[nabs-l] Use of Digital Voice Recorders in the Classroom

[Steve Jacobson]

While I can't comment specifically on the use of a digital voice recorder, this issue has been with us for at least forty 
years.  Old cassette recorders could not mark up in DAISY which could make digital recordings more useful, but one 
could put index markers that could be scanned for and found.  Clearly, digital recorders add flexibility that these old 
recorders didn't have, but in my experience I rarely attended a lecture where I really wanted to relive it.  For me, the 
process of taking notes assisted me in organizing what I was hearing and caused me to maintain my concentration.  
Even if I got behind and missed something, what I missed was less significant than all that I learned because I took 
notes.  I am old enough that notes were taken with a slate and stylus using Grade Three braille which I felt allowed me 
to write as fast as sighted people were writing with a pencil.  I can't help but envy students now with the new note-
takers that let you write at the speed of a braille writer or typing into a computer, and I can only conclude that professors 
must be much more interesting now for students to even consider recording them.  <smile>    

Some of whether you record lectures or not will depend on your skill at doing this, but knowing you have that recording 
to fall back on will likely cause you to not concentrate on taking notes as you would if taking notes were the only thing 
you were doing.  You could have classes where the professor describes things in such a way that it might be handy to 
review, I can see that, but in general, I find the process of taking notes as a way to organize and efficiently recalling the 
important points of a class when reviewing is still very important for me.  I will also add that I still have to take classes as 
part of my job and I now generally take notes with a laptop, but I find that the process of taking notes is as helpful as it 
ever was.

Regarding art classes, There is a lot we can learn about painting styles and even colors without seeing them.  For us, it 
is going to be more theoretical, but we shouldn't undersell our own abilities to learn in such settings.  I had a physics 
professor who wondered how he could ever teach me about light and colors when I had not seen them.  I pointed out to 
him that he teaches everyone about gas and electricity and nobody actually sees them except in rare manifestations 
and he had never thought of that.  In the end, I did well on the unit on light, and my professor concluded that I may well 
have ended up understanding the physics better because I did learn it theoretically.  Art isn't the same as learning 
something like light, but there are sometimes unanticipated paths that can be taken.  Someone who has no ear for 
music could still learn the strengths of Bach versus brahms, for example.  Whether they should have to or not is an 
academic argument and will vary, but one doesn't have to physically experience everything they learn.  If I could choose 
to fill an art requirement by taking music rather than the examination of paintings, I would take music, no doubt about it, 
and that is what I did.  However, if exposure to paintings was required, I believe I could have gotten enough out of it to 
pass.  If I had to copy a painting as part of a test, I would definitely be in trouble, though.  <smile>

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

On Fri, 20 Aug 2010 20:45:02 -0700, Tina Hansen wrote:

>I know that there has been a great deal of discussion on this list in the past about the use of recording media in the 
classroom to record lectures. I also am aware that some people use either a laptop, Braille note taker, or slate and stylus 
to do notes. I, for one will not hire a live note taker, because to me, it just doesn't seem right.

>Anyway, I'd be interested in your thoughts about the use of digital voice recorder units during the lectures. If you've 
used them, what have you done to get the most out of the lectures? Do you think it's a good idea to use this tool alone 
or in combination with another note taking tool?

>Also, I have access to more than one unit with recording abilities: the Victor Reader Stream, the Book Port Plus, and 
the Book Sense. I also have a commercial voice recorder from Sony, but since the others are able to record mp3 files 
directly, I don't see the need to use that one unless I have no other option.

>Which units have others found works best in the lecture setting? Also, if anyone out there has other thoughts on how 
to use these tools effectively, I'm all ears. Thanks.
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