It is possible for students to miss important points during a class. Recording also got easier than before (with small digital recorders and smartphones). This made it difficult to check if a student is taking a live recording or not. 



With online learning today, it could be tougher to track. It is likely that you want to record the sessions and go over them later. To do that, you can simply use any recording tool to record any online class with or without consent.

 

Some country laws as regards recording oral communications allow for recordings as long as one party consents. In this case, you are not committing any crime by recording your lecturer or teacher. This is because you are present in class as one party. This may change based on school requirements or your lecturer's opinion.

In other countries, there are stricter recording laws such as the two party consent to a recording. Here, both lecturer and student must agree to a recording. The easiest way to deal with laws against secret recordings is to make them not secret. If you'd like to record a lecture, you can ask for  permission. Some lecturers allow recording while some record lectures themselves and make the video or audio available. This is an exception to the rule and puts you on a safe side.

Note that a permission from the lecturer to record the lecture does not give you any rights beyond personal use. If you distribute such recording out of personal use, that is another case entirely. This is the same thing for other lecture copy materials, slides and related learning aids.


Illegal recordings could be felony in some cases. For instance, Florida's law makes illegal recordings a third-degree felony, punishable by five years in prison.


Have you ever recorded your lecturer? Can you share your experience? What new thing have you learnt? Let's have you in the comments.


Do not record your lecturers in online or offline classes.