Best Voice Recorder for Nursing School

BEST VOICE RECORDER FOR NURSING SCHOOL

As a nursing student, you may find it incredibly important to record lectures. Recordings can be a useful learning tool. When you record nursing lectures, you will have the opportunity to revisit sections that you may not have understood well during the lecture period. This is important in reinforcing your understanding of the concepts taught.

Should You Record Nursing School Lectures?

The short answer is: Yes.

When you record lectures, you can listen to selected parts that you not have understood well during the lecture. Listening to the parts two or three times can be helpful, especially if you are reviewing the lessons for an exam.

Recorded lectures make it easier for you to learn. For example, if a professor speaks quickly and you cannot keep up with what they are saying, recording the lectures would be a suitable solution to ensuring you understand all the content provided.

Finally, you may want to record lectures in order to pay more attention in class and be more engaged. If you find that you are always looking down taking notes, consider recording the lectures.

With this said, which is the best voice recorder for nursing school?

How to Record Nursing School Lectures

Step 1: Get the Right Equipment

No one wants to listen to a poorly recorded lecture. Therefore, it’s important to get a good recording. After experimenting with different recording equipment, we’ve concluded that digital recorders are the best suited for capturing nursing school lectures.

Laptops, iPads, and phones do not work. While these devices have a built-in microphone, the mic is meant for recording near-field sound- not someone that is speaking from 10 feet away.

You may want to use a USB microphone such as the Samson Go Mic. However, not all professors may allow you to bring your laptop into the lecture hall.

The best lecture recorder should be small, unobtrusive digital Dictaphone. The small size of the device will not distract you, your classmates, or the professor. Moreover, being small in size also means that it is lightweight.

When recording lectures using a digital recorder, make sure the mic is directed toward the front of the class. Apart from this, place it in a soft cloth or book to damping scribbling and tapping sounds. Finally, make sure that your phone and other wireless gadgets are far away from the mic, or else your recordings will capture a lot of static.

Step 2: Select a Suitable Location

To get the best recordings, your digital recorder should be placed as close to the professor as possible. Some professors may allow you to place the lecture Dictaphone on the table in front of the class. If you cannot find a seat at the front of the lecture hall, then choose one that is on the sides where there are not so many students around that will dampen the professor’s voice.

Finally, you want to avoid sitting close to someone with flu as all you will hear in your recordings will be sneezes and coughs!

Step 3: Practice Good Recording Etiquette

Make sure your voice recorder does not cause distractions in the classroom. Turn off the backlight and switch off all beeping sounds. Also, ensure the gadget does not cause any distractions, e.g., by making loud noises.

Find out from your professor whether it is fine if you record the lecture. Also, check your college’s policy regarding recording lectures. There may be strict policies to follow with regards to using the recordings. Make sure you are not breaking any regulations set for recording lectures.

Finally, it is important to label and save your recording. The best voice recorders for nursing students automatically save the recording when you hit the STOP button. However, you will still need to rename the file with a more appropriate title.

Here’s the format that we suggest [Course Name][Date] e.g. Physiology 202 – July-13-2018.

You can then import the recordings into your computer and share with other students.

Choosing the Best Voice Recorder for Nursing Students

1)      Ease of Use

Get a voice recorder that is easy to use. Avoid buying recorders with complicated buttons and settings.  Turning the recorder on or off should be as simple as hitting the record and stop buttons respectively.

The best digital recorders have a lecture recording setting. Make sure the setting is set as default. Also, if you set the device to record to the external memory, it can take a few seconds to boot up. Therefore, switch on the recorder before lectures and let it be in standby mode. When you are ready to record, simply hit the record button.

2)      Durability

Choose a voice recorder that will last. The device should have a sturdy construction to last for years. Ideally, you want a voice recorder that has a smooth, compact design.

Avoid buying recorders that have some components that stick out. Such recorders are likely to break.

3)      Memory

Choose a lecture recorder with adequate storage space. Ideally, you want the recorder to have at least 4GB of internal memory. Apart from this, it should have an expansion slot for additional memory.

You want to record your nursing lectures at the highest bit rate possible, and this will mean ending up with quite huge audio files.

4)      Battery Life

When it comes to battery, the best digital recorders can be recharged through the USB. These recorders cut down on the costs of having to buy batteries frequently. Moreover, charging them is convenient as you only have to plug the device on your PC and leave it to charge overnight.

However, it is important to get a couple of extra batteries just in case you run out of power during a lecture and have no time to recharge. The extra batteries do not have to be the rechargeable type.

When connecting your lecture recorder to your laptop or PC, use a cable. This will help to avoid accidentally breaking off the USB connector when importing the files to your PC or when charging.

Best Recorder for Lectures

Below is a review of the best voice recorders for nursing school lectures.

#1.  Olympus WS-852

olympus ws 852If you are looking for a low budget interview recorder, get the Olympus WS-852. This device has a 4GB inbuilt memory and can record up to 1600 hours of audio. If you want to record even more audio, you can insert a Micro SD memory into it with a capacity of up to 32GB.

The Dictaphone records in compressed mp3 format (max 128kbps, has a 3.5mm jack, a stand, and a USB port of easy transfer of your files to your PC. This is a true bargain voice recorder.

Buy on Amazon

#2.  Olympus WS-853

sony ws 853If you need a high-quality voice recorder for lectures, you should go for the Olympus WS-853. This device has an 8GB internal memory capacity, comes with a rechargeable battery, and records stereo mp3s.

The device has an Intelligent Auto Mode that automatically detects the sensitivity of the mic. You do not have to install any software to transfer the recorded audio files to your PC.

While this voice recorder is slightly expensive than the WS-852, it offers the best value for your money.

Buy on Amazon

#3.  Sony ICD-UX560

Sony UX560Also making it on the list of the best voice recorder for nursing school is the Sony ICD-UX560.  This device can record audio files in both WAV and MP3 formats, ensuring you have high-quality lectures.  Read the full review of the Sony ICD UX560 for a full overview of its capabilities.

Buy on Amazon

Editor’s Verdict: Which is the Best Voice Recorder for Nursing Students?

Overall, any of the three voice recorders will be great for taking lecture notes. We however highly recommend the Olympus WS-853 from this list of digital recording devices. This voice recorder is affordable and comes with 8GB internal memory, which is sufficient for most nursing student needs. Its quality of recordings is, however, not as high as that of the Sony ICD-UX560 voice recorder.

Write a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.