Foster engagement through social annotation
Social annotation (SA) involves commenting on a text, video, or image in an online collaborative environment. It has been described as bringing “the age-old process of marking up texts to the digital learning space while making it a collaborative exercise” (Cornell University Center for Teaching Innovation, 2021).
See what SA looks like:
In this article:
Purpose
The value of having students engage in SA activities is premised on the theory of social constructivism, whereby social interaction is key to learning.[2] Students learn by sharing experiences, and building knowledge and understanding through discussion with peers, instructors, and other experts. Social annotation can foster deep learning and engagement with course content.[3][4][5] It can also build community.[6][7][8]
Recommended implementation practices
Align SA assignments with course learning outcomes.[5] SA assignments, like any other course assignment, should move students toward achieving the course learning outcomes.
Provide students with a rationale for engaging in SA activities.[9]
Choose material judiciously, namely, content that lends itself to discussion[5] and invite students to contribute material. This latter practice also promotes inclusivity.[10]
Plan your role[9]—Will you provide question prompts? Will you be part of the discussion? Will you provide feedback?
Enable and encourage multimodality, such as working with texts, videos, and images. This practice also promotes inclusivity.[10]
Allow students time to become familiar with the technology tool and provide them with support, for example, in the form of tutorials.[11][9]
Intentionally support student interaction, for example, by creating small groups.[11][5]
Consider how you will assess students’ engagement in SA assignments[9]—Will you assess contributions for completion (e.g., students contributed/didn’t contribute; responded to peers/didn’t respond to peers)? Will you assess the quality of students’ contributions?
Example learning outcomes for SA assignments
Students will be able to:
Describe the structure of the [discourse / work]
Identify flaws in arguments
Evaluate evidence
Work collaboratively in a group setting
Tools to implement SA
McGill-approved SA tools:
Group collaboration in Perusall (TL KB article)
Learn more:
Annotate Your Syllabus 3.0 (Remi Kalir's blog post)
How do I get students to engage with course readings? (Teaching for Learning Blog)
Online Curation and Social Annotation (Vanier College website)
Perusall Support for Instructors (Perusall website)
Research on Perusall (Perusall website)
References
[1]Reyes, C. (2021). Modeling expert reading strategies: Induction into communities of practice. Perusall Exchange.
[2]Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.
[3]Marissa, K. L. (2021). Using an online social annotation tool in a content-based instruction (CBI) classroom. International Journal of TESOL Studies, 3(2), 5-23. https://doi.org/10.46451/ijts.2021.06.02
[4]Miller, K., Lukoff, B., King, G., & Mazur, E. (2018). Use of a social annotation platform for pre-class reading assignments in a flipped introductory Physics class. Frontiers in Education, 3(8).
[5] 1 2 3 4 Suhre, C., Winnips, K., de Boer, V., Valdivia, P., & Beldhuis, H. (2019, May). Students’ experiences with the use of a social annotation tool to improve learning in flipped classrooms. In Fifth International Conference on Higher Education Advances, 955-962. http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/HEAd19.2019.9131
[6]Adams, B., & Wilson, N. S. (2020). Building community in asynchronous online higher education courses through collaborative annotation. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 49(2), 250-261. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047239520946422
[7] d’Entremont, A. G. & Eyking, A. (2021). Student and instructor experience using collaborative annotation via Perusall in upper year and graduate courses. Proceedings of the Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA-ACEG) Conference. https://doi.org/10.24908/pceea.vi0.14835
[8] Kalir, J. H., Morales, E., Fleerackers, A., & Alperin, J. P. (2020). “When I saw my peers annotating”: Student perceptions of social annotation for learning in multiple courses. Information and Learning Science, 121(3-4), 207-230. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-12-2019-0128
[9] 1 2 3 4 Zhu, X., Chen, B., Avadhanam, R. M., Shui, H., & Zhang, R. Z. (2020). Reading and connecting: Using social annotation in online classes. Information and Learning Sciences.
[10] 1 2 Brown, M., & Croft, B. (2020). Social annotation and an inclusive praxis for open pedagogy in the college classroom. Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 1(8), 1-8. http://doi.org/10.5334/jime.561
[11] 1 2 Novak, E., Razzouk, R., & Johnson, T. E. (2012). The educational use of social annotation tools in higher education: A literature review. The Internet and Higher Education, 15(1), 39-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2011.09.002
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