K is a first-year criminology student who struggles to take notes during lectures because of working memory difficulties associated with her dyslexia. She was one of a number of students who trialled Audio Notetaker during its development.
Previously, K had used a digital recorder in lectures to support her hand-written notes, but she found it difficult to review the audio recordings afterwards. In particular, she did not find it easy to match sections of the recording with the correct place in her notes when wanting to add more details. K volunteered to trial Audio Notetaker software to use along side her digital recorder as she wanted a tool to help her remember the content of her lecture and structure and organise her notes.
Audio Notetaker enabled her to edit and expand her notes while listening to the audio within one program:
“Audio notetaker has allowed me to link together my written notes with my recordings. I can then build on them by re-listening to the recordings, adding notes to each section.
“Prior to using Audio Notetaker I wrote as many notes as possible during the lecture and would miss key points as I spent my time trying to keep up. Now I am able to relax and listen to the lecture, just writing down key points I want to come back to as Audio Notetaker makes it easier review the lecture and add notes later on. I have found the tools for slowing down and navigating through the recording really useful for this as I am then able to keep up with the lecturer whilst typing.”
K also found the built-in highlighting tools in Audio Notetaker particularly useful for her dyslexia:
“I use colour highlighters in my hand-written notes so having the option of using colour to highlight or mark sections of audio is great.”
As well as for expanding her notes, K found Audio Notetaker really useful for planning essays and revision:
“I can highlight the important points in the recording, add notes and then create the structure of my essays. I then copy it directly into Word which works very well for me. “Audio Notetaker will also help me with my exams next year as I can go over my notes with the audio recording right next to them so that I can easily check anything I don’t understand.”
“This program is absolutely brilliant! I feel that anyone who is assessed and recommended to use a digital recorder for aiding note taking, should also be recommended Audio Notetaker. It is the most helpful, well thought- out and easy-to-use program I have seen or used. Thank you for letting me trial it.”
