CAS Note Taking Support

Taking notes is a fundamental responsibility in college coursework. Many students arrive to college having not learned note taking skills. If combined with a diagnosis that makes note taking difficult, a student may qualify for a Note Taking Support accommodation. This accommodation is to assist students in acquiring the much needed note taking ability using different note taking options to discover how the student can independently take notes using a method that works best for them.

Students, if approved for Note Taking Support, are responsible for monitoring the effectiveness of a particular type of note taking support and reporting any concerns to the Center for Accessibility Services. If there are concerns regarding the type of note taking support, the student, the student’s Access Specialist, and the Note Taking Coordinator, if needed, can discuss why the current form of note taking support is not working and what the next steps might be.

  • Note Taking Support, in any form, is not a substitute for attending class meetings or any other required course activity.
  • If a student with Note Taking Support must miss class due to illness, family emergency, athletic conference, etc., it is the student’s responsibility to contact the instructor to obtain any missed information.
  • CAS offers training on many forms of note taking support. Interested students approved for the note taking support accommodation, contact casnotes@radford.edu.

Types of Note Taking Support

Types of Note Taking Support

Recording Devices- Used for In-Person Courses

  • Recording devices are physical voice recorders or voice recording apps that can be accessed via mobile devices.
  • Only students approved for the use of the recording device by the Center for Accessibility Services should be recording the lecture.
  • Recording devices should only be used to record lecture-based class meetings.
  • Recording devices should be paused or stopped if material of a personal nature may be shared.
  • Students may not share the recording with any other individual and must destroy all recordings after the course has ended.

The Center for Accessibility Services has a limited number of voice recorders available for check out. Please contact casnotes@radford.edu if you would like to check out a recorder from the Center for Accessibility Services.

Livescribe Pens— Used for In-Person Courses

  • Livescribe pens are assistive technology devices that record audio and connect time-stamped audio to any handwritten notes taken on the special Livescribe “dot” paper.
  • Students using Livescribe Pens may take as many or as few notes as they wish—all audio will be recorded once the device has been turned on and has indicated that it is recording.
  • If your Access Specialist has recommended the use of a Livescribe Pen, please contact casnotes@radford.edu for training.

Glean—Used for In-Person or Online Courses

  • Glean is a web-based app that creates a transcript from recorded lectures and allows you to take notes simultaneously.
  • Student might mark one section of the lecture as “Important” and another section as “Question.”
  • Allows transcripts to be made from computer audio (zoom/videos) or from a microphone
  • Allows for integration with course documents/PowerPoints
  • Glean creates transcripts from recorded lectures
  • Closed Captions can be used while recording is being made
  • Note taking is made easy with headers, reminders, task and many more features.
  • Built in training videos
  • Organize your recordings into collections

Zoom Auto Captioning and Transcription—Used for Online Courses Hosted via Zoom

  • While auto-captioning is not a substitute for real-time transcription services or an ASL interpreter, the use of the captioning and transcription tools in Zoom may provide adequate note taking support.
  • If the host of the Zoom meeting has enabled autocaptions, a transcript of the transcribed audio may be accessed by clicking the small arrow next to the CC button on the Zoom toolbar and selecting “View full transcript.”
  • If the host has enabled the capability to save the transcript, the student will have the option to save the unedited transcript prior to the ending of the meeting.
  • Instructors may choose to edit Zoom transcripts and make them available to the class, but are not required to do so.

Otter AI: In Person or Online Courses

  • Otter AI is an automated speech to text transcription tool that will record and transcribe audio.
  • The transcript can be edited for clarity and searched for phrases or words.
  • Provides a summary paragraph and outline of the recorded lecture.

Peer Note Taking

  • Peer Note Taking is, typically, reserved for students who cannot take notes by any of the other means outlined above due to physical limitation or the structure of the course.
  • Peer Note Taking is a volunteer student position.
  • While Peer Note Takers are asked to attend class regularly and take clear, detailed notes, the Center for Accessibility Services staff cannot require a student to attend class or upload notes.
  • Peer Note Taking is not a substitute for attending class.

Checking Out Note Taking Equipment

Expectations for Checking Out Equipment from the Center for Accessibility Services

Any physical technology checked out from the Center must be returned to the Center for Accessibility Services at the conclusion of each semester—December 15 (Fall) or May 15 (Spring). Any technology not returned to the Center for Accessibility Services will be assumed lost. A hold may be placed on the student’s request for official transcripts until the device is returned or the department is reimbursed for the cost of the technology.