Assistance with Note-Taking

Assistance with Note-taking

Students who are registered with Disability & Accessibility Services (DAS) at Berea College may receivenote-taking services if the functional impact of their disability adversely affects the student’s ability to take his/her own notes. Note-taking services provide equal access to instruction during and after class for these students.

Reasonable accommodations are designed to level the playing field for individuals with disabilities. Note-taking services are provided for students who have to overcome a barrier caused by a disability that makes taking notes difficult or impossible.

This accommodation is not totranscribe the lecture word for word but to highlight the major points of a lecture or class session. While audio recording a class may be an appropriate accommodation in some situations and for some students, it is not appropriate in all cases and cannot be viewed as an equal substitute.

Notes that are provided to the student are intended for the student’s personal study use only. They are not intended as a substitute for a student’s full participation or attendance in each class. Therefore, notes are not provided if a student does not attend class, except in cases of emergencies or extenuating circumstances approvedon a case-by-case basis at the discretion of DAS or the instructor.

There are several options to meet this accommodation:

Smart Pens

Since the fall of 2015, DAS has a smartpen lending program. An Echo Livescribe Smart Pen will be available for check-out to eligible students. A smart pen allows students to take notes while simultaneously audio recording class sessions. The pen saves digital copies of the notes as well as the recording, which may be transferred to a laptop.

Smart pens reduce the general stress of processing multiple modes of information concurrently in the classroom. Students can listen more, write less, and selectively review or enhance sections of the recording later. Students will be asked to sign the Audio Recording Agreement when using a smart pen through DAS.

Although this new technology will be beneficial to some students, smart pens may not be a useful tool to all students. For example someone with significant auditory-processing difficulties may not benefit by listening to the audio playback. Listed below are some other options.

In-class Volunteers

While students are encouraged to make their own arrangements to receive copies of notes from one or more volunteer classmates, some students might request the instructor’s help in finding an appropriate volunteer who is willing to share notes. In this case, the instructor should make an announcement in class asking for a volunteer note-taker/s. It is important that the instructor maintains the student’s confidentiality anddoes not reveal the name of the student who is receiving the accommodation. The volunteer note-takers should be referred to DAS for further instruction.

Teaching Assistants

Teaching assistantsin the class, if available,it might provide a better solution than a volunteer note-takers.If this is a viable option, please refer the TA to DAS for further instruction.

Both, in-class volunteers and teaching assistants provide a method that is easy to use, but legibility or clarity of the notes can limit their usefulness. The notes of other students are the writer’s interpretation of the lecture, which may or may not match what the student needs to help remember key concepts. These drawbacks may limit the usefulness of this accommodation and other methods might be required.

Universal Design for Learning Option

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an educational framework that guides the development of flexible learning environments that can accommodate individual learning differences. Courses are designed in a way to increase the participation and learning of all students, regardless of disability.

Note-taking Rotations

Instructors can assign students to teams and rotate responsibility for each team to create a complete set of notes for posting each week. This approach has the benefit of having students work in teams and share responsibility for each other’s learning. At the same time, it allows a majority of students in each class session to focus on class without having to worry about their notes. The limitations are that the notes are the writer’s interpretations of class and the quality of notes may vary widely. It also may cause embarrassment to some students (including student with this accommodation) for not being able to fully participate in the rotation.

Instructor Lecture or Guided Notes

In some cases, instructors may choose to offer complete notes to a student, or, if following a UDL approach, to all students in the class.An acceptable alternative areguided notes; outlines, provided by the instructor, with some spaces or blanks that the student can fill in during class. Both instructor lecture notes and guided notes minimize the amount of writing required to keep up with the information presented and allow the student to concentrate on the information given and participate in discussions.

Guided notes may not work for students who cannot take their own notes, even in this limited capacity.

Smart Board

The Smart Board is an interactive whiteboard that connects to a PC/laptop and can be used to combine information you normally present on your computer with information you normally write on the board. A mounted projector records all information and sends it to your PC where it can be saved. All that can be done in combination with audio recording the instructor’s voice. The file can be exported to Moodle where student/s can view it. This is a great way to capture complex constructs that students can review as often as they need it. It is particularly useful in Math or Science classes, but can be used in any class where instructor tend to write or draw frequently on the board or often show visuals in PowerPoint or through other electronic demonstration methods.

Hired Note-Takers/Labor Students

If all other options are exhausted, or if a particular situation requires it, DAS may be able to support a 0-5 labor student to take notes in class. See “Assistance with Note-Taking Procedure” for more information.

1Revised July 2016