The fast-paced digital revolution sweeping the education landscape has proven to be a double-edged sword, redefining efficiency and connectivity within the classroom experience for some while leaving behind others without access to technology.
“The pandemic has pushed education forward into embracing technology at a faster rate than we were originally going at,” says Dr. John Tung, a principal at Arcadia Unified School District’s Rancho Learning Center School in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area. “Now we have a lot of educators who’ve experienced the benefits of having technology in the classroom.”
However, he also raises a crucial concern: “We’re able to provide all of that in the schools, but we don’t know the consistency of that access at home.”
In fact, studies show that 25% of children between the ages of 5 and 17 did not have access to computers or high-speed internet. As technology becomes increasingly essential in education, students lacking reliable internet and devices may face difficulties completing online assignments, participating in virtual classes, and accessing educational resources, contributing to a growing digital divide.
To address this issue, we’ve partnered with one of the nation’s fastest-growing wireless providers, TruConnect, to launch a unique initiative that brings technological resources to those who need them the most. Over the past few months, we’ve traveled around the country to distribute tablets equipped with internet access, along with our game-changing mental wellness platform, to families eligible for the federally-funded Affordable Connectivity Program.
Setting up for our distribution event in New York.
“In today’s day and age, we must prioritize both intellectual and mental well-being in schools– you can’t have one without the other,” says SoundMind founder and CEO Travis Chen. “By partnering with TruConnect, we created one of the very first initiatives that equips students with the tools for both so that they can truly flourish in an educational setting.”
Our first stop on our journey was in sunny Arcadia, California, where our tablet program was met with high enthusiasm and engagement by the families of Arcadia Unified School District.
Families in Arcadia engage with our SoundMind x TruConnect team to receive a free tablet and SoundMind Premium subscription.
“Almost 150 families received tablets, and we only reached out to 300-plus families so it’s a pretty high percentage of participation in my opinion,” said Tung. “I think a lot of families got to take advantage of what we had to offer.
Hopping from one coast to another, we landed in the charming city of Rochester, New York. There, our tablets were instrumental in furthering Rush-Henrietta Central School District’s commitment to bridging the digital divide.
The SoundMind and Truconnect team smile with Rush-Henrietta School District Director of Wellness and Equity Joe Jackson.
“One of the district’s priorities is equity and inclusion, and this initiative helps to support those efforts by providing reliable connectivity to more families,” said Mr. Joe Jackson, Director of Wellness and Equity at Rush-Henrietta Central School District based in the Rochester, NY area. “During the pandemic, it became clear that some students did not have reliable internet access at home.”
At the core of this initiative was our commitment to building relationships with the districts we served face-to-face, which is why team members flew across the country to host in-person distribution events.
“There’s something so special about getting involved with different communities and meeting new people along the way,” said Social Media Coordinator and event volunteer Ethan Welsh.
He highlights the importance of family values as a key factor in the event’s success, emphasizing how the connectivity and communication that the tablets offer exemplifies technology’s extraordinary capacity to bring people together.
“I remember talking to one mother in particular while we were getting her approved and she just kept mentioning how excited she was to bring home a tablet to her daughter,” said Welsh. “That conversation was definitely not an outlier and I ended up speaking to tons of parents that were so happy to make their child’s day.”
Our SoundMind team smiles with a new tablet recipient from the Rush-Henrietta School District.
This initiative serves as a compelling reminder of the critical need to close the educational digital divide and make technology a catalyst for unity and empowerment, not an obstacle to learning. It stands as a powerful testament to the profound transformations that can be achieved through focused efforts, enriching the lives of students and families, regardless of their economic backgrounds.
If you are interested in learning more about our initiative and how we can make a positive impact in your school district, feel free to visit our website or reach out to SoundMind COO Lucy Schafer via email at lucy@soundmind.app.
At SoundMind, we’re pioneering mental health care with the power of sound. Music is powerful tool that can not only alter or boost our mood, but has physiological effects on the body. It’s common to see students listening to music while studying, but it can actually be helpful in learning environments (aka, the classroom).
Music in the brain
Music affects many parts of our brains. Most notably, it increases activation in these specific areas:
Prefrontal cortex: in charge of behavior, expression, and decision making
Sensory cortex: controls tactile feedback while playing instruments or dancing
Hippocampus: involved with memories associated with music, as well as past experiences
Nucleus accumbens and amygdala: emotional reactions to music
Auditory complex: perceives and analyzes tones, listens to sounds
Why can music help?
There are many reasons why music can be beneficial in learning. Using music in the classroom can increase learning, retention of information, improve focus, and motivate students.
Music has been shown to increase good mood, and a good mood generally improves learning outcomes. It can also lower stress and relax you, which is often associated with studying.
Music can activate reward centers in the brain that are associated with doing other things that you enjoy. In other words, music can be used to increase dopamine in the brain, which can help with learning.
Certain kinds of music, like binaural beats and classical, can help your brain focus and increase information. It engages your brain more to pay better attention and interpret new info easier, which is helpful when working on difficult concepts.
Studies have shown music can help on memory tasks and processing. Because the amygdala stores emotional reactions to music, you can actually recall memories from a song you were listening to while studying.
Calming music as well as binaural beats can really help students in the classroom and lower negative feelings associated with education. Specifically, alpha, beta, and theta binaural beats all have positive effects on focus, reasoning, learning, and stress reduction. Using these powerful sounds while students are taking tests, doing work, or studying can be really helpful in boosting their education.
How can we use it in the classroom?
With SoundMind’s binaural beats, students can use the SoundMind Hub to choose whichever binaural beat fits their needs. Plus, it gives educators an easy way to implement quiet time where students focus. During tests, teachers can also put on some calming classical music or a soundscape as background noise to calm students and help them focus. Additionally, encouraging students to listen to non-distracting music while studying can help them retain information for longer, motivate themselves, and have fun while learning.
Takeaway
Music is a versatile and powerful tool that can be used in the classroom and at home to increase memory retention and focus, stimulate the brain, decrease stress, and make studying fun. The power of binaural beats can boost these effects even more by changing brain frequency to a desirable one, turning procrastination into motivation. Try implementing music into every day tasks, both in and out of the classroom, and see how it boosts your brain!
Have you tried out our research-backed binaural beats on the SoundMind app? Download for free here!
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Do you ever get into the flow of something and feel that buzz in your body because you feel unstoppable? Like nothing can get in your way, and that you’re capable of anything in that moment? Many of us chase that flow state, because it’s when things get done—and you feel good about it the entire time. Unfortunately, we can’t always be in this state… but binaural beats can help you get there!
Level 100 Brain State
Gamma beats are in the 30-100 hertz range and mimic how your brain is operating at its highest level. By using brainwave entrainment techniques and different frequencies, sound can trick your brain into adopting these frequencies to power your brain. Here are some benefits of gamma brainwaves in particular:
Improved cognitions and problem-solving ability
Improved memory recall (say goodbye to tip-of-the-tongue syndrome!)
Improved awareness and mindfulness
How to Harness Gamma Binaural Beats
Using gamma binaural beats when analyzing, doing detail-specific work, and information processing can help make those tasks come easier to you, and maintain that great flow state of productivity and learning. It’s also been shown that high levels of gamma brainwave activity are found in individuals who are more receptive, empathetic, and mindful—all great qualities that showcase the power of the brain’s default mode network, or DMN. This is a cluster of brain regions that is most active when engaging in introspection, empathy, and thoughts of the past/future, all of which require a higher level of thinking.
Takeaway
Gamma binaural beats mimic your brain at its highest level, and can help you power through intense, high-level tasks through improved cognitive function and memory recall. You may find that tasks are easier when listening to gamma binaural beats, and that it might be easier to achieve that unstoppable work flow state. If you’re curious to know what it’s like, try out some of our specially-curated binaural beats in the SoundMind app, and let us know what you think of them! It just may be the push you need to become the most productive version of you.
Have you tried them out on the SoundMind app? Download for free here!
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With the back to school season rapidly approaching, it’s time for both educators and students to gear up for another great year of learning. Luckily, this year may look a little different for teachers who are using SoundMind as an aid for their students—with help from our mood tracking and AI learning features, teachers can get an even better glimpse into their classrooms to see how they can best support their students (and themselves).
What does SoundMind offer for schools and students?
Soundmind’s all-in-one program includes access to our entire library of binaural and visual beats, a personalized soundscape composer, daily mood tracking, brain games, and our wellness locker. This allows students to have 24/7 wellness tools they can utilize both inside and outside the classroom. We’ll dive a little deeper into three of our main features below:
Binaural beats and visual worlds
Each binaural beat can be paired with what we call ‘visual worlds’: short, engaging videos that personalize the listening experience to each individual. There are different categories that students can use to find which binaural beat is best for their mood state. Binaural beats are scientifically proven to target different mood states, and can help relieve symptoms of impaired focus, anxiety, stress, depression, difficulty sleeping, and more. Over 48% of our users have reported a significant reduction of these symptoms with regular listening use of binaural beats.
Science-Backed Brain Games
SoundMind’s app has a library of brain games that encourage positive cognitive function, improved memory capabilities, and sustained focus. These games make mental health and brain health fun by being engaging without being addictive, since they’re specially designed to prevent that. Educators can encourage students to play these games without worrying about them staying on too long—they’re designed in conjunction with SoundMind’s research team to encourage positive brain training that can be used by anyone, and are a great supplement in the classroom!
Wellness Locker
This feature has a lot of resources to help students focus on their mental health, from guided listening lessons to audio clips explaining how to use our app most effectively. We also have worksheets that pair with each resource and audio clip, so educators can use the Wellness Locker as part of their lesson plans too.
Every day, the app will prompt students to track their mood when they open it. This data is used in the monthly wellness report that teachers can access in the SoundMind Administrator Dashboard, where it also shows AI-generated suggestions on how to improve aspects of your classroom that may need more help. Check out this link to learn more about how to use the app and what SoundMind can do for you!
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What do all good spy movies have in common? From 007 in James Bond films to Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible, all the protagonists are characterized by high-level alertness, extreme attention, high level cognition, analytical thinking, and on-the-fly problem solving (because something always has to go wrong). My suspicion? They’re all listening to beta binaural beats during their missions.
All jokes aside, binaural beats really can have an effect on your cognitions—although they won’t turn you into an international superspy. This study shows promise that binaural beats can actually help calm anxiety, along with other specific benefits depending on which frequency is used.
Brain-Fog, Begone
Beta binaural beats may help with a variety of things, including enhanced cognitions, increased attention, and improved energy stimulation. These operate within the 14-30 hz range, and mimic our fastest brainwaves. Your brain naturally cycles through different brainwave types throughout the day, depending on what you’re doing at a given moment. Specifically, our brain generates beta waves when thinking critically and paying attention, so beta binaural beats mimic these brainwave patterns to encourage a similar effect.
When should I be using beta binaural beats?
Any time that you’re doing a detail-oriented task, or need to stay vigilant, is a good time to put on some beta binaural beats. By mimicking your brain’s natural patterns and cycles, these binaural beats encourage you to more easily move into a concentration state. It won’t work like magic, but it’s a good way to keep your energy stimulated—helping you get through whatever you need to finish.
Takeaway
Beta binaural beats operate in the 14-30 hertz range and can promote cognitions, stimulate energy, and positively affect analytical thinking. By having an increase in attentiveness, your brain is more adaptable and can work through problems faster, while also remaining detail-oriented. You can check it out for yourself on the SoundMind app, where we tailor a large selection of binaural beats to your current mood or desired mood state. Don’t underestimate the power of sound!
Have you tried them out on the SoundMind app? Download for free here!
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Need to focus, but just have too much brain fog to concentrate? Do you have a big exam coming up that you aren’t motivated to study for? By harnessing the power of sound, alpha binaural beats may be able to help you get over that slump and get you into a learning flow state.
Alpha Mentality
Having confidence in yourself and knowing you’re going to succeed is a big motivator in wanting to engage in a task, and learning is no different. Oftentimes students struggle with negative self-talk, in which they constantly project themselves in a state of negativity which eventually leads to burnout or giving up. However, alpha binaural beats in the 8-14 hertz range have been linked to promoting positivity, as well as concentration. Listening to alpha binaural beats when studying or diving into a daunting task won’t eliminate your negative thoughts completely, but it may help motivate you a little more and get the ball rolling. And sometimes, just a little push is enough to get you all the way through.
Is it a solution?
Just like anything else, sound therapy isn’t meant to be a one-stop, fix-all solution to the problems we face in everyday life. What can be said, however, is that the current scope of research on binaural beats is promising, although it will require more study to understand the full extent of the power of sound.
When am I using alpha beats?
A favorite of mine is to use alpha beats when I have a long list of tasks piling up at work—in fact, I’m listening to SoundMind’s “Align Your Focus” track while writing this blog post! Binaural beats won’t affect everyone the same way, but I know for me it really helps put me in a “just get it done” state of mind. Because I listen to alpha binaural beats during certain scenarios, when I hear one, it triggers me to want to enter that flow state that I found previously.
Takeaway
Alpha binaural beats in the 8-14 hz range can promote concentration/focus, positive thinking, and learning flow states when used in conjunction with associated tasks. This positive thinking can be invaluable to students, especially those who struggle with confidence in starting their work and having trust in themselves that they truly are capable of succeeding. Educators may see a difference in student mentality with regular use of alpha binaural beats—which is why we have personalized suggestions for teachers in the SoundMind Hub, so they can help their students harness the power of sound!
Have you tried them out on the SoundMind app? Download for free here!
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The digital meditation industry is currently worth more than $500 million USD, and is growing as a plethora of mindfulness apps continue to spring up. However, is it really a solution towards guided mindfulness, or do they just pose another distraction?
Screens make it hard to concentrate by constantly projecting information and visuals to you. Some may even feel that a rise in digital distractions is bombarding our brains—and not in a good way. A constantly stimulated brain will find it difficult to slow down enough to engage in meditation or to even just mentally relax. But binaural beats may be able to help.
Theta Wave Headspace
In an era of constant information overload, it can be a challenge to find space and peace away from digital entities. Theta waves in particular can be helpful in establishing this peace of mind, by mimicking how the brain operates when you’re in an extremely relaxed headspace—or when you’re dreaming. Theta waves are in the 4-8 hertz range, and binaural beats will use audio cues to establish this in your brain.
How can I harness the power of theta waves?
Just like any other binaural beat, all you need is a pair of headphones (or two earbuds). To really harness theta binaural beats, put them on when you need to open your mind and clear your thoughts—perfect for getting into a creative groove or begin meditation. A personal favorite is listening to theta beats when beginning breathwork techniques—pairing theta beats with mindfulness practices allows me to ease myself into the calm that I want to achieve. For the non-meditators, thetas can be used to just take a moment to relax and clear your head.
Takeaway
Theta waves in the 4-8 hertz range are associated with meditation, relaxation, and creativity. Pairing these binaural beats with mindfulness techniques or using them to escape the digital trap by clearing your head can be helpful in achieving calmness when needed. They may also have a hand in promoting creativity by removing mental distractions!
Have you tried them out on the SoundMind app? Download for free here!
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SoundMind’s app has a ton of unique capabilities, but did you know that we’ve made these tools so you can easily integrate them into your classroom? From our visual binaural beats, to the customizable soundscapes, to our wellness locker resources, SoundMind is committed to helping students both in and out of the classroom.
We’ve listened to many teachers ask us for easy, simple ways to help students prioritize their mental health by using SoundMind, so we created a list of starting points that can help. For non-educators: you can still apply these to your own life if you find them helpful!
1. Reading affirmations of the day
Affirmations can help us start the day with fresh motivation, by uplifting ourselves first thing in the morning. Having an affirmations board in your classroom can be a great way to help students engage, by allowing them to write an affirmation of the day!
2. Have a mental health tip of the day
Giving your students a mental health tip of the day can really help equip them with long-lasting life skills that go far beyond the classroom. Even if it’s as little as “give yourself breaks while working even if you really need to get something done” can be a powerful statement that encourages rest when needed. You can also assign a few students each week to promote a mental health tip that they find useful!
3. Give students (and yourself) time to log their moods in the SoundMind journal
Journaling daily promotes self-reflection, boosts self-confidence, and encourages students to look into their emotions. Teachers can implement a 5-minute journal time for students during their class periods to help them pick up this healthy habit and give them time to unwind.
4. Have students complete their wellness check-ins in the SoundMind app
When students complete their daily SoundMind wellness check-ins, it allows the SoundMind Hub to create a wellness report. This can be extremely helpful for teachers, because it allows you to see student stress, burnout, anxiety levels, and more. This data is part of the comprehensive mental health report that SoundMind sends you every month!
5. Try a new AI-powered suggestion that is personalized to your classroom
In the SoundMind admin dashboard, we’ve integrated AI to suggest ways that you can improve your students’ wellness. These suggestions are generated using the data that your students input during their wellness check-ins, and are refreshed every day. These combine activities that have worked for your classroom before, as well as integrating mental health tips that have worked for other users.
6. Listen to binaural beats
Encourage your students to use binaural beats, and set aside some listening time in class. SoundMind has over 85 unique binaural beat audios, paired with visualizations, that can help students tackle a variety of stressors. Listening to binaural beats improves mood and task performance—in fact, over 48% of SoundMind users have reported a significant decrease in stress and depressive symptoms when listening regularly!
7. Choose a lesson from the Learning Library to listen to
Our Wellness Locker has different resources with guided listening to help you and your students on your mental health journey. These can help walk students through how to incorporate techniques such as stress and anxiety management, how to kickstart your day with healthy motivation, and how to boost resilience. We find that it’s very helpful for students to have guided listening time, and there’s a lot to choose from in the Wellness Locker!
8. Do guided worksheets from the Learning Library
In the Learning Library, we have different lessons in the ‘Science’ section that students can listen to and complete the accompanying worksheets. This not only encourages them to learn more about their mental health, but also gives students a way to write down what they’ve learned. These can be used in your lesson plans and is a great way to set aside time to prioritize mental health.
9. Explore dynamic visual listening with custom worlds
The SoundMind app has over 85 worlds and over 85 binaural beats, so students have a lot of options to match their mood. Altogether, students have over 7,000 unique combinations to personalize and have fun with!
10. Sharing soundscapes
The SoundMind app has a ton of different ambient sounds for students to choose from. You can use these as a creative opportunity for students, so they can learn how to create their perfect mix of sounds and have the chance to share their discoveries with classmates. Putting time in the lesson plan to play a student soundscape while they’re working on a task can be a great way to encourage collaboration and creativity!
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How many of us are actually able to go to sleep when we want to? Although it’d be nice to have a complete absence of thoughts and no running ‘to-do’ lists plaguing our minds before bed, it’s unfortunately not how it goes most of the time. However, there’s been research emerging that ‘sound therapy’ can actually help with promoting deep sleep and stress relief, without needing anything else but headphones and a phone.
Why focus on Delta Waves?
EEG brain scans have revealed that delta waves are most prevalent in stage 3 of the sleep cycle, also known as the ‘deep sleep’ stage. These waves are in the 1-4 hertz range. Using this information, delta binaural beats stimulate the brain to act similarly to how it does in stage 3, promoting deep sleep and relaxation. By doing so, delta beats can keep your brain in a deeper sleeping state which leads to a more restful sleep!
Delta Beats for Deep ZZZs
Playing a different frequency in each ear leads to a phenomenon called ‘brainwave entrainment’, allowing sound to adjust the way your brain is operating and achieve desired results. Studies have shown that delta binaural beats are most effective in promoting deep sleep, stress relief, and meditative states. Some have even found that they might have an application in pain relief for patients recovering from injuries or surgery, although the full extent of this is not yet known.
So what do I do?
In the SoundMind app, there’s a lot of different options for binaural beats and visual beats, which are short-form videos we created that pair with the audio. All you have to do is put on some comfortable headphones (they have to play in both ears), lay in bed, and turn the track on. Relaxing with delta binaural beats can put your mind at ease and promote a relaxative state. A good night’s sleep isn’t a dream—delta binaural beats can help make it a reality!
Have you tried them out on the SoundMind app? Download for free here!
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We’ve all heard the phrase “music heals”, but does it actually do anything to our brains? Recently, there’s been a rising interest in binaural beats, ASMR videos, frequency music, and white noise that is being used to enter a ‘flow state’, relax, or focus. SoundMind’s app is built off the functionality of binaural and visual beats, but what exactly are they?
🎧 Brainwave Entrainment
First, the technique of “brainwave entrainment (BWE).” When our brains hear two differing frequencies, it adjusts according to the difference in those frequencies—for example, hearing 40 hz and 45 hz will lead our brain to hear a 5 hz frequency. We can use this phenomenon to alter our brain waves and create a desired state.
Although there is a rise in search queries for ‘40 hertz’ specifically, there are many other categories of frequencies that can be used to enter a desired brain state.
Need to relax?
Delta, theta, and alpha beats are your best bet. These range from 1-14 hz, and are associated with deep sleep, meditation, relaxation, and stress reduction. Used in the right context, alpha beats in particular can actually help you enter that coveted ‘flow state’ to get your creativity going. And theta waves have been shown to decrease symptoms of anxiety when used regularly over the course of a month.
Superpowered Brain Beats
For times you need to really pay attention, problem solve, and be alert, beta and gamma beats are the best choice. These range from 14-100 hz and can be used while working, studying, or doing anything analytical. Research has suggested that they may be able to boost attention span and mental vigilance on tasks.
🎯 Takeaway
Although still being researched, studies show that binaural beats and brainwave entrainment are a promising avenue to supplement daily tasks and assist with certain mood states. SoundMind believes that the power of sound can be used for therapeutic purposes, and with an increasing interest in ‘music therapy’ from the general public, it appears that others believe in it as well. Can music really heal? We think so.
Have you tried them out on the SoundMind app? Download for free here!
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Sydney Bracht (she/her) is the Chief Research Officer at SoundMind. Sydney’s Alma Mater is Johns Hopkins University, where she studied Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Spanish. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D in Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania. She has worked in numerous labs investigating the biological mechanisms that drive cancer metastasis and worked at Pfizer. In addition to laboratory research, Sydney is a volunteer for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and works on all clinical testing and mental health research for our product. She is the scientific voice of all things SoundMind. Outside of mental health, three things she would love to see more appreciated in this world are scientific literacy, clean energy, and black tea.
Brenna Elmore
Brenna Elmore (she/her) is the Head of Marketing at SoundMind. She has a background in social media, having previously worked at Twitter as a manager on the @TwitterSupport handle. Her passions include mental health, social justice, and the art of storytelling through all its various mediums. She’s a proud alum of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she studied photography, videography, and creative writing. Aside from mental health, Brenna would love to see more appreciation for writing in notebooks, hanging out in bookstores, and taking cat naps (with cats included).
