Need ideas on recording lectures.

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pettybone

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I just bought a laptop for school that has BlueTooth. I was thinking that I might get a BlueTooth Mic that I could set on or near the teacher's desk. I've done a search but have only found BlueTooth Headsets. Any Ideas on what I might buy.

Also I have MCE and it has something called sound recorder that can record in most formats. Its seems to be everything I need. Has anyone here done anything like this? Thanks for any tips. :)
 
Personally, I prefer to record my lectures on an mp3 player with a good mic. If you have the desk space and don't mind it being a little bit clunky you can do what a classmate of mine in law school did and connect a clip-to-the-screen or freestanding directional mic in combination with voice recognition to transcribe the class on computer.
 
I strongly recommend taking notes. It's far easier to find information you're looking for by leafing through a notebook than fast-forwarding through an mp3 recording of a lecture. By taking notes, you can synthesize the prof's lecture into words that you understand. Of course, you could always listen to it later and take notes of your own.
 
-=Antimatter=- said:
I strongly recommend taking notes. It's far easier to find information you're looking for by leafing through a notebook than fast-forwarding through an mp3 recording of a lecture. By taking notes, you can synthesize the prof's lecture into words that you understand. Of course, you could always listen to it later and take notes of your own.
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People have a reason for what they do. What works for you and the general public might not be helpful to others.

Anyways, on to the main question.

I'm not sure what your classroom looks like, but a mic is going to have a hard time picking up soft voices (you may have to end up increasing the volume 400% or higher, and by this point there is sooo much hiss and whatnot, that its a pain to listen to).

Still, its worth a try if you can eaisly afford it.

If you are dead set on recording the class, then you can try and look for a line level mic that will work better (one with built in amplification)example
 
-=Antimatter=- said:
Of course, you could always listen to it later and take notes of your own.
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Thats actually my intention. From my learning habits I am starting to learn that I am a visual and auditory learner. This will give me the chance to make detailed notes instead of halfassed notes I usually make under pressure.

towert7 said:
People have a reason for what they do. What works for you and the general public might not be helpful to others.

I'm not sure what your classroom looks like, but a mic is going to have a hard time picking up soft voices (you may have to end up increasing the volume 400% or higher, and by this point there is sooo much hiss and whatnot, that its a pain to listen to).

Still, its worth a try if you can eaisly afford it.

If you are dead set on recording the class, then you can try and look for a line level mic that will work better (one with built in amplification)example
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I really like your suggestion. I am left with wondering what type of output device I should get with this amp'd mic. I want to try and keep what I put on the prof's desk as small as possible. Reasons being that I don't want to annoy the professor and I would like the professors voice to be the most prominent one. I want to try and not go over $200 for this project.
Choice 1 Choice 2

I am hoping that these actually support voice recording instead of FM recording. I'm not sure these are the right direction. Thanks for the help so far. More suggestions would be great.
 
I'm one that's in the paper and pen crowd. I've tried recording lectures as well as taking notes on the computer. I've found the computer to be a distraction, and the recorded lecture to be too difficult to manage when I want to find something. Still, it may work for you.

I'd recommend not buying a terribly fancy mike. Ask the professor if you can put a mike up on his podium or something and try that out. You may find that recorded lectures don't help you as much as you thought they would.
 
I need something that works. It doesn't have to be fancy. It just has to be something that I can record and then put on my laptop. Also I need it to work every time I try without any prep time or real effort when I place it on the professor's desk. In my mind the mp3 player/recorder seemed the best route. I just need someone to tell me if I am wrong?
 
I find mp3 compression artifacting make my Professor's normally sultry voice sound far too tinny and uninspired. Go with a lossless format if possible.
 
jimmyb said:
I find mp3 compression artifacting make my Professor's normally sultry voice sound far too tinny and uninspired. Go with a lossless format if possible.
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What did you use to record the lecture?
 
I've see people record lectures rarely. THe one time I saw it, a girl just had the mic addon for her ipod and would just ask the professor if she could position it up front etc. I'm not too crazy about recording lectures, just takes too much time to re-listen. It's like attending class twice. Go there, and take good notes and you should be fine.
 
Urraca said:
I've see people record lectures rarely. THe one time I saw it, a girl just had the mic addon for her ipod and would just ask the professor if she could position it up front etc. I'm not too crazy about recording lectures, just takes too much time to re-listen. It's like attending class twice. Go there, and take good notes and you should be fine.
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Ive thought about doing this before, and didn't have a terribly easy time getting it done. Also, I would have found it easy to relisten to the lectures. I have a hard time sleeping without music, and if I just make a playlist with the lecture starting in around an hour...you actually absorb very well while asleep. I used to find I knew the words to songs without ever hearing them while awake when I was young and ran off the radio instead of computer playlist.
 
on this subject, I absolutely need to record lectures for class. I wont be using it as a substitute for note taking, but for getting more out of class.

Can anyone tell me if there is a tremendous quality difference in the various mp3 recorders on the market, or should I get a mini tape recorder?

The mp3 recorders entice me for being able to store a semesters worth of lectures and review on the pc easily.
 
I think I know what I am gonna go with. I figured I want a portable mp3 player anyways and none of them seem to worth what they cost so, I plan on getting the 30GB iPod with a MicroMemo (XtremeMac) mic. I have a couple months to make up my mind so I hope the discussion stays alive.
 
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