{"id":3028,"date":"2020-04-27T12:00:26","date_gmt":"2020-04-27T19:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/?p=3028"},"modified":"2020-04-27T14:43:28","modified_gmt":"2020-04-27T21:43:28","slug":"collaborative-online-annotation-tools-for-engaging-students-in-readings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/2020\/04\/27\/collaborative-online-annotation-tools-for-engaging-students-in-readings\/","title":{"rendered":"Collaborative Online Annotation Tools for Engaging Students in Readings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you ever get the sense that students posting in their online discussions haven\u2019t really engaged with the reading materials for that week? One way to encourage active engagement with course readings is to have students annotate directly in the article or textbook chapter that they are assigned. While it is common to see students annotating in their paper copies of their textbooks or readings, these aren\u2019t easily shared with their peers or instructor. Of course, students could snap a photo of their handwritten annotations and upload that as a reading assignment task, though that does require additional steps on the part of both the student and instructor, and there is no interaction with others in the course during that process. However, it is possible to have students annotate their readings completely online, directly in any article on the web or in their ebook textbook. With this process, the annotations can also be seen by others in the course, if desired, so that students can discuss the reading all together or in small groups as they are reading an article or book chapter online. The benefit to this type of annotation online includes components of active learning, increased student interaction, and accountability for students in engaging with the course materials. <\/span><\/p>\n

Active Learning<\/span><\/h1>\n

The shift to active learning is a bit like going from <\/span>watching<\/span><\/i> a soccer game on TV to <\/span>playing<\/span><\/i> a soccer game. Likewise, reading passively and reading to learn are two different activities. One way to get students actively reading to learn is to ask them to make connections from the course materials to their own lives or society, for example, which they then make into annotations in their readings. Annotation tasks require students to take actions and articulate these connections, all without the pressure of a formal assessment. Furthermore, many students arrive at college not knowing how to annotate, so teaching basic annotation practices helps students become more active and effective learners (Wesley, 2012).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Interaction<\/span><\/h1>\n

\u201cIndividuals are likely to learn more when they learn with others than when they learn alone\u201d (Weimer, 2012). Discussion board activities are often where interaction with others in an online course takes place. However, rather than having students refer to a particular reading passage in their discussion board activity, they can simply highlight a passage and type their comments about it right there in the article, no discussion board assignment needed. Others in the course can also read participants\u2019 annotations and reply. With some creative assignment design in Canvas, this can also be set up for small groups. Students may find this type of annotation discussion more authentic and efficient than using a discussion board tool to discuss a reading.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"News\n
Above, the online news article is embedded in the Canvas assignment. Students simply go to the assignment and can begin annotating. In the image above, a student highlights a passage to show what the annotation refers to. For a collaborative activity, students can reply to any peer\u2019s comment. Alternatively, the instructor can set the annotations to be private, for more independent tasks.<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

Accountability<\/span><\/h1>\n

A popular way to ensure that students have done the reading is to give them a quiz. However, this is a solitary activity and is higher-stakes than asking students to make targeted annotations throughout a reading. It may make more sense to guide them through a reading with specific annotation tasks. Being explicit about what pieces of the reading students should focus on can help them understand what they need to retain from the reading assignment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Possible Activities<\/span><\/h1>\n