Bothered by the background noise of Zoom calls? Here’s how to block it out

Block the background racket on Zoom calls by using noise-cancelling software instead of noise-canceling microphones. — Dreamstime/TNS

Teachers on Zoom calls with students ages five to eight who are at home or in daycare might find this a familiar bugbear: the sounds of other children, siblings, parents and barking dogs. The students have noise-canceling headphones that block the noise for them, but not so much the teachers.

In addition, some students use iPads that have a plug for their headphones but no plug for a noise-cancelling external microphone (headphones that include microphones are expensive).