How to audio record my professor?

Most people use an old fashioned tape recorder. It works pretty well. Otherwise, if you have an iPhone or Touch, they have recorders. Also an MP3 recorder would be good.

Everyone I’ve ever known who tried to tape lectures gave up on the idea rather quickly. Remember, for every one hour lecture, you have a one hour recording to listen to. Multiply that by the number of courses you’re taking and, PHEW!

It was about 20 years ago, but I had a cassette recorder that I’d use to tape certain classes and I’d play them back in the car, as my commute was about an hour. Listening to the recorded lectures is beneficial also while you review your notes, and you can rewind or fast-forward to the relevant parts… you needn’t listen to the entire thing.

I used to rewrite my notes, because my writing was sloppy, and some professors would present the material in a rambling manner, so I’d have arrows and little notes squeezed in the margins, etc. As I rewrote them, I’d also have the text and the recorded lecture to reference, so I could put it all together in a way that made sense to me for reviewing prior to exams.

Everyone’s brain works a bit differently, so it helps to find which modality is your strongest and which are weaker… but to use multiple modalities to really help build the connections in the brain for understanding and recalling the information.

If you have any learning differences, especially if they were documented in elementary and/or High School, your college should have an office of special services that can help you obtain any extra devices you might need, or special permissions (such as untimed tests, audiobook versions of your texts, etc.) If you suspect you might have specific difficulties, but were never tested, they might also be able to arrange evaluations for you.

Keep up the good work, and good luck finding what study system works for you!

I used a digital recorder. and it worked very well. CVS has them for about $30.00.

I have an HTC Touch Pro cell phone and I use the voice recorder on that—crystal clear quality, I might add—but if you’re just looking for a recorder, don’t go super cheap because you get what you pay for. They have compact, affordable digital recorders (doesn’t have a tape, but it records it all) at places like RadioShack and Best Buy.

Oh, make sure you tell him you’re recording him as well—that’s a big issue on some campuses.

@jho1188 right!! I had to ask all my intructors first, and most of them said it was ok. I had to ask classmates if we were having discussions as well.