Roger Technology Goes to School

SAN ANTONIO. (KFSN) -- If you have a cell phone, a television or even a fitness device...you've probably benefitted from Bluetooth technology. Now, Bluetooth-type technology is stepping into the classroom to create a "user-friendly" environment for the hearing impaired. There is a new system that allows teachers to be heard by students, no matter where they are.

Getting Pre-K students to listen is challenging for any teacher, even more so when the students are hearing impaired.

Shelby Borgelt, a teacher at Sunshine Cottage School for Deaf Children in San Antonio, Texas explained, "Literally, I'm right here. It's like I'm standing next to their ear."

Teacher Shelby Borgelt gets help in her class from a new technology that allows teachers to speak directly into student's ears.

Borgelt told Ivanhoe, "The Roger system allows me to be anywhere in the room, and talk to those kids, and give them directions."

The system uses Bluetooth- type technology. The teacher wears a headset; the student has a tiny receiver that snaps right into their hearing aid. Then, they activate their receiver at a connect station.

The result? Students can now hear their teacher, even when they are not looking at her.

For hearing impaired students, having the teacher's voice easily heard is a big help in a noisy classroom.

Andrea Harvey, MS, Director of Audiology at Sunshine Cottage School for Deaf Children in San Antonio, Texas told Ivanhoe, "That's one of the most difficult situations that people with hearing impairment have is listening when there's a lot of background noise, and those other distractions that are typical for a classroom."

Older systems sometimes picked up interference from police scanners and other frequencies, roger does not; making hearing, and learning, a lot more fun.

The Roger system also allows hearing impaired students to plug directly into computers in order to hear music, videos and other lessons. Parents can get the system to use at home as well for around $3,000.

If you would like more information, please contact:

Sara Rosales-Guerra

210-824-0579

srosales@sunshinecottage.org