I cant focus in class so I need to record the lecture. Ive been recording with Audacity with just built-in Mic of the MBP but its catching my typing sounds and its not loud and clear as I like to be. Any suggestions on how I go about it?
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How to record the lectures in classroom?
- Thread starter piatti
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Get an external mike?
As silly as this may sound, there could be some copyright issues for recording your lecturer w/out permission. Shouldnt really be a problem though.
As silly as this may sound, there could be some copyright issues for recording your lecturer w/out permission. Shouldnt really be a problem though.
You should definitely ask for the professor's permission first. Most will be fine with it, but you should definitely ask.
Use your iPhone (assuming your have one), set it in your lap or between your legs and face the mic toward the instructor. If you're trying to get a balanced sound from all around the classroom to include your classmates, sit as near to the center as possible. My preference is AudioNote, it works better for long lectures, whereas the stock microphone app will freeze up and not allow the end user to access long lectures.
The problem is if you space out just here and there you lose context so that you don't know what they're talking about even the time you do focus.
Where would be the best place to store these lectures? I was hoping to make it into a video with a blank black wall paper with the audio and put it on my YouTube account in private mode. But I don't even know how to do that.
Where would be the best place to store these lectures? I was hoping to make it into a video with a blank black wall paper with the audio and put it on my YouTube account in private mode. But I don't even know how to do that.
Agree completely. I know the OP has said this is already done, but I've taught at college for years and I would not be happy if I was recorded without my permission having been asked first.
I will say that the fact that I know my lecture is being recorded would make my responses - and content - a bit more guarded; sometimes, I freewheel, or make spontaneous provocative or sharp remarks - on whatever topic I am discussing - to get a reaction from students - a laugh, or a disagreement. However, I am less likely to do so when I know I am being recorded. Then, it becomes a matter of record, not an off-the-cuff remark. Moreover, the very best lecturer whom I had as a student advised me never to permit recordings when I asked his opinion, and it was something he never allowed.
Hear, hear.
OP, the point of a lecture is to introduce the student to the material. It is a starting point, a survey, not the last word on the material. You are expected to have enough intellectual curiosity to wish to find out more - sometimes, without direction or signposts. The sheer joy of (sometimes apparently aimless) intellectual exploration is one of the great things about a good university education.
While you are not expected to get everything written down, you are expected to be able to extract the important stuff, and that means developing listening and analytical skills during lectures. It also means concentrating on what the speaker is saying, rather than drifting off, and that is also a useful 'life skill' to cultivate.
Nice try, snitch! 
In seriousness I agree with Scepticalscribe that it would really be better to ask permission.
Why do you space out? Not to sound like some kind of food dork but I find I get spacey in the afternoons if I've not eaten enough, especially protein. Just a thought anyway.
In seriousness I agree with Scepticalscribe that it would really be better to ask permission.
Why do you space out? Not to sound like some kind of food dork but I find I get spacey in the afternoons if I've not eaten enough, especially protein. Just a thought anyway.
From personal experience on both sides of the lecture, distracted people don't learn well. I'm afraid that recording a lecture is just another distraction. Concerning the audio files, why not save them as MP3s on your hard drive? Posting them on YouTube or any other online site, even privately, would push the bounds of "personal use" in my book.
Even taking notes can be a distraction. I had a student that was so involved in writing down everything that I said that she was constantly asking me to back up and repeat myself. Turned out she was terrified of the final exam for the class and wanted to make sure she had everything. I was overviewing material at the rate of about a 3 credit college class every 3 hours and the exam was open book!
Even taking notes can be a distraction. I had a student that was so involved in writing down everything that I said that she was constantly asking me to back up and repeat myself. Turned out she was terrified of the final exam for the class and wanted to make sure she had everything. I was overviewing material at the rate of about a 3 credit college class every 3 hours and the exam was open book!
Agree completely. OP, I'm not sure that posting lectures on YouTube or anywhere else online, even privately, would be a good idea; actually, it is a very bad idea, not least for copyright reasons, not to mention privacy issues, and speaking personally, I would not favour it. At all. I've had colleagues who copyrighted their lecture notes - and I used to think them paranoid for doing so. Seriously, OP, have you any idea of the boundary between 'public' and 'private' use?
Even if the lectures are long, not everything in them is of equal importance, and one of your tasks is to ascertain for yourself the important points and study them further so that you understand them.
Given the myriad attractions, distractions and entertainments of what are on offer online and elsewhere, I'm coming to the view that some students have a serious problem with schooling their attention span to something as mundane (and boring) as paying heed in class.
Bottom line, you're there to learn not to be entertained. The best teachers will try to do both, but recording a lecture is no substitute for paying attention and thinking about what is said.
Likewise, and this may surprise you, teachers - especially those in the humanities, - do not want an exact repetition of their own class notes thrown back at them in exams and essays. They want evidence that you have thought about the stuff, questioned it, mulled over it, mastered it and understood it. That is not the same as giving back exactly was given out in class, as it means thinking about - critically analysing - what was said in class. And that, in turn, means developing skills of concentration and listening.