Low Tech
The use of visuals in school can be really beneficial to a student with a hearing impairment whether it be a visual schedule on their desk or images to accompany a lesson. Students with hearing impairments will often miss a set of directions or misunderstand something a teacher says and they may feel too embarrassed to keep asking for the directions to be repeated. Having a visual schedule will allow students with a hearing impairment to prepare for whatever is coming next without worrying about missing directions during a noisy transition period. During instruction time, it may be hard for students to hear and understand everything a teacher says, so having visuals to accompany any presentation, worksheet, or notes will help eliminate some of the confusion. Visual schedules may be ineffective for students who fail to follow them appropriately and if schedules change a lot, then they will be difficult to keep up with. Using visuals to accompany instruction or class materials can be difficult. Visuals can only portray a certain amount of information, and it will not fill all the gaps for students with hearing loss. It may also be time consuming and difficult for teachers to find appropriate visuals to pair all of their teaching materials.
Mid Tech
Devices such as small clocks or timers can help students with a hearing impairment keep track of time without missing transitions. Some schools use bells to indicate a change in classes or transition between subjects. School bells may not be loud enough for students to hear or they may be too high-pitched. Students with hearing impairments can carry a small clock with them or keep a small clock on their desk to keep track of time and be ready for the next activity. Small timers can also be helpful to students with hearing impairments. Teachers may time a test or a presentation given in class and if they don't speak loud enough or have the student's attention, he/she might miss the starting or ending point. Some teachers use timers to notify students when free time is up and a student with moderate to severe hearing loss probably won't hear the timer go off. Having a timer on the desk will help increase students awareness during different activities. Timers may become a distraction for students who are not mature enough to focus on the task at hand or students may be too focused on an activity to pay attention to a timer. Another mid tech device that can help a student with a hearing impairment is an FM system. The student typically wears a hearing aid or cochlear implant in order to benefit from this device, but it helps students by sending spoken language directly into a child's hearing aid through sound waves or an amplification device. The teacher would wear a microphone and speak into that and the student would hear what is being said and can control the volume. Background noise wouldn't be as distracting when using this device. FM systems run on batteries and if they run out, then students will start to miss information being shared. It is also important for teachers to turn off the FM system when they are not teaching in front of the class so that the student won't hear everything being said. Since FM systems only work when paired with a hearing aid or cochlear implant, they may not work for all students with a hearing impairment.
High Tech
High-tech devices such as text-to-speech software or the use of an iPad can make communication easier for a student with a hearing impairment. If a student has a severe hearing impairment that developed as a young child, they may lack communication skills and find it easiest to use text-to-speech software to speak for them. The student would just have to type whatever they want to say, and the program will read aloud what was typed. Tablets, such as iPads, can also help with communication. Something as simple as typing messages back and forth may help someone with hearing loss communicate with a friend. There are also applications and special settings available on certain devices that can help a student with a hearing impairment communicate easier. Text-to-speech software typically will not produce speech with the correct intonation or pitch. It is not as effective as speaking because of a lack of emotion. Typing back and forth to communicate or typing into a text-to-speech software can be time consuming and if there are any mistakes made while typing the message may be confusing.