Get the Most of Recording College Lectures

If you are taking classes at a college or university, there are times when a course or professor is difficult to understand. In these cases and others, such as illness, you may want to record the lecture so that you can listen to it later to study for a paper or an exam. By taking into consideration a few factors, you can get the most from recording college lectures.

Steps

Preparing to Record Lectures

  1. Compare the advantages and disadvantages. You may want to record a lecture for a variety of reasons, such as illness or complicated subject matter. However, recording has its disadvantages as well as advantages. Take these into consideration.
    • If the course subject matter is complex and difficult, it may help to listen to a lecture two or three times to help you understand it, especially when you’re reviewing for an exam.[1]
    • If you know you’re going to miss a class lecture and don’t trust another student’s notes, you can record a lecture to make sure you don’t miss any important material.[1]
    • If you can’t keep up with how quickly your professor speaks, you may consider recording a lecture. It’s important to make sure in this case, however, that it’s not because you feel the need to copy down everything she is saying instead of what is important.
    • Recording a lecture can be distracting to other students and the professor, as well as to you. Students have complained that worrying about things such as battery strength takes away from their experience of the live lecture.
    • Recording the lecture may even encourage you to participate in class less actively. You may choose to pay less attention or take less complete notes if you think you can “get back to it” later.[2]
  2. Get the professor’s approval. Before you even consider purchasing a device and taking it to class to record a lecture, get the professor’s approval. Not only do many professors have policies on recording their lectures, which can be a form of intellectual property, but universities are also increasingly enacting regulations on taping classes.
    • If you have a legitimate reason why you want to record the lecture, such as an absence, a disability, or difficulty writing, talk to your professor. You may want to get a doctor’s excuse or disability accommodation for these cases. Your college or university will likely have an office of disability services that can help you arrange an accommodation with your professors.
    • Make sure to check the university’s policies as well. Because so many schools are moving to online classes, many now have regulations on recording lectures.
  3. Buy the best device. After you’ve received the approval of your professor or university, research and buy the best device for your particular needs. You’ll want to consider several factors from recording capacity to device size.
    • Check for a recording sensitivity that is strong enough to pick up speakers who use different tones and who may be standing at a distance. Since classrooms often have a lot of background noise, you’ll also want a device that has a background cancellation feature to reduce peripheral noise.[3]
    • Find a recording device that can store at least one full class lecture and has memory expansion capabilities. If you have a simple battery-operated tape recorder, you can always carry extra tapes. But for more sophisticated technology, you’ll need to be able to add more memory once you fill it.[3]
    • Most devices will come with USB ports that you can use to upload lectures to your computer.
    • Many laptops have built in microphones and you can also use these to record lectures, although they may not record as effectively as purpose-built voice recorders.
    • Get a small, unobtrusive device that you can easily carry. Not only will this save your shoulders or arms from extra weight, but will also not distract you, your classmates, or the professor.[3]
    • You can buy recording devices online or in-stores. Most major retailers and specialty electronics stores have a variety of recording devices for sale.

Recording the Lecture

  1. Do a test run with your device. Before you take your device to record a lecture, it’s a good idea to do a test run with it to make sure you know how to operate it properly. This will also help ensure that you don’t have any disasters the day of a lecture.
    • You can use the test run to figure out how close you need to be to a speaker to pick up her voice. You can easily do this by testing your own voice at different distances.
    • Consider adding some background noise to your test run to see how this affects the quality of the recording and make adjustments as necessary.
  2. Avoid common recording problems. If you are aware of common recording problems, then you can avoid any disasters during the recording or when you play it back. This will help ensure that you also get the most from recording your college lecture.
    • Make sure you have enough memory and battery power to record the entire lecture.[3]
    • Videotape the lecture if you’re allowed. It will allow you to record power point presentations if the professor uses them.[3]
    • Make sure your device doesn’t make any loud noises or create any visual signals that will distract you, your classmates, or the professor.
  3. Make sure you have enough storage and battery time. Before you go to a lecture, check to make sure that you have not only enough storage space on your recording device, but also that it has enough battery power. This will ensure that you capture the entire class and don’t miss anything.[4]
    • If you have a battery-operated device, make sure it is charged or that you have spare batteries.
    • If you are using a tape recorder, take an extra tape or two with you in case you run out of space or experience technical difficulties.
  4. Sit close to the professor. In order to get the most optimal recording of a lecture, sit close to where the professor is standing. This will ensure that you directly hear her voice, but also that there isn’t as much background noise.
    • If the professor moves around the classroom, it may not be as easy to capture her voice. Try sitting near the front at one of the sides to make sure that there aren’t too many other people around you to dampen the professor’s voice.
    • Don’t sit at the back of a classroom because you may not be able to record the lecture clearly.[3]
    • Make sure that you are not moving around too much so that your movements don’t disrupt the sound recording.
  5. Take notes to go with your recording. Taping a lecture is not an invitation to zone out during class. It’s important that you also take notes on a lecture. Not only will writing notes help you remember the subject matter more effectively, but there are also notes the professor wrote on a board or in a slide presentation that a recording might not capture.
    • Studies have shown that students who take handwritten notes actually learn and retain more.[5]
    • Use the recording only to clarify what you don’t understand or didn’t catch in class.
  6. Save your recording. If you want to be able to listen to your recorded lecture for notes or to help you understand a topic, remember to save it at the end of class. This will be a good backup and help clarify your written notes if need be.
    • If you accidentally forgot to save the recording of your lecture, you can ask a friend if he has one.
    • Many recording programs and devices will automatically save a recording as it progresses.

Using Your Recorded Lecture

  1. Listen to it as soon as possible. After you’ve attended and recorded a lecture, make sure to listen to the recording within a day of hearing it. This will ensure that it is fresh in your mind if there are parts that you need to clarify.
    • The longer you wait to listen to a recording, the less able you will be to clarify parts that are not clear or missing. Listening to it immediately will also help you identify any other issues with the recording.
  2. Transcribe it. Listening to your recording and converting it to text, also called transcribing, is another benefit of recording a lecture. You can use this text to back up your class notes, clarify any points you don’t understand, or even to save tape or memory space on your device.
    • Combining your class notes with the transcription of your lecture recording can be an incredibly effective study tool.
    • Transcribing will also help clarify any areas of the recording that may not be clear.
    • Transcribing the lecture into text also allows you to search the text, which is something you cannot do with the sound recording.
  3. Use it as a study tool. Having a collection of lectures from a class can be a very effective study tool during exams. Not only can the recording help you understand difficult topics, but it will fill in for any classes that you may have missed. Recorded lectures are almost as good for transferring knowledge as live lectures, particularly if you can supplement them with your memory and class notes.
    • You can either use the sound recording or a transcribed text of it to study.
    • Listening to the lectures again over the course of the semester may help you retain the material more effectively. Studies have shown that listening to the same lecture more than once can help you determine what information is most important.[6]
    • Make sure to have your class notes in front of you. These can help you better understand the recording. Studies have also shown that recorded are more effective when combined with more “active” forms of learning, such as creating or organizing class notes.
    • Transcribing the lecture recording will also let you delete it, saving memory or tapes.
  4. Let friends use it if they missed class or didn’t understand something. In the event that your friends miss a lecture or are also confused by the class material, you can lend them your recordings. In some cases, listening to the lectures together can be useful as you try to work through the course material.
    • Make sure to get back any recording you lend out so that you can use it. You can also wait to let someone borrow the lecture until you’ve transcribed it.
    • Letting friends use the recordings can benefit you. If you have to miss a class and need someone to record the lecture for you, you can offer to record a lecture for them if they miss class. Listening to a lecture together may also help you clarify any material you and your friend don’t understand.
  5. Do not post to the internet or in any other forum. Because universities increasingly have regulations on recording lectures and course material may fall under intellectual property laws, never post your recorded lecture on the internet or in any other forum. If you want to use a portion of the recording, ask the professor if you may use it.
    • If you do ask to use the recording, specify to the professor how and why you plan to use it.

Tips

  • Ask a friend or classmate to record your lecture if you cannot attend class. A recording of the professor's lecture may be more accurate than referring to second-hand notes.
  • Some professors may record their lectures in the form of podcasts, which are audio or video files you can download or stream from the Internet. Ask your professor how you can access lecture podcasts from your college's server or Intranet.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/50929/1/Karnad_Student_use_recorded_2013_author.pdf
  2. ↑ https://www.universitylanguage.com/blog/28/the-pros-and-cons-of-recording-college-lectures/
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 http://www.brighthub.com/education/college/articles/77727.aspx
  4. ↑ http://www.brighthub.com/education/college/articles/77727.aspx
  5. ↑ http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-learning-secret-don-t-take-notes-with-a-laptop/
  6. ↑ http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/edu/83/1/120/
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