{"id":579,"date":"2022-05-15T22:14:25","date_gmt":"2022-05-15T22:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/changing-course\/?p=579"},"modified":"2022-09-11T23:45:30","modified_gmt":"2022-09-11T23:45:30","slug":"stimulating-student-engagement-with-social-annotation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/changing-course\/stimulating-student-engagement-with-social-annotation\/","title":{"rendered":"Stimulating Student Engagement with Social Annotation"},"content":{"rendered":"
In this issue of Changing Course\u00a0<\/em>we will examine how social annotation stimulates student engagement. Social annotation is a creative means to promote engagement with readings. It “is the digital process of <\/span><\/span>highlighting, marking up, and zooming in on the component parts of a text in the company of classmates and colleagues” (McDaniel, 2021). Students insert comments, questions, images, videos, and links in the margins. They engage in discourse with each other (Aguiar et al., 2021). This interaction fosters collaborative learning<\/span><\/span> through analysis. “Social annotation represents a paradigm shift from the traditional ways in which students and educators have interacted with texts” (Farber, 2019). <\/span> Students engage with the evidence-in-action and are given the opportunity to view it in a different way, to see why the piece is important to class discussion, theory, clinical experiences, and life.<\/span><\/span> Social annotation empowers students to share their thoughts in a safe space.
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There are many tools for digital social annotations, including <\/span>Hypothesis<\/a><\/strong>, <\/span>NowComment<\/strong><\/a>, Perusall<\/strong><\/a>, and Diigo<\/strong><\/a>. I prefer Hypothesis. Hypothesis is a free open-source platform and can also be integrated into Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as Canvas and Blackboard.<\/span> I use Hypothesis integrated in the Canvas LMS.<\/span><\/h5>\n

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Sample Student Annotations using Hypothesis in Canvas
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(Margolies & Brown, 2019)<\/h5>\n
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Inclusive and Universal Design<\/strong><\/h4>\n
The Hypothesis tool is compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1). Social annotation’s inclusive design not only helps people with physical, cognitive, and other disabilities, it also takes into account factors like gender, culture, and age (French, 2022)<\/span>.<\/h5>\n
. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Examples of accessibility tools include:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n
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    Clearly defined buttons, text spacing<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n
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    Timeout notifications<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n
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    Ability to turn off animations<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n
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    Enlarged pixels<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n
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    Voice messages<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn (CAST, 2022). UDL focuses on multiple means of engagement, interaction, and expression (Aguiar et al., 2021). <\/span><\/h5>\n
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    1. \n
      Engagement:<\/strong> Social annotation focuses student reading and interpretation practices, giving students options for how they engage with the reading. Social annotation helps students frame reading as a cooperative endeavor, not a one-sided private practice and hunt for knowledge (Aguiar et al., 2021). <\/span><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n
    2. \n
      Interaction:<\/strong> Social annotation provides students with multiple ways to interact with the material. Students ask questions, share ideas, and collaborate in ways that meet the needs of diverse learners <\/span>(Aguiar et al., 2021)<\/span>.<\/h5>\n<\/li>\n
    3. \n
      Expression:<\/strong> Social annotation fosters the creation of new knowledge, as students connect readings to theory and practice using text, video, and other methods <\/span>(Aguiar et al., 2021).\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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      Deep Thinking<\/strong><\/h4>\n
      When used as a teaching strategy in nursing, social annotation encourages students to deepen their thinking. According to a systematic review by <\/span>Ghardirian<\/span> et al., social annotation is beneficial to meta-cognition and comprehension. It supports the process of knowledge building, understanding and collaboration (<\/span>Ghadirian<\/span> et al., 2018). Often<\/span><\/span>, when a reading is assigned, though the student may read it, deep engagement is not present.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>With social annotation, students read and think together and a text becomes a richer learning object (Cornell, 2022). Intra and inter-personal learning is fostered. Students collaborate while annotating and make meaning of the reading together through informal conversation. In doing this, they deepen their understanding of the material. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n
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      Thinking “Like a Nurse”<\/strong><\/h4>\n
      In nursing, we need to teach our students how to think like a nurse, it is a different type of thinking and a new way of thought for many students. Thinking like a nurse takes practice, we need to train the brain and rewire it to create new thinking patterns. Social annotation can be used as a method to help students do this. Tanner\u2019s Clinical Judgment Model (2006) fits nicely with social annotation. This model explains how students should frame their thinking when approaching their readings. In Tanner’s Clinical Judgment Model, we look at Noticing, Interpreting, Responding, and Reflecting, and that is exactly what students are doing when participating in social annotation. <\/span>Social annotation cultivates student thought processes as they progress toward their goal of passing the NCLEX and becoming a nurse.<\/h5>\n
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