Potential disruptive innovation: online learning of public speaking courses in higher education

Purpose The sudden pandemic of COVID-19 has caused disruptive innovation in all areas of business including education. Despite the educators’ and students’ acceptance and readiness in the new normal, the traditional face-to-face (FTF) public speaking has been shifted to online courses to suit the current needs. This study aims to examine whether there were differences between online and FTF pubic speaking in the students’ anxiety level, speech performance, as well as their perceptions of the challenges in the implementation of online public speaking courses as a potential to disruptive innovation. Design/methodology/approach This pilot study was a mixed method research that involved a purposive sampling of two groups of 39 students in higher education. The instruments used were questionnaires of self-report anxiety, speech performance test and observation. Findings The findings show that the students preferred the traditional FTF rather than the online mode for public speaking courses. The challenges of internet connection and the lack of a live audience were their main concerns in online public speaking. It also provides a potential for disruptive innovation that could take into consideration of a live audience in university online courses. Originality/value This study provides the potential of public speaking course as a disruptive innovation. This brings implications for the innovators, marketers and educators to think of the online courses/programmes that can be best implemented while embracing the changes and the new normal of COVID-19 brings for student learning.

Assessing the relationship between neural health measures and speech performance with simultaneous electric stimulation in cochlear implant listeners

Objectives The relationship between electrode-nerve interface (ENI) estimates and inter-subject differences in speech performance with sequential and simultaneous channel stimulation in adult cochlear implant listeners were explored. We investigated the hypothesis that individuals with good ENIs would perform better with simultaneous compared to sequential channel stimulation speech processing strategies than those estimated to have poor ENIs. Methods Fourteen postlingually deaf implanted cochlear implant users participated in the study. Speech understanding was assessed with a sentence test at signal-to-noise ratios that resulted in 50% performance for each user with the baseline strategy F120 Sequential. Two simultaneous stimulation strategies with either two (Paired) or three sets of virtual channels (Triplet) were tested at the same signal-to-noise ratio. ENI measures were estimated through: (I) voltage spread with electrical field imaging, (II) behavioral detection thresholds with focused stimulation, and (III) slope (IPG slope effect) and 50%-point differences (dB offset effect) of amplitude growth functions from electrically evoked compound action potentials with two interphase gaps. Results A significant effect of strategy on speech understanding performance was found, with Triplets showing a trend towards worse speech understanding performance than sequential stimulation. Focused thresholds correlated positively with the difference required to reach most comfortable level (MCL) between Sequential and Triplet strategies, an indirect measure of channel interaction. A significant offset effect (difference in dB between 50%-point for higher eCAP growth function slopes with two IPGs) was observed. No significant correlation was observed between the slopes for the two IPGs tested. None of the measures used in this study correlated with the differences in speech understanding scores between strategies. Conclusions The ENI measure based on behavioral focused thresholds could explain some of the difference in MCLs, but none of the ENI measures could explain the decrease in speech understanding with increasing pairs of simultaneously stimulated electrodes in processing strategies.

Students’ Skill in Performing A Speech in SMA Negeri 6 Pinrang

The aims from this research are to know how is students’ skill in performing a speech, and to know the students’ deprivation in performing a speech. This research is mix method design to answer the problem of this thesis. The research took place at SMA N 6 Pinrang. The population was the students from eleventh grade, the sample of this research were 34 students who are from class XI MIPA 1 by used purposive sampling technique. The researcher used test and interview as instrument for this research. The speech performance used manuscript speech delivery method. The results of this research find that the students’ skill in performing speech are not fully fill up with the criteria of assessment, where the mean score from the performance is 189.79. Additionally, in analyzing the interview, the researchers conclude that there are some deprivations when the students perform their speech, the factors that been found over the interview were the use of English as a language used it selves in performing a speech. Moreover, the use of vocal variety and physical movement also mentioned with the students as their deprivation in performing a speech.

Correction: Feasibility of Virtual Reality Audiological Testing: Prospective Study (Preprint)

UNSTRUCTURED It has been noted in the literature that there is a gap between clinical assessment and real-world performance. Real-world conversations entail visual and audio information, yet there are not any audiological assessment tools that include visual information. Virtual reality (VR) technology has been applied to various areas, including audiology. However, the use of VR in speech-in-noise perception has not yet been investigated. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of virtual space (VS) on speech performance and its feasibility to be used as a speech test instrument. We hypothesized that individuals’ ability to recognize speech would improve when visual cues were provided. A total of 30 individuals with normal hearing and 25 individuals with hearing loss completed pure-tone audiometry and the Korean version of the Hearing in Noise Test (K-HINT) under three conditions—conventional K-HINT (cK-HINT), VS on PC (VSPC), and VS head-mounted display (VSHMD)—at –10 dB, –5 dB, 0 dB, and +5 dB signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). Participants listened to target speech and repeated it back to the tester for all conditions. Hearing aid users in the hearing loss group completed testing under unaided and aided conditions. A questionnaire was administered after testing to gather subjective opinions on the headset, the VSHMD condition, and test preference. Provision of visual information had a significant impact on speech performance between the normal hearing and hearing impaired groups. The Mann-Whitney <i>U</i> test showed statistical significance (<i>P</i>&lt;.05) between the two groups under all test conditions. Hearing aid use led to better integration of audio and visual cues. Statistical significance through the Mann-Whitney <i>U</i> test was observed for –5 dB (<i>P</i>=.04) and 0 dB (<i>P</i>=.02) SNRs under the cK-HINT condition, as well as for –10 dB (<i>P</i>=.007) and 0 dB (<i>P</i>=.04) SNRs under the VSPC condition, between hearing aid and non–hearing aid users. Participants reported positive responses across almost all items on the questionnaire except for the weight of the headset. Participants preferred a test method with visual imagery, but found the headset to be heavy. Findings are in line with previous literature that showed that visual cues were beneficial for communication. This is the first study to include hearing aid users with a more naturalistic stimulus and a relatively simple test environment, suggesting the feasibility of VR audiological testing in clinical practice.

An End-to-End Deep Learning Sound Coding Strategy for Cochlear Implants

Cochlear implant (CI) users struggle to understand speech in noisy conditions. In this work, we propose an end-to-end speech coding and denoising sound coding strategy that estimates the electrodograms from the raw audio captured by the microphone. We compared this approach to a classic Wiener filter and TasNet to assess its potential benefits in the context of electric hearing. The performance of the network is assessed by means of noise reduction performance (signal-to-noise-ratio improvement) and objective speech intelligibility measures. Furthermore, speech intelligibility was measured in 5 CI users to assess the potential benefits of each of the investigated algorithms. Results suggest that the speech performance of the tested group seemed to be equally good using our method compared to the front-end speech enhancement algorithm.

Auditory and speech performance after unilateral cochlear implantation for cochlear nerve canal stenosis

To explore the correlation between the width of the bony cochlear nerve canal (CNC) and long-term auditory rehabilitation after unilateral cochlear implantation (CI) in pediatric patients with congenital deafness and bilateral cochlear nerve canal stenosis (CNCS). A retrospective review was performed on 10 patients with bilateral CNCS and bilateral congenital profound hearing loss who each underwent unilateral cochlear implantation. The width of the CNC was determined on computed tomography (CT) imaging and following CI, auditory and speech performance following CI were graded using categories of auditory performance (CAP), speech intelligibility rating (SIR), and the meaningful auditory integration scale (MAIS) at 24 months following implantation. No correlation was noted between CAP score and CNCS at 24 months post CI ( P > .05). A positive correlation was noted between SIR score and CNC width (ρ = .81, P < .05). Similarly, a positive correlation was noted between MAIS and CNC width (ρ = .71, P < .05). The width of the CNC in patients with CNCS is positively correlated with some long-term auditory and speech outcomes after CI.

Cochlear Implantation Outcomes in Observed Vestibular Schwannoma: A Preliminary Report

Objective Over the last decade there has been a trend toward observation for small nongrowing vestibular schwannoma (VS). Even without tumor growth, patients commonly experience ipsilateral hearing decline, and hearing rehabilitation remains challenging. This study analyzes hearing and speech performance outcomes after cochlear implantation (CI) in observed VS. Study Design Retrospective review. Setting Tertiary referral center. Methods Chart review was used to include patients with observed VS who had undergone ipsilateral CI, pre- and postimplantation audiometry, and speech performance. Tumor size pre- and postimplantation was measured with volumetric analysis. Results Seven patients with ipsilateral VS and CI were identified. Preimplantation tumor volume was 0.11 to 1.02 cm3. Five subjects were implanted with a straight electrode and two with a perimodiolar electrode. The average preimplant pure tone average was 91.3 dB (range, 80-117 dB) and 61.2 dB (range, 12-118 dB) for the implanted and nonimplanted ears, respectively. In all subjects with at least 1 year of listening experience (n = 6), consonant-nucleus-consonant word scores improved at 6 months and 1 year in the CI-alone and bimodal listening conditions. AzBio scores in quiet also improved at 6 months and 1 year. Of subjects with serial pre- and postoperative magnetic resonance imaging, volumetric analysis demonstrated no tumor growth. Conclusion Our results demonstrate that CI is a successful option for subjects with small nongrowing VS. All subjects had improved performance postimplantation. VS may continue to be observed with serial magnetic resonance imaging given increasing conditionality among CI manufacturers and ability to assess cerebellopontine angle extension despite implant artifact.

The effects of continuous oromotor activity on speech motor learning: speech biomechanics and neurophysiologic correlates

Sustained limb motor activity has been used as a therapeutic tool for improving rehabilitation outcomes and is thought to be mediated by neuroplastic changes associated with activity-induced cortical excitability. Although prior research has reported enhancing effects of continuous chewing and swallowing activity on learning, the potential beneficial effects of sustained oromotor activity on speech improvements is not well-documented. This exploratory study was designed to examine the effects of continuous oromotor activity on subsequent speech learning. Twenty neurologically healthy young adults engaged in periods of continuous chewing and speech after which they completed a novel speech motor learning task. The motor learning task was designed to elicit improvements in accuracy and efficiency of speech performance across repetitions of eight-syllable nonwords. In addition, transcranial magnetic stimulation was used to measure the cortical silent period (cSP) of the lip motor cortex before and after the periods of continuous oromotor behaviors. All repetitions of the nonword task were recorded acoustically and kinematically using a three-dimensional motion capture system. Productions were analyzed for accuracy and duration, as well as lip movement distance and speed. A control condition estimated baseline improvement rates in speech performance. Results revealed improved speech performance following 10 min of chewing. In contrast, speech performance following 10 min of continuous speech was degraded. There was no change in the cSP as a result of either oromotor activity. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed in the context of speech rehabilitation and neuromodulation.