Are Audio-to-Text Apps the New Note-Taking?

Can you imagine a world where...

• Your hand doesn’t hurt after five hours of class.
• You don’t miss half the lecture because your pen runs out, and you have to find another.
• You don’t even need to bring a pen to class!
• You never miss anything your professor says.
• When you miss class, you only need to ask a friend to record it for you.

Technology is Constantly Changing the Way We Study

The Way We Do Our Research

There is no doubt, technology has drastically changed how we study. Can you imagine printing out Wikipedia and displaying it on your grandma's bookshelf? That seems unthinkable now, but encyclopedias were once our go-to resource.

When you had to complete a project, you’d pull out a specific volume and read the corresponding page. Wikipedia was created in 2001 and took years to gain popularity and be filled with content. Before that, we had to leaf through books until we found what we needed.

How We Share Information

The first camera phone was released in June 2000, and Google Drive was launched in 2012. The term "file sharing" didn’t exist, and when a teacher said they were going to “give you some notes or homework,” they meant handing out stapled sheets that students passed around physically in class.

The photocopying service probably saw its best years back then. Of course, some "old-school" professors still cling to this method.

Nowadays, when we say "slide," most people think of a Canva sheet, or for the less modern, PowerPoint. Did you know that teachers used to bring an apparatus to project previously printed images onto the wall in class?

How We Acquire New Skills

Then there are online courses and tutorials. YouTube was created in 2005, so before that, there were no influencers explaining how to do things. You had to ask everything, find a local course, or seek out someone to teach you. Can you imagine that?

The New Revolution: Audio-to-Text Apps

While many things have changed significantly, we still take notes while teachers speak. Some do it on a laptop or tablet, but we still jot down what’s said so we can refer back to our own notes later. And yes, sometimes we don’t even understand our own handwriting!

But what if you NO LONGER HAD TO? Could voice-to-text technology be the next revolutionary change in how we study?

Will We Soon Have Pen-Free Classrooms?

Audio-to-text technology offers a whole new approach to note-taking: NOT TAKING NOTES AT ALL.

We can simply record the class in whatever way is most convenient (audio or video), then run that recording through our preferred app to get the full text of the lesson without any interruptions. Plus, we’ll be sure not to miss a single thing.

Could this technology change the way we take notes just as Wikipedia changed how we search for information, Google Drive changed file sharing, and YouTube changed how we approach learning something new?

A new process thanks to voice-to-text technology

We may be witnessing a revolution in the note-taking process. Instead of scrambling to write down everything said in class, the steps might look more like this:

• Ask your professor for permission to record the class.
• Find an audio-to-text transcription app you like (we recommend Transgate, of course 😉).
• Upload the class recording into the app
• Get the entire transcript.
• Edit the transcript by adding breaks and headings.
• Study, knowing you didn’t miss anything.

(If you want to know exactly how to use Transgate to transcribe an audio or video, here’s a link to a tutorial on how to do it).

Would you like to try this new process, or do you prefer the comfort of traditional note-taking?

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How to Get the Most Out of Audio Transcription

If you’re one of those adventurous types who love to be first in line to try new apps, here are some ideas on how to maximize the benefits of audio and video transcription apps:

1. Make It Look Good

It won’t necessarily make you want to study (does that happen to anyone?), but at least it can make your life easier. Once you have the transcript, create a document that helps you study: add colors, sections, images, and examples. Include elements that truly help you understand the lesson and make it visually appealing.

2. Forget About Asking for Notes

If you have to miss class, just ask someone to record the lecture. Transgate and other transcription apps let you convert both audio and video to text, whichever suits you best.

3. Analyze to See What’s Likely to Be on the Exam

Once you have the transcript, you can search for repeated words and analyze their importance in your study material. If a term is mentioned several times, the chances of it appearing on the exam are higher.

There are tools that allow you to automatically analyze texts and see what is repeated, helping you deduce what is important and what is likely to keep appearing in future lessons. You can try Lexicool’s analyzer, which is easy to use online.

4. If You Have a Talk in Another Language: Translate It!

If a guest professor is giving a lecture in English, for example, audio-to-text technology not only allows you to transcribe the lecture but also to translate it. This way, you’ll have the translation in text format, making it easier to analyze and draw conclusions from the talk.

Is Audio Transcription The New Era Of Taking Notes?

We can’t say for sure, because Transgate is an AI app, but artificial intelligence (at least for now 😉) can’t predict the future. What we do know is that technology has significantly changed the way we live and study over the past 20 years, and it will undoubtedly continue to do so.

What do you think? Are you ready to be one of the pioneers who dare to change the way we take notes thanks to voice-to-text technology? You can start today with 20 free minutes on Transgate.

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Bisán Abdel-Hafez Conde

SEO copywriter

You’ll find more of my stories here on my Website and Linkedin

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