Hearing technology can play an essential part in the education of deaf and hard-of-hearing children in inclusive schools. Few studies have examined these children's experiences with this technology. This article explores factors pertaining to children's use of and attitudes toward hearing technologies, such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, teacher-worn microphones, and student-worn microphones. The study included 153 deaf and hard-of-hearing students. All students communicated orally and were in inclusive schools from grades 5-10. The results suggest that males view hearing technology more positively than do females. Having severe hearing loss also promoted positive attitudes toward hearing aids and cochlear implants, but not toward microphones. The students with positive self-descriptions tended to be more satisfied with hearing aids or cochlear implants than the students with negative self-descriptions. The main factors promoting the use of hearing aids were severe hearing loss, positive attitudes toward hearing aids, and the sound quality of hearing aids.

The aim of this study is to explore teachers' views on school participation of students with hearing loss (HL) and to examine the association between students' school participation and factors related to the framework of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health for Children and Youth (ICF-CY). A total of 167 teachers participated in the study. Structural equation modelling was performed to explore relationships among the factors. The teachers considered the students to be socially included and to participate academically almost at the same level as their typical classmates. A multifaceted interaction between ICF-CY factors and students' participation in academic activities was found. Personal factors such as 'academic skills and motivation' explained most of the variance in academic participation, and were also associated with activity and environmental factors. Efforts to understand their classmates directly and indirectly associated with academic participation. Students with mild and severe HL appeared to have same level of participation rate. The parents' involvement in their children's schooling and the use of amplification systems were related to academic participation but not to social participation. A few factors associated with social participation; in those cases, having other disabilities in addition to HL explained most of the variance.

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The objective of this study is to examine factors that can explain teachers' use of assistive listening devices in inclusive schools for pupils with hearing loss (HL). Assistive listening devices, such as teacher-microphones and pupil-microphones, can ensure an enhanced listening environment for such pupils and thus induce a higher level of participation in the teaching. The study included 167 teachers of pupils with HL in fifth through tenth grades. The analyses indicated that factors related to the teachers, pupils, parents and technology influenced the teachers' use of microphones. Teachers with positive attitudes toward the microphones tend to integrate them regularly in classroom communications compared with teachers who are negatively inclined. Frequent use of the microphones also occurred if pupils had severe HL. Furthermore, parents who tend to be highly involved in the children's school performance indirectly affected the teachers' microphone use. Additionally, frequent use of pupil-microphones seems to be dependent of the number of microphones; a high-density of microphones promoted their use.