How to Provide Note-taking Support

Providing note-taking accessibility measures

If a student at Indiana University Bloomington has a qualifying medical condition, under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), that affects their ability to take notes during class, AES will work with you to find an alternative way for students to get class notes. The goal is for students to have notes comparable to those they would take themselves if their qualifying medical condition was not a factor.

If a student requires a note-taking accessibility measure (accommodation), it will be explained in the Accessibility Memorandum (‘Memo’) that they receive from AES.

Types of note-taking accessibility measures:

A student’s memo will indicate the type of accessibility measure needed.

Laptop

Students may use a variety of devices such as a laptop, iPad, smart pen, or other recording device to record the lecture using AES-approved software.

Recordings

It is legal for a student to record lectures as an alternate way of taking notes using AES-approved software. The student may not share the recordings with other students. Sharing recordings would result in removal of this accessibility measure. Students are responsible to cite direct quotes from the recordings in papers. would be considered plagiarism and subject to referral to the Office of Student Conduct. If you have concerns about having your lectures recorded, contact AES. At your request, the student can sign a privacy agreement with you.

Copies of notes

A student’s memo may indicate that the student needs to get copies of notes. If you provide comprehensive class notes or PowerPoint slides to all students in a course, you already are meeting the needs of that student. However, if you are not able to provide the student with complete study notes, you should help the student get copies of a classmate’s notes.

If you post notes to Canvas, please clarify for the student whether these are complete study notes. If the information you post to Canvas is not complete, it is your responsibility to assist the student in finding a note taker while maintaining their privacy.

Finding a note taker

The AES office recommends that you make an announcement in class or on Canvas requesting a volunteer note taker. You can simply say, “I need a volunteer note-taker. Will someone volunteer?” Do not reveal the identity of the student with the note-taking accessibility measure.

If you do not get a volunteer on the first try, please make another in-class announcement and post the information on Canvas. Once you have identified a note taker, ask the student who receives the accessibility measures if they would prefer to:

Contact the volunteer directly
Have the notes delivered to your departmental office for pickup.

If no one volunteers, contact AES for alternatives.

If the student with accessibility measures wants to communicate directly with the note taker, please give them the note taker’s contact information. If the student prefers to pick up the notes, please set a date and time for pick-up at an office in your department.