Record your online class so you can listen and revisit it

You're still writing down the last explanation when the instructor moves on. Rebrief for Mac can record your permitted online class, then produce a transcript and notes afterward. You can listen during the lesson and return to the words you missed, instead of trying to capture every sentence as it happens. Start recording manually for a listen-only class; finished notes come after recording and processing.

Start a record of the class you're attending

Before recording, obtain any required permission and follow the course's rules on recording, transcription and keeping the material. If the school already gives you a usable replay and notes, start there. Rebrief helps when you need your own spoken record to return to after class.

Set up Rebrief before the lesson. You'll need an Apple Silicon Mac running macOS 15 or later and the initial model downloads for transcription and notes. A free recording stops at 15 minutes, so unlock longer recording before relying on it for a full class beyond that limit. Rebrief support covers setup and the recording cap.

Join the class on your Mac and start Rebrief from the menu bar. Do this even if you normally use automatic recording: a class you're only listening to won't trigger it. Keep Rebrief running and the Mac awake while it receives the lesson audio. Rebrief records the class you attend on that Mac; it cannot join and attend for you.

On your first use, check a short permitted recording to make sure the instructor is audible in the saved audio. If they are missing, follow the support page's recording-permission guidance before relying on a longer session.

Write down the questions you want to come back to

While Rebrief records, keep your own notes brief. Mark the point where you lost the explanation, a term you want clarified, or the slide the instructor is discussing. You can leave a gap in your written notes and return to the conversation instead of trying to reconstruct the sentence while the next one is being spoken.

Your quick notes should describe what you need to understand. “Why does this step come before the next one?” is more useful for later review than an unfinished copy of a paragraph. Keep the topic beside that question so you'll recognize the passage when you reopen the class.

Rebrief captures audio, so keep any permitted slides or written examples separately. If the instructor points to a diagram without describing it, the recording won't preserve the missing visual. Add its slide number to your note while you can see it.

Use the notes to decide what needs another listen

Stop recording when the approved class ends. Rebrief transcribes the audio and then creates notes from the transcript, including key points and open questions. This processing happens after recording, so give it time to finish before opening the notes for review.

Read the key points alongside the questions you jotted down. Use them to identify the part of the lesson you need to revisit. A short recap may remind you what the instructor covered without including the reasoning that made it clear, so return to the transcript when you need the full explanation.

Keep your own unanswered questions even if they don't appear in Rebrief's notes. The model works from what was said in the recording; it doesn't know which part you found confusing. If a note includes an assignment instruction, check its wording against the transcript and the course's written instructions before using it.

Find the words behind the summary

Open Ask when you remember the topic but can't locate its explanation. Try a question such as “What did the instructor say about [topic]?” and use the term you heard in class. Rebrief puts supporting passages beneath its answer; selecting one opens the recorded session at that moment.

Check that the passage belongs to the class you mean, then listen to the surrounding audio. The sentence before it may introduce a condition, and the sentence afterward may correct or narrow the statement. If the answer seems incomplete, ask a follow-up or read the relevant part of the transcript yourself.

Once you understand the explanation, write it in your own words in your study notes. Add the class date and the recording position you checked so you can return to it. Use a consistent course-and-date label in those notes to avoid confusing today's explanation with one from an earlier lesson.

This class workflow still needs a recorded demonstration. [Evidence needed: a permitted attended class captured in Rebrief, its reviewed notes, and one question traced through a source passage to the checked spoken explanation.]

Try Rebrief with one permitted short class segment. After processing, use the notes and a source passage to revisit something you wanted to understand better.