Recording lectures on your laptop? Forum

[LAWYER2]

Does anyone record their lectures? My criminal pro teachers stated that it is prohibited without her written consent, but no such other warnings from other professors.

Not that I think it's necessary, but it would come in handy to have the class dated and saved on MP3 format to review if needed.
Has anyone done this, and what do you use?

[20160810]

Why in the world would you want to listen to lectures twice? Just take workable notes the first time and spare yourself the misery. I venture that most people who record lectures never go back and re-listen to them. Plus everyone thinks you're a goober as soon as the tape recorder comes out.

On a side note: LOL@ your crim pro professor demanding her express written consent to record her lectures. What a self-important windbag.

[270910]

Why in the world would you want to listen to lectures twice?

[Duralex]

All the profs establish an explicit recording policy at LLS. The classrooms are all mic'd and upon request (either the professor's or student's depending on the protocol the professor sets up) the media department will record the class and publish it online. I think you can only stream it though (they like to pretend stream rippers don't exist.) Recording classes yourself requires the prof's explicit permission (or a disability based accommodation, I'd imagine.)

I think this is mostly because some profs/schools have a bug up their ass about their intellectual property (lectures) being redistributed than anything else. (Because torts lectures are really burning up the tracker at TPB, right?)

I could see archiving lectures just in case I have trouble with making sense of a note or didn't realize the importance of a certain exchange, etc. Or possibly to check to see what was explicitly emphasized later in the semester looking back. I probably wouldn't want to listen to everything twice. But I might want to listen to some particularly important or confusing discussions a few times. Or discussions that seem to showcase the prof's pet theories.

It's easy to compress lecture/discussion material by eliding all the pauses, there's software that will do it for you. You can get through an hour lecture in ~25 minutes. With my commute and two classes a day I could conceivably review yesterday's classes on today's drive, but that doesn't seem like the greatest use of time. I'm thinking that if I really wanted to listen to something like that while driving I'd be better off with Sum & Substance or Law School Legends.

But dealing with traffic is miserable enough without all that.

[LAWYER2]

It's easy to compress lecture/discussion material by eliding all the pauses, there's software that will do it for you. You can get through an hour lecture in ~25 minutes. With my commute and two classes a day I could conceivably review yesterday's classes on today's drive, but that doesn't seem like the greatest use of time. I'm thinking that if I really wanted to listen to something like that while driving I'd be better off with Sum & Substance or Law School Legends.

But dealing with traffic is miserable enough without all that.

Any specific suggestion on software, or what program to use to record it?

I highly doubt that I would go back and listen twice, but it could definitely come in handy in case I missed important points.
Wouldn't mind listening to it again on the ipod while working out.

[reverendt]

Always ASK before you record a lecture.

[Duralex]

It's easy to compress lecture/discussion material by eliding all the pauses, there's software that will do it for you. You can get through an hour lecture in ~25 minutes. With my commute and two classes a day I could conceivably review yesterday's classes on today's drive, but that doesn't seem like the greatest use of time. I'm thinking that if I really wanted to listen to something like that while driving I'd be better off with Sum & Substance or Law School Legends.

But dealing with traffic is miserable enough without all that.

Any specific suggestion on software, or what program to use to record it?

I highly doubt that I would go back and listen twice, but it could definitely come in handy in case I missed important points.
Wouldn't mind listening to it again on the ipod while working out.

Audacity, if you like free:
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Any version later than Beta 1.3.3 has the "truncate silence" command. That is the one you want to elide pauses and compress the material without a shift in pitch (no Alvin & the Chipmunks effect.)

[20160810]

Right, because there's such a thriving black market for Loyola civ pro lectures

[Duralex]

Yeah, it's kind of silly. You'd think they'd let students tape it themselves if they care but instead they want you to tax the already overworked media department. One of those WTFs I suspect are peculiar to law school.

[Baylan]

An interesting feature of OneNote that I'm aware of, but have not used (I start Orientation on Monday) is that recording while taking notes will sync the relevant portion of the recording to the notes that you are taking. Could be useful if you miss certain portions of the lecture and mark them in your notes for review later that day/week.

Someone with more experience with OneNote can probably explain better than I.

[SamSeaborn2016]

For people who are auditory learners it makes sense to record lectures but it is always better to ask the professor first. Lots of states are considered two-party states in regards to consent to recording.

[Sogui]

An interesting feature of OneNote that I'm aware of, but have not used (I start Orientation on Monday) is that recording while taking notes will sync the relevant portion of the recording to the notes that you are taking. Could be useful if you miss certain portions of the lecture and mark them in your notes for review later that day/week.

Someone with more experience with OneNote can probably explain better than I.

I tried it and it works as advertised down to the bullet point. Did you start Day 1 Section 2, Paragraph 3 point iv. 25 minutes into the lecture? Then click on the play button next to that bullet and it will play 25 minutes into the recording where hopefully the professor's comments will have some bearing.

However I tried this for my amusement and found that unless you have an external microphone, it's hopeless. Laptop mic's are garbage and the sound of typing and nearby noises will drown out all but the loudest of professors.

[Baylan]

An interesting feature of OneNote that I'm aware of, but have not used (I start Orientation on Monday) is that recording while taking notes will sync the relevant portion of the recording to the notes that you are taking. Could be useful if you miss certain portions of the lecture and mark them in your notes for review later that day/week.

Someone with more experience with OneNote can probably explain better than I.

I tried it and it works as advertised down to the bullet point. Did you start Day 1 Section 2, Paragraph 3 point iv. 25 minutes into the lecture? Then click on the play button next to that bullet and it will play 25 minutes into the recording where hopefully the professor's comments will have some bearing.

However I tried this for my amusement and found that unless you have an external microphone, it's hopeless. Laptop mic's are garbage and the sound of typing and nearby noises will drown out all but the loudest of professors.

Disappointing. Might be worth the investment in a mic though. I'm notoriously absent-minded (particularly during class...) and going back over parts that I have missed would be useful.