of the different colored mini stereo jackboxes that Califone® offers. These jackboxes feature 4 positions, individual volume controls and don’t take up a lot of space with their small, portable size. Connect them to any media player with a 3.5mm plug and choose between red, blue, yellow and silver to create up to four different teams – one with each color jackbox – and give each team a specific set of questions pertaining to their reading material that they must answer as a team. You can also use a color to distinguish between different reading levels or mix and match between a jackbox and Listening First™ headphone colors for seasonal holidays. Pair a blue jackbox and a red headphone for 4th of July! The possibilities are endless! These vibrant colors engage the young learner to make learning fun.
More and more schools have assimilated the need to bridge everyday curriculums with computer activities. A stereo USB jackbox that allows multiple students to use headsets with boom microphones and computers simultaneously simplifies team-based assignments that require vocal responses.
With technology advancing at a faster pace, you can also find reading materials and applications that keep up with these advancements. Podcasting is becoming more prevalent in schools and what better way to introduce it in yours than with the Califone® USB jackbox? Aside from being the only jackbox on the market with a USB connection to synch to computers, it is also the only jackbox featuring six 3.5mm jacks each for headsets and microphones and volume controls for both. This six-position 1216USB jackbox enables students to digitally record their voices so they can track their reading progress on a computer. You can use it to set students up in podcasting groups to test their language development over a period of time or place multiple users on a VOIP call.
Throughout the years, cassette players have been a part of many classrooms as a valuable and reliable media player. For as long as these players have been around, monaural jackboxes have proven to be practical tools when students work together on various projects.
An important part of what affects students’ learning abilities is their listening skills. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association recommends that playback volume should not exceed 85dB in order to protect students’ hearing. Oftentimes they may be inadvertently jeopardizing their hearing by turning the volume up too much on their jackboxes and/or headphones. Integrating the new Califone® 1285G Sound Alert™ monaural jackbox is an ideal way to combat excessive volume levels in your classroom. Equipped with a red LED light that signals when the audio level exceeds 85dB, this useful tool allows you to work with your students in minimizing harmful audio levels and reduce potential hearing loss. The green LED light indicates that the system is charged and fully functioning. This jackbox comes with ten learning positions with ¼” connections; master volume control and a permanently attached 6’ straight cord with both ¼” and 3.5mm plugs that connect to a media player.
Does part of your daily curriculum involve placing students in large groups working together? Have you discovered that some of the best learning materials are only available on cassette and no other format? Look no further than the different monaural jackboxes that Califone® offers. Whether you have a need for 4, 6 or 8 person groups, these jackboxes are great tools that help you achieve your teaching objectives. They each come with permanently attached cords with ¼” and 3.5mm plugs that attach to all cassette recorder/players. You can gauge students’ reading levels and discern an individual’s reading pace to place them accordingly in a group with similar students.
