I wanted to know if there are any rules regarding recording lectures (be it audio and/or visual). Does it vary from place to place? Can profs flat out tell you they don't want to be recorded?

My friend and I were joking around and saying that we should bring a camcorder to class, set it up on a tripod, and tape the whole lecture while doing homework from other classes/sleeping/playing online poker. You think that'd be a good idea?

Have any of you recorded lectures in the past? Did it help? How did you do it? What did you use exactly?

i have recorded audio as well as taken photos of extra notes scribbled on his regular notes, as well as examples in maths. he didnt seem to care very much, or he didnt notice

it seems to be fairly common in some subjects. my uni actually have a system in place where lectures can be autmatically recorded by the theater and published online, although science lecturers refuse to do it on principal.

i couldn't imagine a lecturer saying no to you recording as long as you attended, i would suggest asking them.

Depends on the prof. My ancient history teacher doesn't allow recordings, but my anatomy and physiology teacher records his own lectures and posts them online for us.

Recording isn't a substitute for paying attention though. Come midterms you might have several hours of recordings to go through rather than some condensed notes. Use it wisely; it can be helpful, but paying attention is better IMO.

Ask the prof, a professor of mine failed a student for recording his lectures without his consent.

(It says so on his course outline, photography audio/videorecording is not permitted of his lectures).

It varies from prof to prof. Most will say yes.

It is entirely the professor's call, unless the institution has a policy (few do). Most professors will be fine with it, though some will allow only audio recording, and some will refuse entirely.



Entheogenic

I wont do it simply because its usually boring enough to listen through the lecture once let alone twice.

Most of my lecturers make podcasts, so you can access recordings of past lectures from anywhere via the internet with an indefinite timeframe.

It wouldn't be such a bad move to encourage some of your lecturers to do this, and even if no argument will sway them you can lodge the idea to student services/human resources.

Mostly the above (sidkid88's post) is the truest shit though, and podcasts are even more boring than lectures.