Part of a major upgrade to the A/V systems throughout Jyväskylä’s Lyseon Lukio (upper high school) in Jyväskylä, A/V education technology integrator Edutaito Oy has installed116 Genelec 4000 Series installation loudpeakers.

With the distinction of being the oldest Finnish-speaking school in the country, the emphasis was on quality, clarity and intelligibility of the spoken word, with Edutaito equipping every classroom, meeting room and teacher’s/principal’s office with its own pair of Genelec 4010A two-way active loudspeakers. These work with newly installed touchscreens and other interactive technology.

With more than 1,000 students in the school, there were a lot of rooms to equip, meaning that a total of 102 4010A loudspeakers were installed across the complex. The bigger rooms and in particular the music rooms, benefitted from the much larger 4040A speakers.

‘Nowadays, a large proportion of learning material is web-based,’ says Edutaito’s Sebastian Räisänen who designed the A/V system. ‘There are a lot of videos, audio material and music. The most important aspect is language teaching and learning, which means listening to a lot of recordings, making your own recordings and listening to the playback. Sometimes the sessions are even conducted in meeting rooms using Skype or Google Hangout sessions, so crystal clear audio is critical.’

‘Genelec is made in Finland; this was important for the teachers and principals who are proud to support a Finnish brand,’ Räisänen elaborates. ‘Second, my own interest in the purity of vocal reproduction led me to Genelec thanks to the clarity and crystalline sound quality of their products, which is perfect for this type of application where intelligibility of the spoken word is so important. You can’t learn a language properly if you can’t distinguish sounds clearly and hear what people are saying. A clear voice is paramount for both teachers and pupils, and this is why we work with Genelec.’

In the case of Jyväskylä high school, about half of the classrooms had previously been equipped with interactive whiteboards with integrated speakers that were stripped out to make way for Genelec speakers and touchscreens, while the other half used passive speakers with external amplifiers.

‘The teaching staff love the new, active Genelec systems with integrated amplification,’ Räisänen says. ‘They find it much easier to use and it works every time. They are delighted because now the teacher does not have to raise his voice, and neither does audio and video need to be played at high volumes, but everyone in the room can hear every syllable. Finally, the build quality and reliability of Genelec speakers means that staff know that once the systems are installed, they will have zero problems. It might be 20 years before they even need a service. Genelec speakers are an ideal partner in enhanced interactive learning environments.’

More: www.genelec.com