If you want to get the best out of your studies and overall time in college, you need to understand your learning style perfectly and adapt to it. Therefore, if you are tired of furiously writing as you struggle to listen to the teacher, we have something for you-recording college lectures. So, can you record college lectures? Yes, you can and you should.
Links on this website may lead you to a product or service that provides an affiliate commission to the owners of this site should you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. For privacy policy, disclaimer and term of use please use links in the menu on the top of the page.
Being a student is not as easy as most people think. You are under constant pressure to score good grades and still maintain a social life, occurences that are usually challenging. You have lecturers to go to, research to do, parties to attend and a term paper to finish.
People are different, and while some lecturers are slow and reserved, others are pretty first and unconcerned.
Can you record college lectures?
Even the most attentive students in the class can indeed miss a point or two during a lecture. Recording is an easy alternative that ensures you get the most out of your classes.
However, before you do that, you need first to confirm whether it is allowed or not. The truth is, recording a person without his or her consent is a crime in most states and regions. However, the big question is the scope.
An excellent hack that might help you deal with this law without much inquiry and thought is making the recordings open. If you want to record a lecture, there is no harm asking your lecturer or professor for permission.
It even gets better since most of these lecturers allow you to record the lectures and go to the extent of doing that themselves.
Is it a good idea to record lectures?
Yes. It is a good idea to record lectures since it allows students to go through the materials later. It might be quite impossible to catch every word that comes out of the lecturer’s mouth.
Therefore, having something to go through once the lecture is done is a pretty good idea. In case you are looking for more reasons why it is a good idea to record lectures, let us take a look at these:
i) It helps you focus
Most people do not view things from this angle. While trying as hard as possible to write down everything that comes from the mouth of the lecturer is a good idea, it is pretty challenging to focus and digest what he or she is saying when your face is buried in a notebook.
Getting and digesting what the lecturer says requires your full focus. You cannot entirely rely on your notes to learn different concepts.
Struggling to write as the teacher explains things can make you miss out on useful and vital illustrations. Recording a lecture means that you won’t be struggling to write as the professor teaches.
Meaning that you will have more time to follow through and then later strengthen what you have learned by listening and taking notes from the recordings.
ii) You won’t miss a thing.
This is self-explanatory. As you struggle to write down everything that the lecturer says, you will automatically miss a thing or two. It does not matter how skilled or fast you are at writing.
College is quite different from high school. While your high school teachers used to give you time to jot down and even repeat the crucial points, most lecturers are fast-paced.
Therefore, however much you try, you will not be able to capture everything. When you record a lecture, all the information that the lecturer says will be recorded, meaning that you won’t miss anything.
Afterward, you can listen to the lectures in your free time, transcribe them, and organize your notes. You cannot afford missing out on essential points and information if you want to succeed and get the most out of your education.
iii) Memorability
Recording a lecture allows you to take it all in. Most of the information we come across are mostly forgotten or thrown and buried in the subconscious. Therefore, to ensure that the brain remembers the price of information for long, it has to be engaged.
Most people can’t retain such information for long, and that is why a good number prefer reading over and over again. Recording your lectures helps you memorize since you can listen to the piece repeatedly as the information is permanently recorded in your brain.
iv) Improve your learning process
You can easily optimize your learning experience after recording your lectures. Several platforms allow you to create searchable notes automatically.
Through this, you can organize your notes and use key terms to find what you are preparing for quickly. If you want to take your studies to a whole new level, you may need to start recording your lectures.
v) Allows you to choose and perfect on your learning style
We are not the same. Different people have different learning styles, and therefore, you must identify something that works for you. You may not be the type of person who learns by reading an entire book in one sitting.
If you prefer learning by engaging your brain and listening to audios, recording your lectures is all you need. If you are a visual learner, a transcript from your recordings will work wonders.
This method also works for verbal learners who will have the opportunity to hear and see the teaching language. Therefore, you do not have to force yourself into accommodating a learning style that does not suit you when you can record your lecturer and make the most out of it.
Now, after you have read it tell yourself is it a good idea to record lectures or not? I think it is.
How to record lectures in college
After finding out whether your school policy allows recording of lectures and whether your professor is okay with it, it is now time to figure out how to record lectures in college. One of the most common ways of doing this while in college is through a recording device.
Therefore, you can settle on a voice recorder, also known as an audio recorder to capture everything the lecturer says. However, ensure that the device you decide on has hundreds of hours of recording time. This will come in handy if you are attending year-long classes or have unending lectures.
Luckily, there are voice recorders that can store thousands of hours of audio time. A notable hack that people fail to take note of is transferring the files to your computer after the lecture is over.
This will help you minimize the chances of losing the recordings or accidentally deleting a file before you are done listening to it. While still on the same, removing a file creates more room for other data.
If your recording device does not have enough space, you can settle on one with a USB flash drive. You can easily record lectures and transfer them to your computer immediately. Fortunately, most voice and audio recorders have room for USB.
Lastly, you can use your smartphone to record the lectures. This will save you money since all smartphones have a pre-installed recording feature. You can email or back up the recording to your cloud after it is done.
Recording Lectures in College Tips
How can you record lectures in college to make the recording process easier and more efficient? You do not have to install a recording app on the phone since the pre-installed one works well.
However, keep in mind that your phone may not have as much space as a digital voice recorder, which may force you to email the recordings to yourself continually.
If possible, you can arrange for an external memory option such as an SD card to boots the internal memory.
There are a few tips that you need to keep in mind if you want the best recording. First, you need to test your recording device’s sound quality by recording your voice at different distances. Also, take note of the noises and whether they will interfere with your recordings.
Second, you should position yourself close to the lecturer if you want high quality and clear recording. You can leave your audio recorder by the podium or take the closest seat to the lecturer. You don’t really have to do the latter if you can easily access the podium.
Lastly, you need to record the whole lecture. Therefore, make sure that your device is positioned correctly and can fully pick up the lecturer’s voice. Ensure that you get the most out of the lectures as much as possible.
You can also choose to split the recordings in more than one file by stopping the first one and immediately starting a new one. This will allow you to easily back up your record if you are using your smartphone.
Recording lectures without permission
Can you record college lectures without permission? Remember, we mentioned that you need to ask for permission before recording the lecture and confirm with the school policy. However, if you disregard this, you might face disciplinary actions for contravening the school policy or even get on the wrong side of the law for unlawful recording.
Conclusion
Recording a lecture comes with its fair share of advantages. However, make sure that you ask the lecturer for permission and confirm with your school, or better yet, ask an attorney to clarify the applicable laws in your region.
Recommended Tools for Recording Lectures
Can you record college lectures using simple portable tools? Of course!
We evaluated many voice recorders based on reviews, technical specifications, price range, quality, maker and other factors. Below is a list of some of the recommended voice recorders for recording college lectures.
Zoom ZH1 H1 Handy Portable Digital Recorder
Color: black.
Price: $119.99.
Afraid of missing a key part of a lection because of distractions and a noisy environment? Then you probably need to think about buying an up-to-date digital voice recorder.
Stay confident when it comes to comprehensive learning and enhance your academic results. It is time to find out about the advantages of the digital recorder below:
Reliable construction. The brand-new enclosure of a matte digital recorder protects the microphone from being damaged. So it helps you to extend the period of recorder use. The recorder is lightweight and quite similar in size with iPhone 6.
Comfortable interface with a one-touch button and quality battery.
It easy to operate when a device has a pretty intuitive menu and that’s a case. You can easily control the speed of recording and overdub stereo functions. That digital recorder also has a voice emphasize filter.
The alkaline battery can function for 10 hours with the help of a built-in mic. The impedance of input is 2 kΩ. You don’t have to connect the recorder to something else as it works independently. There is no chance to charge the device via USB mini port, it is used for transferring samples to your PC. Another option for connecting gadgets is the SD slot.
Not only mono. The mic input provides you an opportunity to record in stereo.
Embedded mic condenser. 90-degree x/y format.
Can you record college lectures with ease now that you know all the basics? We think so.
Sony ICD-UX533BLK Digital Voice Recorder
Color: black.
Have you ever record lessons but then realized that you couldn’t decipher it properly? Forget about poor-quality noisy recordings and give yourself a chance to study even more effectively!
Sony ICD-UX533BLK Digital Voice Recorder combines durability, simplicity in use, and great clarity. There are also several key benefits, you should definitely consider:
Memory capacity. 4 GB of memory for recording lessons, lectures, or tutorials, which is equal to more than 1. 000 hours. A multitude of space for all information you need to work with.
Enhanced quality of the microphone. 2 elements stereo mic for reliable sound reproduction and volume regulation, so each nuance will be caught. The voice recorder has a headphone jack and a small speaker.
Additional space for your recordings. An extra built-in slot, that extends available memory.
More freedom for adjustment. An opportunity for setting up an appropriate level of sound by default or control it manually, if you need it. Such a thing could help avoid quit recordings with low levels of sound or poor-quality samples. The device matches with Mac Pro.
Sony ICD-UX570 Digital Voice Recorder
Price: $80.00
Color: black.
Tired of hearing distractions and white noises in the background of your samples? Record your lections diligently in order to get ready for final exams! By quick charging, for about 3 minutes in the morning, you are able to record up to 1 hour.
Sony ICD-UX570 has improved the quality of sound and innovated construction, thinner than never. There are 3 sound options, available to use: a normal, wide/stereo, and narrow/focus for achieving the best result, depending on the particular environment.
Therefore, background white noises or distance between the speaker and you won’t be a problem. Both mono and stereo sound are available to record by an external mic, which connected to the MIC in jack. By pushing a record button recording pauses. A small speaker and a headphone jack are embedded in a device.
Olympus Voice Recorder WS-853 with 8GB, Voice Balancer
Price: $60.00
Color: black.
Looking for a handy recorder to study more effectively? If you learn a foreign language or attend informative tutorials, Olympus Voice Recorder allows you to slow down a recording or speed it up, when it’s necessary. You can set speed up from 0.5X to 2.0X. So it can be easier to decipher recordings and complete your notes.
The Olympic voice recorder has a large amount of space for your recordings: 8 GB of internal memory. The device contains a micro SD card slot, it supports mp3 format so your files can be deciphered on PC.
It is possible to pause your recording and then start over with the help of the REC button. You can also change the file name, whenever you want. Remember that by default the device records what you hear straight away.
However, it has a timer mode, that is easy to activate.
The voice recorder matches with Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows 7, and 8. It also works with mac book pro.
You shouldn’t worry about damages during transportation and daily movements. Olympus Carrying Case for WS Series Voice Recorders, which is also attached, is made of a neoprene-type material. It helps you to keep your recorder safe.
Rechargeable lithium batteries are embedded with voice recorder.
Tascam, 4 AD Converter
Color: black.
Want to become A-student or just improve your academic performance? An opportunity to record lessons and tutorials gives you a chance to achieve it, so take a look at an innovative converter with enhanced quality.
Talking about Tascam, 4 AD Converter, it works with Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. You can switch a mic position from a to b or X-Y and record audios by using 2 embedded mics and 2 mic inputs at once.
This is why the quality of sound remains good and samples are protected from distortions. The frequency of sampling is 44.1K/48K HZ. A headphone jack is available, so you are able to record yourself and listen to file at the same time.
You are also able to record the track and then return to the previous one by an overdubbing mode. If someone sends you a file to listen, you can load a track on a converter and play this track on top with the other.
The recorder can be powered by USB and can be connected with your computer the same way. Despite this, it is possible to copy files from the SD card.
Recording starts just after pushing a button, but you may set up an appropriate delay.