Audio recording apps for teachers and students are the topic of our bog post today!
Below is a collection of some of the best audio recording apps for teachers and students. Using these apps, students will be able to record lectures, webinars, interviews, audio memos, collaborate on editing audio recordings and many more. Some of these apps also provide audio transcription services allowing students to convert audio to editable text thus making audio recordings accessible to all types of learners.
Ways students can use audio recording apps
Audio recording apps offer a multitude of benefits for students, across a range of learning activities. Here’s how students can leverage these tools:
- Lecture Recordings: Instead of relying solely on note-taking, students can record lectures for later review. This enables them to fully concentrate on the lecture content in real-time, without the distraction of trying to note down everything.
- Study Tool: Recorded lectures can serve as a study tool, allowing students to revisit certain sections of the lecture to reinforce understanding or clarify any misconceptions. The ability to pause, rewind, and replay audio can significantly enhance revision efficiency.
- Group Discussions: Audio recording apps can be beneficial during group study sessions or project meetings. By recording the discussion, students can focus on the conversation, knowing they can revisit the recording for any missed details.
- Presentation Practice: Students can record themselves while practicing presentations or speeches. Listening back to the recordings can help them identify areas for improvement in terms of content, pacing, and delivery.
- Language Learning: For those learning a new language, audio recording apps can be used to practice speaking and listening skills. Students can listen back to their own pronunciation and compare it to native speakers.
- Interviews: If students are conducting interviews for research or journalistic projects, audio recording apps can help capture every detail. They provide a reliable record of the conversation that can be analyzed later.
- Oral Revision: Some students find that they learn better by speaking out loud. By recording and listening back to their own summaries or explanations of certain topics, they can reinforce their understanding.
- Feedback Collection: Teachers can also use audio recording apps to give personalized feedback. This can often be more thorough and nuanced than written feedback.
While audio recording apps can be an excellent tool for students, it’s important to respect privacy and obtain necessary permissions before recording lectures, discussions, or interviews. It’s also crucial to stay organized and label recordings correctly for easy retrieval later.
Best Audio Recording Apps for Teachers and Students
Here are our picks for best audio recording apps for teachers and students:
1. Voice Memos
Voice Memos by Apple is my favourite in this list. It is free and offers all the features you need to turn your mobile device into a powerful audio recorder. Using your device’s in-built microphone or a compatible external microphone, Voice Memos lets you initiate your recordings on the go.
The app’s editor allows you to trim parts you don’t like and customize your recording the way you want. And since Voice Memo belongs to Apple it means that it offers direct access to iCloud allowing you to seamlessly sync your recordings across different devices.
Other interesting features provided by Voice Memos include: the ability to pinch and zoom for more precision while editing, replace and resume to fine-tune recordings, search functionality to help you easily find your recordings, organize recordings into folders for easy access, automatically name recordings based on your location, share numerous recordings through Mail, Messages, AirDrop, and many more.
Compatibility: iPhone/iPad / Price: Free / Age: 4+
2. Voice Recorder & Audio Editor
Voice Recorder & Audio Editor is another good audio recording app that enables you to record as long as you want. You can add notes to your recordings and generate text transcriptions. You can trim and edit your recordings and once they are ready you can upload them to iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive and more.
Other interesting features provided by Voice Recorder include the ability to change playback speed, loop recordings, support for multiple audio formats, skip backwards/forwards 15 seconds, protect recordings with a passcode, and more. The app also supports call recording (both incoming and outgoing).
Compatibility: iPhone/iPad and Android / Price: Free, offers in-app purchases / Age: 9+
3. Dictaphone – Audio Recorder
Dictaphone is an audio recording app that helps you record your lectures, interviews, memos, and more. It offers a wide variety of features including: external mic support, unlimited audio recording length, background sound recording and playback for memos, organize audio recordings
(e.g., by name, duration, size, creation date, type, etc), external and bluetooth support, pauses automatically with incoming calls, sync recordings with iCloud, audio editing (e.g., append, trim, cut, overwrite, insert, combine recordings), upload recordings to third party applications (e.g., Dropbox, SoundCloud, Google Drive, OneDrive, SharePoint, YouTube, Box, etc), and more.
Compatibility: iPhone/iPad and Android / Price: Free, offers in-app purchases / Age: 4+
4. Rev Voice Recorder & Memos
Rev Voice Recorder & Memos is a voice recording app that lets you create unlimited voice recordings which you can save directly to third party applications such as Google Drive, iCloud Drive, Evernote, Dropbox, and more. Besides voice recording, Rev also lets you order transcripts which can be generated either through professional typists or through the in-buil AI technology. You get to make the choice.
Other helpful features provided by Rev voice Recorder include: record in the background while using phone, the app pauses automatically when you have incoming calls, import recordings from other apps to Rev, search recordings by name, trim recordings, and many more.
Compatibility: iPhone/iPad and Android / Price: Free, offers in-app purchases / Age: 4+
5. Otter
Otter is one of my favourite audio transcription apps. It allows you to record and transcribe in real-time. Some of the features it offers include: live captioning, input audio through built-in mic or Bluetooth device, generate word clouds and summary keywords from transcripts, create groups and invite members to view and edit recordings, playback at adjustable speeds, edit transcribed text for errors, import audio and video files, upload from other call recording apps, export as PDF, TXT, SRT, MP3, and many more.
Compatibility: iPhone/iPad and Android / Price: Free, offers in-app purchases / Age: 4+
6. Easy Voice Recorder
Easy Voice Recorder is another useful audio recording app that offers numerous features such as record in high-quality to PCM, MP4 or AAC, save recordings to iCloud Drive, convert recordings to text with transcription, cut and trim recordings, share recordings and transcriptions through email, start recording using home Screen widgets, and many more.
Compatibility: iPhone/iPad and Android / Price: Free, offers in-app purchases / Age: 4+
Final thoughts
In conclusion, audio recording apps offer a versatile toolset that can be a game-changer for students and educators alike. From recording lectures and facilitating study sessions to honing presentation skills and practicing language proficiency, these apps cater to diverse learning needs. Not to overlook the value they offer in terms of feedback and data analysis for teachers. My personal go-to is Voice Memos by Apple—simple, user-friendly, and packed with features that make audio recording a breeze. Yet, it’s important to navigate these tools responsibly; always secure consent before recording and keep your files organized. At the end of the day, these apps can significantly augment the educational experience, making learning more accessible, efficient, and engaging.
