<p>Hey guys. I'm not sure if this has been addressed yet but, does anyone plan on recording lectures? I've been told it's a dumb idea but I still want to do it. I always take notes in class and I'm sure I'm going to miss certain things the professor says so I felt a tape recorder can get everything. Some tests might depend on what the professor said in class too. If anyone plans on doing this, aren't there ways this can be done on a laptop or something? Any comments would be helpful.</p>
<p>yeah im wondering this too. </p>
<p>i know that at my sisters school (H) they record all major classes and you can just access them online. she says its very helpful and that if anything happens and you dont feel like going to class you can just watch it online. </p>
<p>does anyone know if Princeton does this? I hope so!</p>
<p>--David--</p>
<p>I'm not sure if classes are recorded at Princeton. I'm sure that Byerly will point out how great this is at Harvard, but in practice, recording/recorded classes aren't as effective as the real thing. Even if you can get away with an A in a 100-level class without going to lecture, the same won't be true once you make your way to Orgo or Con Interp. Go to lecture and listen to these professors in person -- that's what your parents are paying 40 grand a year for!</p>
<p>If you ask me, however, I think recording lectures is highly impractical for a number of reasons. </p>
<p>First, some professors don't like being recorded, for whatever reason. </p>
<p>Second, since your tape or recording would take down time in a 1:1 ratio, finding parts of the lecture or listening to the lecture a second time would take more time and effort than paying attention and taking better notes the first time. </p>
<p>Third, when tests depend on what the professor said in class, they don't depend on what the professor <em>literally</em> said. Rather, a professor will go out of his way to emphasize certain themes, concepts, problems, quotations, etc. in lecture.</p>
<p>Fourth, in many classes you'll get a handout at the beginning of every lecture detailing what's going to be talked about that day in class, so unless you're looking for a really specific detail (which you will rarely do), recording becomes really redundant.</p>
<p>The best way to go about getting everything the professor says is sitting in the middle of the front row and having a fast pair of hands. I have a complete set of all the lecture notes from HUM 218-219 thanks to this method 8-).</p>
<ul>
<li>Tim</li>
</ul>
<p>the only thimg I'm worried about is that I'll be too busy trying to write one point down and miss something very very important the professor might say. I think that's a cool idea about accessing lectures online. I hope Princeton does this. Is that what the Blackboard is for on the P-ton website?</p>
<p>Rest assured that the professor will emphasise important points.</p>
<p>For some classes there are lecture notes, but there are rarely lecture recordings. I haven't seen any, actually. Really, I think they're quite unnecessary.</p>
<p>Speaking of the blackboard, what IS that for? </p>
<p>And anyway, personally, I don't think I'll actually go back and listen to any of the recordings. If you're worried about missing something, you can always compare notes with a classmate or ask questions at the precepts.</p>
<p>Blackboard is a general repository for course materials. So for a particular course, there might be homework assignments (you didn't think professors would write those in a corner of the real blackboard after lecture, did you :)), lecture notes, and practice exams and solutions. In some courses, there would be music files, films, etc.. Writing seminars use Blackboard as a way of collecting papers; the deadline for papers is often midnight, and Blackboard can record the exact time of handing-in. Some courses might hardly use Blackboard at all; it all depends on the professor. The really useful thing I find about Blackboard is that you can use it to check out old materials from a course you're interested in.</p>
<p>certain classes do get recorded-- for example on rosh hashanah last year when lots of ppl were out to go to temple, my cs class was recorded and put online so that we didn;t miss anything. Also, all of the integrated science classes were recorded and online (just about 2 weeks later so that you had to go to class)</p>
<p>but generally, its pretty useless to record lectures, as nothing professors say is THAT important to know word for word, you just need to know the basic ideas. Almost every professor will work from powerpoints, and therefore already have the outline of their lecture. Besides, there are so many better ways to spend your time then watching or listening to every lecture a second time. Better to spend the hour either reading the book, going over your lecture notes, spending time on some ec, or just hanging out. You'll find out that youreally dont want to spend the extra hour listening to a lecture that youve already heard.</p>