Lecture Capture & Notetaking

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Notetaking

When students initially request accommodations (usually before the beginning of the quarter) they are able to select "Notetaking" as an accommodation for your class. 

Students require notetaking assistance as an accommodation for a variety of barriers including learning disabilities, health conditions, psychological or neurological barriers, difficulties with hearing or vision, epilepsy, brain injuries and others.  We generally do not authorize notetaking assistance for student absences.

We ask you to make an announcement in your class. There will be a sample announcement in the email that you receive. Please remember to make this announcement without identifying the student. The process to become a notetaker is outlined on our Notetakers page.  Once a notetaker has been assigned, you are able to log into AccessPortal and view any notes that are uploaded.

If a peer notetaker is not available, it may be helpful to provide any additional study guides or lecture notes that you have available. 

Some classes will not require notetakers.  Please let our office know if your course fits one of these criteria:

  • This is an asynchronous online course.
  • This is a non-lecture course.
  • You provide lecture notes after class.
  • You provide a study guide for students.
  • Lectures are not a required component of this course.
  • Your lectures are recorded and available for students to review.

If a notetaker is not needed in your course, we will update the student’s accommodation request and mark it as complete.

Lecture Capture Support

This student’s barriers prevent them from taking sufficient notes during lecture. Due to those barriers, the student has been found eligible to audio record live lecture. This accommodation is not intended to support students who do not know how to take notes, but instead supports them in ensuring they are able to capture all that is presented during lecture. Many students may also be eligible for a peer notetaker, though peer notetaker positions can be difficult to fill. Some students may not qualify for a peer notetaker but still need audio lecture capture support through technology.

If your course involves personal reflection, self-disclosure or confidential discussions that you don’t want students taking notes on, instructors should announce that to the class before the information is shared (see Confidential or Sensitive Class Discussions below).

Student Options for Lecture Capture Technology

  • Glean Audio Notetaker
  • Audio/Voice Recorder
  • LiveScribe SmartPen

If a student wants to use a software license or equipment loan from EvCC, they must submit a request each quarter. Software licenses and equipment loans are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Glean Audio Notetaker

Glean Audio Notetaker is an audio recording software that automatically captures audio and breaks it into reviewable sections and links audio with text notes and slides and also allows students to annotate during the lecture for later review. The student may be using this software on a computer or with an app on their smart-device.

Once their accommodation request has been processed at the CDS Office, the student will receive follow up email communication in their student email regarding their license access. Technology preferences need to be requested by the student every quarter before a license can be sent out. Students must access Glean License Request to finalize their request for the quarter.

Confidential or Sensitive Class Discussions

The right to audio record as an accommodation is one of only two accommodations explicitly named in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1974.  Thus, unless another option for lecture capture can provide equal access for the CDS student or the accommodation for lecture capture support fundamentally alters the course, permission to audio record lectures and class discussions takes precedence over Washington State’s two-party laws and faculty intellectual property claims. Faculty who are concerned that a CDS student will be recording sensitive or confidential discussions in a class should be aware that the basis for addressing that is “equal access”.  When the course reaches a point where “recording” should stop, that includes all students, not just CDS students who are audio recording. Thus, it is appropriate for the instructor to inform all students that they should be putting down their pens/pencils and closing their notebooks or turning off their recording devices for this confidential or sensitive discussion period.

Recording Agreements

The CDS Office has a Recording Agreement that you may have the student fill out. The student fills out this agreement in AccessPortal and will be emailed to you when they have completed it. We have a Step-By-Step Guide available for the Recording Agreement Process available.

When the student is completing the Recording Agreement, they will need to enter specific information after communicating with you. Please be sure to let the student know:

  1. If the class contains sensitive discussions where recordings will need to be stopped.
  2. Who recordings are allowed to be shared with (their options are listed as:)
    • Recordings must not be shared with anyone
    • Recordings may be shared with any student in the class
    • Recordings may be shared with anyone
  3. Recordings at the end of the quarter (their options are listed as:)
    • Recordings must be destroyed
    • Recordings may be kept by the student

Please note that the recordings in the Glean Audio Notetaker software are stored on the Glean’s cloud-based server and students are unable to download these files. A recording agreement is usually not needed for students who use the Glean Audio Notetaker software.

Electronic Devices for Notetaking and In-Class Assignments

Some students require a computer or tablet for notetaking and in-class assignments. This does not allow the student to use headphones for music during lecture and it must not be used in a way that is a distraction or a disruption for class.

Back to Faculty Accommodation Resources