One of the effective ways to monitor and reduce noise levels in classrooms is by making noise visible. Enabling students to visualize their noise raises awareness to their sound levels and makes them noise conscious.
There are several noise meter tools and apps to use in your classroom to bring down students noise and therefore help in creating optimal learning experiences. Below is a collection of some of the best noise meters for classroom use. They are simple, easy to use, and cost-effective.
A caveat that was brought to my attention by my readers concerning the use of these noise meters in class is distraction (read teachers feedback in this Facebook post).
For instance, certain learners including students with special needs find the alarm sounds and the bouncing balls distracting and outright annoying.
So, instead of enhancing students focus, which is the primary reason for using them, these tools can have a counterproductive effect, doing just the opposite of what they are supposed to do.
Therefore, discretion is mandated. If you notice any type of discomfort from your students then no need to use them. You might go with simple traditional (non-tech) ways of noise monitoring.
Best noise and sound meters on Amazon
If you are looking for physical noise meter products, here are six of the top rated meteres in Amazon. I already reviewed them in a separate post if you want to learn more about them. These are:
Online noise meter tools
1. Bouncy Balls
Bouncy Balls is a free web tool that helps you manage your classroom noise. Bouncy Balls has an integrated noise meter that automatically detects different noise levels in surrounding environment and sends off alert signals.
Bouncy Balls is completely free, requires no registration or software download, and most importantly, is simple and easy to use. I have already written a review of this tool which you can read in Bouncy Balls: A Good Tool for Managing Classroom Noise.
2. Classcraft Volume Meter
Classcraft includes an integrated noise meter which allows you to monitor the noise in your classroom. The way it works is simple: determine a noise baseline in your classroom by setting the noise meter to a specific volume. A horizontal bar displays the fluctuations of the noise allowing students to visualize their noise in real time.
Classcraft Volume Meter is free and can be used without registration. It also includes a timer to help you time your classroom activities. Premium users have access to more features including an advanced reward system.
3. Classroom Noise 'O'Meter
This is another good noise meter for classroom. It is basically a coding project created using the popular coding platform Scratch.
To start using Noise'O'Meter you need to turn on your computer's microphone. Noise'O'Meter takes the shape of a clock with a single hand that moves clockwise according to the noise level.
The tool uses a colour intensity system to tag noise levels starting with low levels (green colour) all the way to highest noise levels (red colour).
And since Scratch is a collaborative community-based coding platform, members of the community have used Noise'O'Meter in their own projects creating what is known in Scratch lingo as Remixes. You can find these remixed projects on the right hand side within the tool's homepage.
4. ClassDojo
ClassDojo is a classroom management website that helps teachers track and manage students behaviour. ClassDojo includes an integrated noise meter for classroom.
The meter consists of a Sensitivity bar that you can adjust to your preference and bouncing columns that fluctuate according to noise level.
You need to log in to your account to start using ClassDojo's noise meter. Once logged in, click on Toolkit and select Noise Meter. Set a noise limit using the sensitivity bar, turn on the microphone of your device, and voila! You are all set.
5. Too Noisy
Too Noisy is a noise level meter that you can use in your class to help with monitoring and managing the noise of your students. Too Noisy works on Android, iPhone, iPad, and online.
Some of the features provided by this noise meter app include: visual backgrounds that change with changing noise levels, alarm counter that can be turned on and off, star rewards to reward students for keeping their noise under or within the acceptable range, and more.
Another cool feature offered by Too Noisy is that when students go over the predetermined noise threshold for over 3 seconds, "an audible alarm is sounded (this can be turned on and off) and the screen of the device appears to shatter!
Also, the "Alarm Counter" on the meter is incremented by one (this can be zeroed at any time with a reset button)."
6. Classroomscreen Sound Level
Classroomscreen offers this handy noise meter to use in your classroom. Sound Level is a widget you can access from Classroomscreen homepage. It allows you to use the microphone of your device to control the noise level in your classroom.
Use the integrated slider to set a noise threshold for your students. When students surpass the permitted level the bell rings alerting them to keep quiet.
You can also use the settings of the Sound Level to adjust microphone sensitivity and, in case you have multiple mics, select the microphone you would like to connect.
You can also change the color theme of the widget by selecting a pre-designed theme from the library or by adding your own color theme.
