current community

your communities

more stack exchange communities

company blog
Stack Exchange Inbox Reputation and Badges
tour help
Academia Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for academics and those enrolled in higher education. Join them; it only takes a minute:

Sign up
Here's how it works:
  1. Anybody can ask a question
  2. Anybody can answer
  3. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top
up vote 15 down vote favorite

I am a Masters Student in a public University in New York state. I do not consider myself to be disabled in any form but I do find it difficult to concentrate in class. I lose focus too often and have difficulty recalling concepts taught during class. So I find resources such as recorded lectures to be very quite beneficial as whenever I lose focus while watching them, I can simply rewind back.

I am currently enrolled in a course where lectures are not recorded. I like this subject and I want to do well. So I want to ask the Professor permission to audio-record his lecture (by just keeping my phone on my desk and not using any distracting piece of equipment). I don't know the professor well but he definitely isn't one of those overtly friendly ones who (you'd think) will surely give you permission.

What I want to know is if he were to deny me, what could be his reasons?

I think I have just one shot at this. So I want to go there prepared.

A vaguely similar (but not same) question has been asked before.

share|improve this question
3  
@NZKshatriya Is it not an awkward position to put yourself in, recording when consent has been refused? They will mark your work fairly and honestly. Is the same fairness not due to them? Academic study includes aspects of honesty and integrity e.g. citing for example. I've been annoyed regarding being recorded without being asked before. – Richard Kavanagh 14 hours ago
11  
In a class, I know can tailor the explanation to audience and present context; even so, and while being very careful with what I say (long before being "PC" became general policy), I had a case of students misunderstanding a genuinely technical term as offensive. In class, a misunderstanding might be resolved. However, with a recording, your audience becomes the world. Containing or resolving the misunderstanding becomes utterly impossible, and repercussions can be very grave. A prof has a right to decide whether they want to expose themselves to this (and "recorded" means "uploaded"). – Captain Emacs 14 hours ago
4  
I hate those official bragging about teaching "soft skills" (=90%bullshit), but one important is probably learning to focus on (fleeting) information given in an unwieldy format. Learn to take sensible notes while paying attention to the ongoing lecture. If the prof goes to fast (and you're not the only one thinking so), complain to him. – Karl 14 hours ago
5  
@NZKshatriya If you live in the US, state to the professor that you're doing this, or you'll get fined. It's a law. – haykam 13 hours ago
7  
"I want to go there prepared." It sounds like you're thinking that if he says no, you want to debate him, to convince him that his reasons for refusing are invalid. I don't think that will end well - the decision is entirely his and you have no leverage. You're not likely to change his mind by sheer logic, only to antagonize him. – Nate Eldredge 12 hours ago
up vote 37 down vote accepted

This is a subjective question, but common reasons I have heard (and reasons I would have) include:

  • Fear of students editing records to manipulate what you said
  • Fear of having a mistake you made taken out of context and spread widely
  • Concern that it encourages students to not pay as close of attention
  • Concern that students will not feel they need to attend class if they have acceess to the lecture outside of class.
  • Concern that students in the class will not feel as comfortable asking questions or contributing to discussion, since they are also being recorded
  • Institutional concern about a course's lectures being widely distributed online, when in fact these lectures are for (paying) enrolled students--a type of "intellectual property" concern

Edit: Also, you might just want to be aware, when bringing up problems getting easily distracted in the class, a professor might take that somewhat personally. Many committed teachers go out of their way to try to make their class as interesting and engaging as possible. If a student asked to record lectures because they are getting distracted or zoning out during class, I would not hear: "I am trying to do this to improve my learning;" I would hear: "I am trying to compensate for your short-comings as a teacher". Not all instructors will feel this way, but that's just something to keep in mind as you broach that conversation.

share|improve this answer
1  
Nice listing; and good points. But also, the video, with answering questions may show the prof not in the best light if it takes some time to clarify what the question is or what the answer should be (as opposed to, say, a pre-prepared lecture script). – Captain Emacs 14 hours ago
1  
And one can use copyright material in lecture slides. But if they get recorded and distributed, then this is not allowed and you might get fined (Happened twice at our university last year). – BDL 13 hours ago
    
This is a nice and comprehensive answer to the question. Still, even though there are many reasons lecturers might object to being recorded, I have seen many lecturers being fine with being recorded. In my classes (some years ago) the resulting files weren't distributed among the students. If you want to record someone, it's good to keep in mind that they are doing you a favour. You should be trustworthy and honour their "terms & conditions" (like "please don't post online without consent", etc.). – Earthliŋ 11 hours ago
    
I don't think the last portion should be a major concern. Not that some teachers (including, possibly, you) might take it personally, I don't doubt that, but I think it's the exception rather than the rule. In my experience, most teachers will acknowledge when students have difficulty staying focused and paying attention due to personal reasons (an ADHD diagnostics or use of certain medications are some examples), and will do their best to accommodate for that. It helps when the student sticks to a policy of only using the recorded content for his personal aid, and not sharing it in any way. – Marc.2377 9 hours ago
3  
I recently discussed the threat of atomic attack by the Soviet Union in the 1950s and early 1960s and described the "duck and cover" drill that elementary school kids learned. Mindful of the microphone clipped to my necktie, I did not describe the third step, after 1. You bend over, and, 2. You put your head between your knees, but I might have. Imagine Yours Truly on YouTube, wholly out of context, telling a class of students, "kiss your [posterior] good-bye!" Holy smoke! ksuweb.kennesaw.edu/faculty/rbrow211/papers/podcasting/… – Bob Brown 9 hours ago
up vote 20 down vote

One more to NMJD's list: privacy of other students. Enrollment and participation in a class is FERPA-protected in the United States.

Students may share comments or information that they do not want shared outside the classroom.

For example, a religious student may share doubts about their faith or LGBT status. A student may not want others to know that they are taking a class but their voices or faces may appear on the tape or video. An engineering student may ask a really stupid question or give a totally wrong response that they do not wish transmitted to the outside world and future employers. etc. etc.

share|improve this answer
up vote 4 down vote

I understand that you want us to play devil's advocate to help you think ahead and prepare for the conversation. Good thinking -- it's good to do your research ahead of time.

I would like to play devil's advocate at a more fundamental level, though.

I do not consider myself to be disabled in any form but I do find it difficult to concentrate in class. I lose focus too often and have difficulty recalling concepts taught during class.

Perhaps you have already had a good evaluation to find out why you lose focus often and have difficulty recalling concepts taught in class. But if you haven't yet, then I would encourage you to do so. Your question did raise a red flag for me, and made me wonder what might be behind your difficulties with focus.

If the evaluation were to find some clear reason, that could be documented to the satisfaction of your university's office for students with disabilities, you wouldn't have to struggle all on your own to get accommodations you need.

And now back to your immediate concern. I would guess that common underlying reasons for refusing would be self-consciousness and fear of the unknown, if the instructor had never had the experience of being taped while teaching.

If this is the case, it might be helpful to try it out in office hours, with permission. Another benefit of visiting office hours would be that the instructor would get to know you better, would see that you're working hard and doing your part, and would find you more trustworthy.

share|improve this answer
up vote 0 down vote

I'm really surprised that nobody has mentioned accessibility yet.

During my time at university, I struggled heavily with 'dyslexia', most notably the inability to write and listen at the same time due to the level of concentration I needed to write coherently. I was given a voice recorder, and access to software so that I could record lectures, and simply make notes on the timings or certain explanations/sub-categories. There's also the point to consider that you have paid (in my mind) probably an extortionate amount of money for these lectures.

TL;DR - you should always be allowed to record a lecture for your own personal use, as otherwise would discriminate against those with learning difficulties. However you have no right to upload it to anywhere or share it with anyone else.

share|improve this answer
up vote -1 down vote

At my university they are recorded, automatically and all students are given access, thus students aren't allowed to record anything.

This being said staff can opt out of recordings. I'd be clear with them the purpose of the recording and how it's to be used. If they feel happy then I'm sure they'll consent.

share|improve this answer
2  
How is it "thus", or a given, that students aren't allowed to record anything just because lectures are recorded (ass+u+me(dly) by the school itself)? Is there a written policy stating that students are not to record in class lectures/discussions? I really do not understand having these no recording rules in this day and age. It is almost impossible to bar student recordings, as phones/laptops/digital recorders are ubiquitous items now. How does one enforce these rules? – NZKshatriya 15 hours ago
    
Further, if you record anything then they lose control. They don't know what will happen with any recording. You'd have to assure them of its usage. – Richard Kavanagh 15 hours ago
    
There are campus rules regarding recording and seen as there are high quality recordings, with video in some cases already provided it's not needed, for students to record themselves. There is still need for privacy of other students and not all will agree to being recorded, therefore uncontrolled recordings are not always best. – Richard Kavanagh 15 hours ago
    
I find the material in your answer interesting, but I think it would work better as a comment. (I was not the downvoter.) – aparente001 10 hours ago
    
Not I either lol, It also depends where you live if all in the classroom needs to give permission to record......Thankfully Texas(where I am) is not one of those places – NZKshatriya 9 hours ago

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.