Audio-to-text Software

That's a pretty advanced request. I'm not sure if there's anything on the market like that right now that won't cost you thousands. Although if you're using a Mac, you have more options. Apparently they have some good voice recognition features, but I've never gotten them to work. If you don't have a Mac though, you're probably SOL.

If you're going to get a microphone, just get a digital voice recorder. They'll set you back about 40 bucks (at least at Walmart), but you can hook them into your computer and make an mp3 file. It saves you from lugging the laptop into class, too.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Well, first, it might help to tell us what your setup is. Are you using a PC or a Mac?

Voice recognition is built right into OS X. If you can get it to work, you can essentially use a voice in any program that allows you to type something (Office, TextEdit, Safari, etc.). But as I said before, I've never gotten it to work. You might have more luck than me, though.

If you go down the voice recorder route, you can use an audio cable to hook the recorder to your computer's line-in jack, and use Audacity or Goldwave to create mp3 files if you're using a PC.

If you're going to use a microphone though, make sure you're not going to need a preamp. If you've got a good soundcard, like an M-Audio, then you won't have to worry about it. But that's a problem I ran into. I bought this really nice mic and it wouldn't even work with my crappy soundcard.

There's nowhere I can't reach.