Tape Recorders

[rnmomtobe2010]

How many of you pre-nursing and nursing students have found having a tape recorder in class helpful? I am trying to see if my $60.00 is worth spending on one. Thank You!

[Music in My Heart]

I recorded lectures for a while but I didn't find it to be of much benefit listening to them again.

What did have some value was recording my own audio review files which I then burned onto a CD and also put onto my mp3 player. You can do that off of your PC, though, and don't need the recorder.

[caliotter3]

I recorded as many of my classes as was possible when I was in school a couple of decades ago and found the tapes to be quite helpful for me. They are a good backup for those times when you don't quite understand something and start to get lost. You can also give your recorder to a classmate to record classes when you know that you have to be absent. When I listened to my tapes and "cleaned up" my notes, I almost always found stuff that I had missed. (I guess I dozed off more than I realized since I commuted to school after a night shift job).

My daughter is in school now and has found that the schools she has been attending do not allow tape recording as much as when I was in school. She said the instructors claim they are avoiding liability. If you decide to try recording, make certain that you ask the individual instructors for permission. I also read on this board that someone used a recorder that was efficient for clandestine recording. I never had to do that. Our instructors allowed it back then. Good luck.

[Music in My Heart]

The one thing that I did like about recording lectures was the help that it provided when I missed a parenthetical comment by the teacher. I type all my notes on a laptop and I would insert the recording's elapsed time into my notes as I typed so that I could reference back to specific parts of the lecture.

The microphone on my digital voice recorder was sufficiently sensitive to permit it to be kept in a pocket, if desired (it was never an issue with my teachers). If I had wanted to, I could have recorded the sounds directly to my laptop without the teacher knowing it. I'm not sure that I would have because that would be dishonorable but I certainly could have.

[NursingAgainstdaOdds]

I think it is very helpful, especially when you have limited time to study. I would listen to our recorded lectures while doing dishes, cleaning, driving, etc. It really helped me make the most of my time.