[ARCHIVED] Annotation tools

[msommer]

One of the obstacles that we are experiencing in regard to buy-in from our instructors is the lack of annotation tools in Quizzes. Secondary to annotation being an important aspect of reading for understanding, our students (K-8) are required on standardized tests to highlight text to use as evidence in their answers to comprehension and analysis questions. There are a number of really great websites that do this, some with free demo accounts and some with subscription fees. But, they all require setting up class accounts, logins etc. It would be so awesome if we could do all of this through Canvas. None of them, to this point, are set up for use with LTI.

How are other districts handling this? Am I missing something?

Thanks,

Maria Sommer

Curriculum Coordinator

River Vale, NJ Public Schools

[jared]

msommer, While I don't have a good answer to this, can you share the names of some of these third-party quiz annotation tools so we can reach out  through our Partners and Programs team (Deactivated user​)?

[msommer]

Sure – the third party websites we use are Edcite, NewsELA, ThinkCERCA, Dogonews, Wonderopolis. We have about 30 teachers using Edcite.

Thanks,

Maria Sommer

Curriculum Coordinator

River Vale, NJ Public Schools

617 Westwood Ave

River Vale, NJ 07675

(201) 358 4000 x3103

“We need to ask what kids are being given to do, and to what end, and within what broader model of learning, and as decided by whom.” – Alfie Kohn<http://www.alfiekohn.org/blogs/progressive-labels-regressive-practices/>

[kona]

msommer​, since there isn't really a right or wrong answer for this question and it's geared towards K-8, would it be ok if I moved it over to the Canvas K-12​ group? It's a group made up of entirely K-12 Canvas users and you would probably get the best advice/recommendations there.

In addition, you might want to consider adding this as a newCanvas Feature Idea. For more information on how feature ideas work see the following guides How do I create a new feature idea? and How does the voting process work for feature ideas?

Hope this helps and let me know if I can move this over to the K-12 group!

[msommer]

Kona, it’s fine if you move it. I should have asked it there to begin with.

Thanks,

Maria Sommer

Curriculum Coordinator

River Vale, NJ Public Schools

617 Westwood Ave

River Vale, NJ 07675

(201) 358 4000 x3103

“We need to ask what kids are being given to do, and to what end, and within what broader model of learning, and as decided by whom.” – Alfie Kohn<http://www.alfiekohn.org/blogs/progressive-labels-regressive-practices/>

[kona]

"Find Answers" and "Ask Questions" are always a great place to ask all types of questions and find answers! It's just given the specific nature of this question it seems like it would get more useful responses/information if it was added in the K12 group.

[mpoole]

Hi Maria,

I have not tested this at all, but I noticed that EdCite does have a SCORM export option.  Obviously that's not as streamlined as it could be, but have you tried using the SCORM package within Canvas?

We aren't using SCORM here so I couldn't test it in my instance but I did want to throw out that possibility.

Sorry if that's not helpful!

Melissa

[msommer]

I just talked to Talia at Edcite this afternoon and she mentioned that as well. I'm going to check it out. Thanks for the tip!

[azwaldo]

Howdy Maria,

If students could annotate the text in a Canvas quiz, how do you imagine their work being graded?

This would affect how an "annotation" feature might work. For example, for their work to be available later, a student would need to "save" that annotated page. This means the teacher would then be opening many pages in their browser, in order to review.

Saving lots of pages might make things more complicated, both for the teacher and the programmer.

(The annotation itself is relatively simple. See demo).

*EDIT*

This comment was meant to invite further detail, not as discouragement.

It might help developers, to know what is needed by teachers in order to grade the work.

[msommer]

Hi John,

I’m not sure that the annotation would need to be graded per se. We teach our students to highlight and annotate passages to assist in writing their constructed responses. So, their response is graded, not necessarily their work. Much like in Math though, sometimes assessing the process is just as, or maybe more, important that just getting the right answer.

One way that the annotations and highlighting might be graded is for the highlighted text/notes be pulled out of the quiz into some type of “report”. I’m thinking along the lines of the way Luminpdf or even the Kindle app makes a list of your annotations and highlights, which includes page numbers.

Maria Sommer

Curriculum Coordinator

River Vale, NJ Public Schools

617 Westwood Ave

River Vale, NJ 07675

(201) 358 4000 x3103

“We need to ask what kids are being given to do, and to what end, and within what broader model of learning, and as decided by whom.” – Alfie Kohn<http://www.alfiekohn.org/blogs/progressive-labels-regressive-practices/>

[msommer]

Oops – the app I meant to reference below is Meta PDF, not Lumin PDF. Sorry about that.

Maria Sommer

Curriculum Coordinator

River Vale, NJ Public Schools

617 Westwood Ave

River Vale, NJ 07675

(201) 358 4000 x3103

“We need to ask what kids are being given to do, and to what end, and within what broader model of learning, and as decided by whom.” – Alfie Kohn<http://www.alfiekohn.org/blogs/progressive-labels-regressive-practices/>

[azwaldo]

Maria,

I might have misunderstood your original post ("evidence", "the lack of annotation tools in Quizzes"). My use of the word "graded" would include any type of review that is done by the teacher, even if that is just simple verification that annotation had taken place.

I am not certain that I am correctly imagining the annotation. Did you view the demo page linked in my first reply (above)? Does that demonstration come close to the process you would like to see in a Canvas tool?

Edit: The demo linked above is meant to show the process, step by step. It is not meant to suggest the actual appearance or design of a tool.

Also, when I enter "Meta PDF" for keywords in a Google search, a wide variety of sites are returned as a result. Do you have a link for the specific "Meta PDF" site or application you mentioned?

[msommer]

The demo seems to be exactly what I am looking for. I envision having one or more text-only items on the quiz for students to read. I would want them to annotate those text items by highlighting and jotting notes (annotations) about their thinking. We have them do this in books using post-it notes. Then, they will write an essay or several paragraph answer to a question, utilizing the annotations to organize their writing.

https://www.metapdf.com

@metapdf

It’s a Google add-on that appears to still be in Beta.

Thanks -

Maria

[azwaldo]

Thank you for the link, will enjoy seeing another Google tool. I hope to explore all of this soon, but it may be a while before I can guess at how such a feature might work in Canvas.

Being new to Canvas LMS, I still need to learn how such tools are advanced (make it through voting​), and how they are developed.

[msommer]

Annotation tools for Quizzes is up for voting. Please take a minute to vote on this important feature suggestion to help it move into development.

Thanks!

[clong]

Hi Maria,

You might want to take a look at Edulastic: Interactive Common Core Formative Assessments.​ They are fairly close to having a LTI with Canvas and they have a question type where students can highlight a line of text to select it as an answer.

On their website, click on the "Try a Tech Enhanced Assessment" and then look at question 8.

[msommer]

Thanks Chris, I’ll check it out. We have some other sites we use - EdCite, NewsELA, etc. We’re looking to be able to create our own assessments in Canvas.

[nicolelschrock]

We are having the same issue.  We subscribe to Actively Learn which allows students to annotate and teachers to see student annotations.  Teachers want similar functionality on teacher-built reading assignments and assessments.  Have you found a workable solution?

[msommer]

We have not found a solution, but it is up for a new feature vote. Please have everyone you know vote it up so it can move forward in the new feature process!

[msommer]

Here is the link to vote for the new feature.

[Stef_retired]

Voted!

[kona]

Already voted as well!

[azwaldo]

Hypothes.is​ has announced a new application that integrates their annotation tool with Canvas.

The Hypothes.is Canvas app enables teachers to create annotatable documents as “Assignments” within the LMS platform.

— Jeremy Dean in "Test Our New Canvas App Prototype"

[biray]

There's a CanvasLIVE session coming up called Annotations and Automagic Grading with Perusall LTI​ that some of you may find valuable, given the topic of this conversation thread.

[KristinL]

The idea of annotating within quizzes via mobile has also surfaced recently. See the comments at the bottom... Open Discussion Notes