Audio transcripts of lectures and instructions play an essential role in a learning environment. They allow students to have the physical text of lecture notes available during class and provide the ability to save time by using audio recordings in place of live lectures. Transcripts are created for several purposes, including helping students who cannot attend or cannot listen at the same time, providing feedback for teachers on how well their students understood a lecture, and recording audio that can be used by themselves or others with permission. There are many advantages overall when transcriptions, such as increased student engagement and reading comprehension due to the physical text in conversation.
The use of audio transcripts in learning environments
Audio recorders are now found in nearly every classroom. While this can be great for students as now there is a digital record of the lecture, many professors find these devices distracting as it does not take the time it is editing time. It leads to poor lecture attendance for both students and professors alike. With the high number of people who use audio recordings, there is also a high rate of people creating transcripts. What has been proven in classrooms across the country is that they allow students who cannot listen to lectures at the same time that they are talking to understand what they will learn by listening. Students can still “keep up” on lecture material while they are not able to attend lectures. Audio recording also allows students to listen to the lecture later by saving the audio file, making communication with others more secure and more accessible for them to pass along knowledge during class.
Transcripts can increase student engagement in lectures
Many professors have found that with audio recordings, students are more engaged in lectures than those with no transcripts. It is interesting because when asked to do a writing task that requires audio recordings, those who usually listen would rather listen and not transcribe. In contrast, those who do take notes prefer transcribing since it is easier for them than listening.
Transcripts can increase student engagement in lectures
Students who transcribe their lectures can be more engaged in class by answering questions, taking notes on the lecture, writing on whiteboards and notepads, handing in written responses back to the professor, and asking questions about what has been discussed or if they understand a topic. Students who take notes usually prefer to write by hand rather than listen to audio recordings of information because the ability for personalization is better when taking notes that way. The most significant advantage of audio recording over handwritten notes is that it allows students to see the speaker’s expressions and facial gestures, which helps them better understand concepts presented during lectures.
Transcripts help students study outside of class
With the ability to review lectures and conversations, transcripts can be used as a reference to understand the class material better. Students can review lectures they missed or did not understand to understand the material better since they can refer back to notes while writing essays or doing homework outside of class. Evidence suggests that students who use transcripts tend to pass exams more often because they have better recall of information and improved comprehension when listening back to their lectures.
Transcripts help students study outside of classes.
Many students use transcripts as a reference to learning material. Students who subscribe to the transcripts of their lectures can pass on the material they learn with transcripts to others in their class and other classes who may not be able to attend every lecture. Transcripts help teachers and students alike, who may be sick or unable to attend lectures because they can still listen to them later.
Transcripts are commonly used by tutors, those who study using lecture recordings, those who are paying attention in class, and students doing homework outside class. With these groups using transcripts in different ways, it shows an excellent demand for transcripts for all types of learners to better engage with learning material.
Using audio transcripts in a learning environment has proven to be extremely helpful. From students’ better understanding of how to engage with lectures to teachers taking into account the transcripts that are created and presented, they have proven to help both parties tremendously. While some students prefer to write notes through lectures and others prefer to listen and transcribe, there is one thing that they can agree on in that the listening experience is better with transcripts due to their ability for personalization and review purposes.
