NEH White Paper 2016 - Annotation Studio Final...

AnnotationStudioDigitalAnnotationasanEducationalApproachintheHumanitiesandArtsWhitePaperJamesParadis(PI),KurtFendt(Co-PI)

Date:April22,2016

WhitePaper AnnotationStudio:MultimediaAnnotationforStudents April25,2016

MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology GrantNo.HK-50072-13 2

TableofContentsIntroduction 3FromStart-UptoImplementation 4AnnotationStudio’sCoreDesign 6UseoftheKnowledgeCommons:OpenSourceTechnologies 8AnnotationStudioDevelopment 9UsabilityandAssessment 10UserSupportandOutreach 11ContinuationoftheProject 12BeyondAnnotation:IdeaSpace 13Conclusion 14

Appendix1:AnnotationStudioScreenShots1. AnnotationStudioWebApplication(LandingPage) 162. MainAnnotationPage 173. Dashboardwithquickaccesstodocuments,annotations,andclasses/groups 184. DocumentUploadandEditingPanel 195. AnnotationScreenwithFilteringOptions 206. Multimediacomponentswithintexts 217. MultimediaAnnotations 228. UserProfilePage 23

Appendix2:Assessment 24

Appendix3:AnnotationStudioUseCases 26

Appendix4:Instructors’EvaluationsofAnnotationStudio’sImpactinLiteratureandEnglishReadingClasses 29

Appendix5:DistributionofAnnotationStudioUseDuringtheImplementationGrantPeriod(September1,2013–December31,2015)Figure1:Growthofregisteredusersonpublicapp(September1,2013–March1,2016) 37Figure2:DistributionofDisciplinesinAnnotationStudioClassGroups 38Table1and2:Distributionacrossinstitutionsandcountries 39

Appendix6:IdeaSpace 40

Appendix7:AnnotationStudiointheNews 42

Appendix8:Credits 45



“…whenIgivethemtasksthatrequiretheuseofAnnotationStudio,andwhenItellthemthatastheycompletethesetaskstheyareworkingaseditors,scholars,andcritics,somethingremarkablehappens.Theybecomebetterreadersandwriters.”

(WynKelley,SeniorLecturerinLiterature,MIT)IntroductionThesimple,intuitivepracticeoftextualannotation,whencarriedoutinanetworkedenvironment,offersasurprisingvarietyofnewapproachestothehumanisteducatorandstudent,whilealsoopeningupuniquepossibilitiesforpedagogicalpeerproductionandsharing.AnnotationactivitiescangiverisetoanetworkededucationalcommonsbytakingadvantageofwhatBurdickandhercollaboratorsrefertoasthe“fluidtextualitiesthatrelyontheaffordancesofdigitalenvironments.”1Educationalannotationapproachestheactivityofdevelopingmarginalcommentaryonsourcetextsandothermedialessasaformalmeansofexplicatingthosetextsforotherreaders2 thanasaninformaleducationalmeansofpromotingalearner’sengagementwith,andcomprehensionandassimilationof,texts.Thereare,however,nonecessarybarriersbetweenthetwo,whichhavelengthyandinterminglingtraditions.3 AnnotationStudioisawebapplicationdesignedinHyperStudio,MIT’sdigitalhumanitieslaboratory,tomaketheeducationalannotationofdigitaltextsandothermediaeasilyandfreelyavailabletoscholars,classroominstructorsandstudents.DevelopedwithsupportfromtheNationalEndowmentfortheHumanitiesanddrawingfromresourcesavailableinopensource,theapplicationplacesspecialeducationalemphasisonthedigitalhumanitiesgoalofusingdigitalmediatoexpandthepossibilitiesofengagingwithtextsinthehumanitiesandarts.“Withthemigrationofculturalmaterialsintonetworkedenvironments,”Burdickandhercollaboratorshaveremarked,“questionsregardingtheproduction,availability,validity,andstewardshipofthesematerialspresentnewchallengesandopportunities.”4AnnotationStudioaddressesthesechallengesandpossibilitiesthroughthelongstandinghumanisticpracticeofmarginalcommentary,inaneasy-to-usenetworkedenvironmentthatsupportstheclassroomcurationofdigitaltexts,individualandgroupmarginalcommentaryonthosetexts,andavarietyofeducationalactivitiesdevotedtothecriticalandaestheticengagementwiththetexts.Oneofthewidelyacknowledgedcharacteristicsofannotationisitssyntheticyettransitionalnature.5

Traditionallypracticedas“partoftheroutineoflearning,”oftenwithspecialemphasisonstrengtheningthereader’smemory,annotation’sblendofreadingandwritingreflectswhatJacksonhascalled“thenaturaltensionbetweenauthorandreader”—evenintheslightestmarkingsandinterventions.6 Whileannotationtakesplaceinthemarginsofestablishedcontent,italsoimpliesachallengetothatsamecontent.7Thisspatialmarginalitycanbeconceptuallygenerativeandreflectthetentative,transitional

1AnneBurdick,etal.Digital_Humanities(Cambridge,MA:MITPress,2012)30.2 FormalliteraryannotationforreadersisexaminedinClaireLamont,“AnnotatingaText:LiteraryTheoryandElectronicHypertext,”ElectronicText:InvestigationsinMethodandTheory,ed.KathrynSutherland(NewYork:OxfordUP,1997)47-66.3ManytraditionsofannotationareexploredinStephenA.Barney,ed.AnnotationandItsTexts(NewYork:OxfordUP,1991).4Digital_Humanities,3.5H.J.Jackson,Marginalia:ReadersWritinginBooks(NewHaven:YaleUP,2001)90.6 Marginalia,87,90.SeealsoWilliamH.Sherman,"WhatDidRenaissanceReadersWriteinTheirBooks?"BooksandReadersinEarlyModernEngland,ed.JenniferAndersonandElizabethSauer(Philadelphia:Univ.ofPennsylvaniaPress,2002)121.7 Marginalia,90.Ontheagonisticcharacterofannotation,seealsoRalphHannaIII,“AnnotationasSocialPractice,”AnnotationandItsTexts,ed.StephenA.Barney(NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,1991)178-79,81.



forming,theliminality,associatedwithlearning:thedevelopmentoffreshinsights,thebuildingofnewrelationshipsandtheformationofnewidentities.8 “Amarkedorannotatedbook,”Jacksonnotes,“tracesthedevelopmentofthereader’sself-definitioninandbyrelationtothetext.”9AndrewPiper,inhisexplorationofthehistoryofthemiscellanyandotherreadingintheromanticperiod,hasexploredatlengthwaysinwhichtypographical“hollows”oremptyspaces,invitedinscriptionsandmarginalcommentary,bringingwritingandprintinto“intimatecontact.”10The“invitationtohandwriting”offeredbyspaceonthepage,Pipernotes,served“asakindofinitiationintoawayofthinkingaboutwritingmoregenerallywithintheprintedpublicsphereasaspaceofcommonality.”11 Althoughdigitalannotationisnolongerinscript,itstillmergesauthorwithreaderandshareswithhandwritingthequalityoftextualfluidityinthemargins.AnnotationStudiosupportsthesetwoideasthattheactivityofannotationisconstitutiveof(1)aliminal,transitionallearningspacethatisalsopartof(2)aprintedpublicsphereorcommons.Thecommons,asBenklerhasdiscussedatlength,hastakenshapethroughthefreesoftwaremovementandubiquitouscomputercommunicationsnetworks,whicheducationalusersofAnnotationStudiohavetakenadvantageof.12Asanetworkedapplication,AnnotationStudio,wewillshowbelow,advancesthe“sociallifeofthehumanities”byencouraginganewparticipatoryapproachwithinthehumanitiesclassroomitself,aswelltheemergenceofabroadereducationalcommonsinwhichitissharedfreelyacrossnationalandinternationaleducationallevels,institutionsanddisciplines.13FromStart-UptoImplementationAnnotationStudioisgroundedinthecontemporarysearchforinnovativewaystoengagestudentsinaclassroomcommunityoflearningthatcrossesthedividebetweendigitally-enabledandtraditionalpedagogies.14Forhumanists,readingandwritinginnetworkedclassroomenvironmentshaveemergedinthecontextofarapidlyexpandingbodyofeasilyaccessedmultimediacontentinthehumanitiesandartsthatwouldhavebeenunimaginableagenerationago.Gainingaccesstoandmanagingthesematerialsinthecontemporaryclassroomrequiresanewmeansofclassroomcontentcuration;inturn,digitalaffordancesassociatedwiththeriseofWeb2.0asanauthoringandcollaborativemediumhaveenabledavarietyofpedagogicalinnovationsforengagingwiththesematerials.AsJenkinsandKellyandothershaveobserved,studentsthemselvesareablenetworkusers,withexistingskillsthatareeminentlyadaptabletotheaspirationsofthehumanitiesinadigitallysupportedclassroom.15 TheseedofAnnotationStudiotookrootinthisemergingeducationalenvironmentinanearlycollaborationbetweenDr.WynKelley,anMITAmericanistandMelvillescholar;Co-PIFendt,ascholarofDigital

8AlisonCook-Satherexploresliminalityandlearninginfluidtextualitiesinherstudy,"NewlyBetwixtandBetween:RevisingLiminalityintheContextofaTeacherPreparationProgram,"AnthropologyandEducationQuarterly37.2(2006):110-27.9 Marginalia,87.10 AndrewPiper,DreaminginBooks:TheMakingoftheBibliographicImaginationintheRomanticAge(Chicago:UofChicagoPress,2009)138.11 Dreaming,128.12YochaiBenkler,TheWealthofNetworks:HowSocialProductionTransformsMarketsandFreedom(NewHaven:YaleUP,2006)59-68.13Digital_Humanities,84.14 See,forexample,HenryJenkinsandWynKelly,eds.ReadinginaParticipatoryCulture:RemixingMoby-DickintheEnglishClassroom(NY:Teacher'sCollegePress,2013).SeealsoHenryJenkins,etal.,ConfrontingtheChallengesofParticipatoryCulture:MediaEducationforthe21stCentury(Cambridge,MA:MITPress,2009).15Reading,5-9.SeealsoJohnPalfreyandUrsGasser,“Learners,”BornDigital:UnderstandingtheFirstGenerationofDigitalNatives(NewYork:BasicBooks,2008)237-53.



Humanitiesandculturalstudies;andtheHyperStudiostaffaroundKelley’spropositionthatstudentsmightwellimprovetheircapabilitiesasindividualandcollaborativereadersandscholarsbyadoptingthelongstandinghumanisticpracticeofwritingmarginalcommentaryinbooksusingadigitally-enabled,hypertextualspacelaterallylinkedtothemainsourcetext.16 TheresultingannotationprocessesopeneduparichvarietyofpedagogicalapproachesaroundwhatKellyhasreferredtoas“gettingoffthelinearpathofreadingandwanderingintheopenspacesofthemargins,”imitativeofHermanMelville’sownannotativeassimilatingofhisreading17 AnnotationStudio,asithasbeenco-designed,builtandimplementedbyclassroominstructorsandHyperStudiostaffovermorethanfiveyears,hascenteredonundergraduateclassroomuseanddevelopedfunctionalitiesthatpromotecorehumanitiesskills,includingclosereading,interpretation,argumentationandwriting.Overtime,thespacesofAnnotationStudiohaveincreasinglybeenseenastransitionalandintegrative,helpingstudentsturninsightsinspiredbyclosereadingintoargumentsbasedonevidencederivedfromprimaryhumanitiesdocumentsinavarietyofmediaformats.TheprototypeofAnnotationStudiocreatedunderaNEHDigitalStart-Upgrantattractedaround300users,facultyandstudentsinthehumanitiesandarts,insideandoutsideofMITwhoprovidedvaluablefeedbackforfeaturedesignanddevelopment,pedagogicaluseandcurriculumintegration.Fromthestart,ourtestingenvironmenthasbeentheclassroom,andourmeasuresofsuccess(otherthaneaseofuse)havebeendefinedbyeducationaloutcomes,outsideinstitutionaladoption,andtheinternalandexternalgrowthofauserbase.ConcurrentclassroomintegrationhasbeencriticaltotheiterativedevelopmentprocessofAnnotationStudioandbi-weeklypedagogymeetingswithparticipatinginstructorshavesupportedthedesignanddevelopmentofnewteachingandlearningpracticesfromtheoutset.FromthestartoftheImplementationGrantinthefallof2013theproject’sexpandingnetworkofusershasexceededourexpectations(seeAppendix5),revealingwhatweconsidertobeabroadlevelofsupportforourdesignandeducationalpriorities,butalsoanenthusiasmforthepeersharingapproachofaneducationalcommons,aswellasacorestudentandinstructorinterestintheparticipatorydynamicofaclassroomengagementinthecontextofWebaffordances.Withmorethan7000registeredusersfrommorethan800educationalinstitutionsrangingacrosshighschools,communitycolleges,andfour-yearuniversitiesfromtheUSandabroad,theprojectactivitiesduringthisImplementationGrantperiodhavebeenfocusedconsiderablyontheprocessesofsupportingthescalingupofadigitalhumanitiesapplicationthathasgeneratedsomuchoutsideinterest.Withintwoyears,AnnotationStudiohasseenasignificantuptakeinhumanitieseducationaroundtheworld,partlydue,wethink,toAnnotationStudio’sease-of-usedesignandtheproject’soutreachactivitiessuchasamajornewprojectwebsite,workshops,webinars,andconferencepresentations.Furtheruserbaseexpansionhasnodoubtbeentheresultofwordofmouth,reviewsbyexistingusers,andlessonplansbyinstructorspostedontheprojectwebsiteandininstructors’blogs,aswellasthefactthatAnnotationStudioisfreetouseandthecodeopensource.Admittedly,asasmallteamoflocalscholars,educatorsanddevelopers,wehavenothadtheresourcestoexplore,otherthananecdotally,thereasonsbehindthespreadofinterest,or,indeed,whatthefullrangeandnatureofusecasesmightbe.

16Dr.Kelley’sexperienceswithannotationintheclassroomarediscussedinmoredetailinAppendix4,below.17Reading,101.



AnnotationStudio’sCoreDesignAnnotationStudio’sdistinctivenessresultsfromacombinationofitseasy-to-use,transparentfunctionality,itsopensourcegrounding,anditsagiledevelopmentprocessasaclassroom-generatededucationaltool.Thesequalitiesandprocessessupportacorefunctionality(seeBox1)thathasemergedfromthestartinacontinuousdiscussionamongeducators,students,developers,anddesignersaboutwhatisneededintheclassroomandactuallyworkspedagogically.Eachitemonthelisthasbeendiscussedforitsfeasibility,educationalvalueandcost.TheAnnotationStudioteamhasbeencommittedtoanagilemethodologyinbuildingitsapplicationonthebestavailableopen-sourcetools–mostprominentlyTheAnnotatorbytheOpenKnowledgefoundation–andusedcodecontributedbyotheropensourcedevelopersatHofstraUniversityandHarvardUniversity,whilecontinuingtobuilditsowncodebaseandoccasionallyemployingoutsidedesignandcodesupportfromcommercialorganizationslikeThoughtbot.comandPerformantSoftware.Co-designingwithstudentsandinstructorsTheAnnotationStudioteamfollowstheHyperStudioprincipleofco-designingitsprojectsarounduseenvironmentswithavarietyofstakeholdersandkindsofexpertisepresent.Theteamiscomposedofacombinationofclassroominstructors,designers,andsoftwaredeveloperswhomeeteveryotherweekthroughouttheacademicterms,oftenwithstudentusers,toengageindesigndiscussionsfocusedprimarilyonendusers’needs.Regularfeedbackfromstudentsandfaculty(withinMITandfromoutside)usingthewebapplicationhascontinuouslyinformedsoftwaredevelopmentandresultedinthecorefunctionalitylistedinBox1.Withfeedbackfromagrowingnumberofeducatorsandstudentsrelyingontheapplication,ourdesignoptimizationofthecorefunctionalitytendedtotakepriorityoverexpandingthenumberofadvancedfeaturesbuiltintotheapplication.Withagrowingbaseofusers,wefeltagrowingcommitmenttodeliveringthemeasy-to-useandpedagogicallytestedfunctionalities.Anynewfunctionalitiesneededtobebuiltandtestedmuchmorerigorouslythantheymightbeinanexperimentalprototype,partlybecausemeetingtheneedsofthousandsofusershadtosucceedwithoutoverburdeningthe

Box1:Corefunctionality

• Textofanylengthcanbeannotated.• Textsinavarietyofformatscanbe

uploaded.• Applicationsupportsuser-generatedsource

texts.• Userscanannotatecollaboratively.• Userscancreateusergroupswithuser

selectedprivacysettings.• Onlinemediadocumentscanbeaddedto

annotations.• Staticanddynamicmediacanbeintegrated

intexts.• Annotatedtextscanbelinkedtomedia

documents,sourcematerials,andadaptations.

• Textandassociatedannotationscanbetaggedusingfolksonomiesandpredefinedcategories.

• Annotationscanbesortedinavarietyofways,includingtags,categories,privacy,orgroupaffiliation.

• Annotationscanbeusedinotherapplications

• Adashboardgivesquickaccesstodocuments,annotations,andgroupaffiliations.

• DocumentssupportstandardDublinCore-basedmetadata.

• Documentscanbemadeprivate,shared,orpublicdependingoncopyrightstatus.Theapplicationcanbeusedfreelyonthepublicsite,ininstitution-specificsubdomains,orasaseparateopen-sourceinstallationfromGithub.

SeeexhibitsinAppendix1forapplicationscreenillustrations.



HyperStudioteamwithadditionalsupportrequests.Wefocusedonfeaturesthatsupportedpedagogicalusesacrossabroadrangeofhumanitiescoursesrangingfromliteratureandforeignlanguagestocreativewritingandmediastudiesinsecondaryandtertiaryeducationalinstitutions.Thisfocusedco-designapproachonthehumanitiesclassroomandsupportingarangeofpedagogiesinlearningcommunities,wefeel,setsourapplicationapartfromotherannotationtools.BasicFunctionalityfromtheUser’sPointofViewAnnotationStudiohasbeendesignedtomakeiteasyforafirst-timeinstructorusertoregister,login,createacourseidentifierandstartloadingtexts;or,forafirst-timestudentusertoregister,login,enterthecourseidentifier,andstartreadingandannotatingcoursetexts.Thegoalhasbeensimplicityinuserinterfacedesign,easyaccesstobasiclevelsofuse,andmodalaccesstomoreadvancedfunctionality.Thedesigngoalhasalsobeentoenableflexibilityineducationaluse,sothatthewebapplicationmaysupportmultiplepedagogicalscenariosinavarietyofhumanitiesdisciplinesandthearts,andalsosupporteducationallevelsfromsecondarytoadvanceduniversity.RegisteringforAnnotationStudio.TogetstartedwiththepublicversionofAnnotationStudio,auserwouldregisterat:http://app.annotationstudio.org.AfteragreeingtotheTermsandConditions,theinstructor,studentorotheruserreceivesaregistrationemail.Afterconfirmingtheregistrationemail,theusercanlogin.(SeeAppendix1foraseriesofexhibitsthatcapturesthecorefunctionalityofAnnotationStudio.)Workingfromthedashboard.ThemainpageauserseesafterlogginginistheDashboard(Exhibit3,Appendix1).TheDashboardprovidesquickaccesstodocuments,annotations,andclassesorgroupsauserispartof.TheDashboardisalsothelocationfromwhichtheuserwouldselect“createnewdocument”togototheDocumentUploadandEditingPanel(Exhibit4,Appendix1)inordertouploadanewtextforaclassorgroupofuserstoreadandannotate.OnthepublicAnnotationStudiosite,auserisautomaticallyputintothe“public”group,whichgivesaccesstoanumberofpublicdomaintextsthatcanbefreelyannotatedinthemainannotationpage.(Exhibit3,Appendix1).Annotatingatext.Inordertomakeanannotation,auserselectsatextfromthedashboard,andwhenitappearsontheMainAnnotationPage,beginsreadingandannotating.(Exhibit2,Appendix1).Tocreateanannotation,theuserhighlightsaportionofthetextintheMainAnnotationPage,clicksonthefloatingannotationwindowthatappears,andaddsacomment(seeimageatright).Thecommentmustbesavedbyclickingonthe“save”buttonatthebottomofthewindow.ThecommentcanbeenrichedwithWeblinks,embeddedimages,sounds,andvideosavailableontheWeb.Inaddition,theusercanaddherowntagsandsharetheannotationwithfellowusersinthesamegrouporclass.Groupsaresmallerworkingsub-groupswithinlargerclasses.Theycanbecreatedinauser’sprofilepage(seeExhibit8,Appendix1).Uploadingdocumentsandothermedia.Ifaninstructor,studentorotheruserwantstouploadherowndocuments,shewouldgototheDocumentUploadandEditingPanel(Exhibit4,Appendix1).ThispanelcanbeaccessedfromtheDashboardbyclickingon“createnewdocument.”Theusercaneitherupload



anexistingsimpleMS-WordorPDFfile,orpasteHTMLtextdirectlyintothetextform/box.Standardmetadatafieldsallowtheusertoaddbibliographicinformation.Adocumentcanhavethreestates:

- Draft(textcanstillbeedited)- Published(textcanbeannotatedbutnolongeredited)- Public(textandannotationscanbeviewedwithoutregistrationbutnoannotationscanbe

made)- Archived(textlongershowsupinauser’sdashboard)

Assigningtextstoclassesandgroups.Anewlyuploadedtextcanbeassignedtooneormoreclassesorreadingsub-groupsintheDocumentUploadandEditingPanelExhibit4,Appendix1).Theuploadersimplyaddsanewclassorsub-groupname(i.e.identifier)underClassesorGroups.Thedocumentisthensharedwiththisnewclassorgroup.Ausercanaddthenewclassorgroupidentifierunderheruserprofile(seeExhibit8,Appendix1)tojointheclassorgroupandaccessandannotatethisdocument.Managingannotations.InadditiontoaddingnewannotationsintheMainAnnotationPage,userscanalsoviewallannotationsonaparticulartextintheannotationsidebar,seenintheAnnotationScreenwithFilteringOptions(Exhibit5,Appendix1).ThisfilteringpanelisactivatedbyclickingonthegearbuttonatthetopoftheMainAnnotationPage.Thesidebarsupportsthefilteringofannotationsaccordingtothefollowingcriteria:

- Whomadetheannotation(user,groupmembersorclassmembers)?- Whereannotationsappearinthetext(visibleportionofthetextorwholetext)- Howtheyaretagged(user-createdtags)

Withthesebasicoperations,AnnotationStudiomaybeusedinanendlessvarietyofeducationalandclassroomsettings,levels,anddomains.Thegrowingcommunityofusershasmadeuseofthesefunctionalitiesininnovativeways,someofwhicharesummarizedinAppendices3and4.ForfurtherdetailsonthefunctionalityofAnnotationStudio,seethescreenshotsinAppendix1orgototheinformationalwebsiteathttp://www.annotationstudio.org/toconsulttheuser’smanualandusagevideos.Or,simplytryouttheapplicationathttp://app.annotationstudio.org.UseoftheKnowledgeCommons:OpenSourceTechnologiesInconsideringhowbesttobuildtheproposedannotationapplication,wesurveyedthefieldofavailableopensourcesoftwarerelatedtoourprojectanddiscoveredthattheOpenKnowledgeFoundation’sAnnotatorincludedacoresetoffeaturesthatsupportedandcomplementedwhatweproposedtodevelop.BychoosingtobuildontheAnnotator’sstrengthsratherthancreatingalloftheproposedfeaturesfromscratch,wetookadvantageofthesharedresourcesoftheOpenKnowledgecommonsandsignificantlyacceleratedsoftwaredevelopment,whichallowedustofocusondistinctiveneedsassociatedwithusingannotationsinaneducationalcontext.Acceleratingsoftwaredevelopmentalsoenabledustoinvestmoreofourlimitedresourcestoworkingwithfacultyuserstotailorthetoolandintegrateitintotheircurriculumandinstruction.Justassignificantly,ourdecisiontoincorporatetheOpenKnowledgeAnnotatorconnecteduswithaninternationalcommunityofdevelopers,theorists,andeducatorswhoareactivelycollaboratingtoproduceacommoncoreofadaptableannotationsoftwareandtodeveloptheW3COpenAnnotation18standardthatsupportstheuser’sabilitytoexchangeandreuseannotationsacrosstoolsandplatforms.

18http://www.w3.org/annotation/(March2016)



Thegroupswithwhichwehaveestablishedthestrongestconnectionsinclude:

• Hypothes.is,anonprofitbuildinganopenwebannotationtoolbasedontheAnnotator• HarvardUniversityandMassachusettsGeneralHospital• TheW3COpenAnnotationCommunityGroup• TheOpenKnowledgefoundation,

originatoroftheAnnotator,andanorganizerofopensourcesoftwareprojectsforopenknowledge.

• TheDigitalResourcecenteratHofstraUniversity

Technicalspecifications.AnnotationStudioisdevelopedasanopensourcewebapplication,basedonstate-of-the-artwebdesignanddevelopmenttechnologiesandmethods(seeBox2).Itsinterfaceprovidesuserswithawebbrowser-basedreadingandnote-takingworkspacewritteninHTML,CSS,andJavascript.Ontheserverside,thelatestRubyonRailsframeworkacceleratesdevelopmentandishostedonHeroku’s“PlatformasaService,”whichenhancesandacceleratesdeploymentandscaling.AllAnnotationStudiocodeisavailableonHyperStudio’sGitHubsiteunderaGPL2license:https://github.com/hyperstudio/Annotation-Studio.AnnotationStudioDevelopmentOvertheImplantationGrantperiod,wereleasedversion2ofAnnotationStudioalongwiththreesubsequentmajorupdates,incorporatingnewfeaturesrequestedbyclassroomusersandrefinementsderivedfromuserfeedback.Beyondthepreviouslymentioneduploadfunctionality,AnnotationStudionowalsofeaturestouchcapabilitywhichhasbeenapriorityformanystudentusersandsignificantlyexpandstheapplication’susabilitybyallowinguserstoannotateontablet-sizemobiledevices.Annotationfiltering.ThemanagementofannotationsintheclassroomandineducationalcontextsthroughvariousfilteringoptionshasbeenakeyareaofinterestindevelopingAnnotationStudio.Annotationfiltering(seeExhibit5,Appendix1)wascalledforandshapedbyinstructorandstudentfeedback.Currentfilteringapproachesenableuserstoviewannotationsbasedonvariouslevelsofgroupmembership,user-createdannotationtags,andanewannotationcategoryfeature(underdevelopment).Inadditiontothefree-form,folksonomy-basedtagsthatanyusercaninventforannotations,AnnotationStudiocategoriesallowinstructorstocreateasetofpre-definedtagsthatcanbeusedbyallstudentswiththedocumentsassignedtoaspecificclass.Inthisway,annotationscancarrybothfixedandfree-formtagstosupportstructuredreadingandannotationofdocumentswithout

Box2:Technicalspecifications

AnnotationStudio’suserinterfaceiswritteninHTML,CSSandJavascript.• Backbone.jssupportsuserdatadisplayand

navigation.• TwitterBootstrapandjQuerysupportuser

interfacecontrols,layout,anddesign.• Alluserandgroupmanagementanddocument

organizationisbuiltinRubyonRails,integratingexistingHyperStudioopensourcesoftware.

• AnnotationdataisstoredintheMongoDBdatabaseviaaRESTfulwebAPIwritteninNode.js,whichenablesreuse,visualization,andanalysisofannotations.

• TheopensourceAnnotatoreditorisbuiltinCoffeescript/JavascriptbytheOpenKnowledgeFoundation.GithubandHerokusupportcollaborationanddeployment.



limitingstudents’abilitytoorganizetheircommentsbyusingpersonaltags.Annotationfilteringallowsstudentsandinstructorstoshareandparticipateinavarietyofreadingapproaches:tofocusonspecificclassperspectivesoftheannotatedtexts,aswellasongroupandindividualreaderperspectives.Thesefiltersareparticularlyusefulforheavilyannotateddocumentsandthefine-grainedanalysisofreaderengagement.Theysupportastructuredapproachtosharedknowledgecreationwithintheclassroomandonline.Wealsoimplementedanewcurationalstatusfordocuments,“Public.”DocumentscollectedunderPublicdonotrequirealogintoberead,enablingannotateddocumentstobeviewedbyanyone,notjustbyregisteredusersofAnnotationStudio.SharedMediaRepositoryConcept.InadditiontousingresourcesavailableontheWeb,themostrecentversionofAnnotationStudioallowsuserstointegratetexts,images,videos,maps,andothermediafromalocallystoredmediarepository.Thisfunctionality19 allowsinstructorsandstudentstodevelopasharedrepositorywhosematerialsmaybereusedbymanyusersacrossmultipleclassesandannotations.ThefunctionalitiesofAnnotationStudiomayinthiswaybeincorporatedintoanexistingmediarepository,whichwouldtherebyopenthosematerialstoclassroomandbroadereducationaluse.Thesharedmediarepositoryconcept,aswellasthecategoriesoffunctionalitydescribedabove,havebeendevelopedinclosecollaborationwithHofstraUniversity’sTextLabprojectandtheirDigitalResourceCenter.HofstraU.hassetupitsownAnnotationStudioinstallationwhichisusedinseveralhumanitiesclasses.Inaddition,theirTextLabproject(directedbyProf.JohnBryant,anAnnotationStudioadvisor)iscurrentlyintegratingAnnotationStudioasanadditionalcommentarylayer.Multi-tenancy,peersharingandinstitutionalindependence.Themulti-tenancycapabilityweaddedtotheAnnotationStudio’sarchitectureisyetanotherdevelopmentfocusedontheapplicationasaneducationalcommonsresource.Multi-tenancyenablesinstitutionaladopterstocreatetheirownuniversityspecificsubdomains.Thisapproachsupportsourgoaloftransferringtheapplicationtootherinstitutions,whichmaynowrequesttheirownsubdomainswithouthavingtoinstalltheirownversionofAnnotationStudioontheirservers.Bydevelopingthismulti-tenancyapproach,wewereabletoofferanoptionthatusersoftenpreferoverinstallingandhostingtheirownversionsoftheapplication.Sinceallsubdomainssharethesamecodebaseandserverinfrastructure,eachsubdomainenjoysautomaticaccesstothelatestversionofAnnotationStudio,yetalsogainsgreatersecurityforitshomeinstitution.Sincewebeganofferingthismulti-tenancyfeatureinthesummerof2014,twenty-threeuniversitiesandcollegeshaverequestedtheirownsubdomains.Inafuturerelease,weplanonintegratingtheLTIstandard(LearningToolsInteroperability20),allowingeducationalinstitutionstointegrateAnnotationStudioseamlesslyintotheirown,existingLMS(LearningManagementSystems).UsabilityandAssessmentAnnotationStudio’sexpandinguserbaseencouragedustoplaceadditionalemphasisonconductingformalusabilitytestingoftheapplicationandanassessmentofitspedagogicalimpact.Usabilitytestingseekstoachievesimplicityandstand-alonerobustness,whichinturnencouragegrowthintheuserbaseandthussupportthedigitalhumanist’sgoalsofexpandingthemeansofengagingwithtexts.Equallyimportant,simplicityandrobustnessarethedesigner-developer’s(i.e.HyperStudio’s)defenseinthesensethattheydiminishthelevelofsupportrequiredtosustaingrowthoftheapplication’suse

19CurrentlythisfunctionalityintegrateswithMELCat,amediarepositorydevelopedincollaborationwithHofstraUniversity,whichisavailableasapersub-domainconfiguration.Inthefallof2016,weintendtoreleasethisfunctionalitytoallusers.20http://www.imsglobal.org/toolsinteroperability2.cfm(March2016)



communities.DrawingontheexpertiseofMIT’sveryexperiencedandwellregardedUsabilityLaboratory,wedesignedaseriesoftasksfortesterstoperform.Theusabilitytestingresultsfocusedonannotationactivitiesandgaveusvaluablefeedbackonhowtoimprovethewebapplication’suserinterface,functionality,andoveralldesignclarity.EducationalassessmentwasconductedincloseconsultationwithassessmentspecialistAndreasKaratsolis,AssociateDirectorofMIT’sWriting,Rhetoric,andProfessionalCommunicationProgram.(Formoreonassessment,seeAppendix2.)UnderhisguidancewedesignedandconductedanextensiveprogramofclassroomassessmentofAnnotationStudio’seffectivenessinsupportingthereadingandinterpretationprocessleadingtoessaywriting.Usingsurveys,reflectivewritingpieces,anddatacollection,Dr.KaratsolisandtheHyperStudiostaffconductedmultipleassessmentsinwriting,literature,andforeignlanguageclasses.ThegoalwastogainmoredetailedinsightsintohowAnnotationStudiofunctionsinanactualclassroomanditsusebyinstructorsandtheirstudentstodevelopthestudents’readingandwritingskills.Theseinsightsleadtorefinedclassroomactivitiesandbettercurricularintegration,aswellasagrowingbodyofpedagogical“bestpractices”theHyperStudiostaffhasbeencollectingonitswebsite.21(SeealsoAppendices3and4foradditionaleducationalusecaseevaluations.)UserSupportandOutreachOutreachturnedouttobeademandingbutaffirmingturnintheAnnotationStudioimplementationphase,andwedecidedearlyontosupportandinteractwithamuchlarger(eventually,morethanamultipleof25),morediversenetworkofusersthanwehadanticipated.(SeeAppendix5forasummaryofgeneraluserpatterns.)Indeed,weraisedsubstantialadditionalfundingtohireanoutreachcoordinatorwhowouldcoordinateandimplementoutreachandsupportactivities.Tosupportthisgrowinguserbase,wedevelopedastrategyofmultipleformsofuserinstruction.Wedevelopedandcontinuallyrevisedauser-orientedwebsite;wecreatedadown-loadableusermanual(http://www.annotationstudio.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/AnS-Manual-January-2015.pdf);andwefilmedaseriesofshortvideotutorials(http://www.annotationstudio.org/support/tutorial/)thatcanbeembeddedinsyllabi.Onourwebsite,weimplementedanactiveuserforum(http://support.annotationstudio.org/)inwhichuserscouldhelpeachotherandinteractwithourdevelopersandtheoutreachperson.Inaddition,wecreatedso-calledcasestudiesinwhichinstructorstalkabouttheirspecificusesofAnnotationStudio,providelessonplans,andofferinsightsintothesuccesses(orfailures)oftheannotationactivities.AnumberofcasestudiesarepostedontheAnnotationStudiowebsite:http://www.annotationstudio.org/pedagogy/case-studies/Wealsoconductedthreewebinars,twoforabroadercommunityofinstructorsbothinsideandoutsideofMIT,andonespecificallyfortheHASTACcommunity.22Attendanceateachwebinarrangedfrom40-70participants,andmaterials(includingwebsitelinks)handedoutwereundoubtedlysharedwell

21AdetailedaccountofDr.WynKelley’sworkwithAnnotationStudiointheliteratureclassroomisincludedinAppendix4,followedbyDr.JessicaKubiak’sdetailedaccountofheruseoftheapplicationfordevelopingreadingversatilityinthreeEnglishclassesatJamestownCommunityCollege.AdditionalsynopsesofpedagogicalusesofAnnotationStudiocanbefoundinAppendix3.22VideoavailableonHASTACwebsite:https://www.hastac.org/blogs/hastac-scholars/2015/03/25/video-annotation-studio-classroom-and-research(March2016)



beyondtheattendingaudiences,whichhavegrownsteadilyinsizeovertheyearsofAnnotationStudiodevelopment.TwoworkshopsduringMIT’sIndependentActivitiesPeriodinJanuary2014and2015drewgroupsof60instructorseachfromabroadrangeofeducationalinstitutionsfromtheNewEnglandarea.Whilethefirstworkshopwasanafternoonevent,thesecondworkshopwasanall-dayeventwithAdvisoryBoardmemberJohnBryantofHofstraUniversityaskeynotespeaker,twopanelsonDigitalAnnotationandReading/Writing,severalbreakoutsessions,andatalkonassessmentstrategiesforonlineenvironmentsbyteammemberAndreasKaratsolis.Moreinformationcanbefoundhere:http://www.annotationstudio.org/news/ContinuationoftheProjectAnnotationStudiowillcontinuetohaveaninnovativeimpactinseveralways,webelieve,asmoreandmoreeducatorsadopttheapplicationintotheirclassroompedagogies.Itsopensource,peersharingapproachwillcontinuetomakeitattractivetoeducatorslookingfornovelwaysofengagingtheirstudentsinthehumanitiesandarts.ItwillalsocontinueintheworkofinitiativeslikeHofstraUniversity’sMelvilleElectronicLibrary,underJohnBryant,whichisintegratingannotationaspartofitsgrowingtoolset.AnnotationStudiohasalreadybeenadoptedbytheinternationalUS-IranRelationsproject,andweexpectthatmorepublicarchivalinitiativeswilladoptthetechnology.Finally,theAnnotationStudiotechnologiesandpedagogiesaddtotheveryextensiveknowledgebaseintheDigitalHumanitiesthatHyperStudiohasbeenaccumulatingfortwodecadesandcontinuestomakeuseofinnewresearchprojectsandinitsongoingsupportofeducationinthehumanitiesandartsatMIT.GiventhatmanyeducationalusersacrosstheglobearenowrelyingonthefreeavailabilityofAnnotationStudiofortheircurricularwork,HyperStudiowillassumesomelevelofresponsibilityforkeepingtheprojectgoingandpossiblydevelopingitfurtherthroughnewinitiatives.Severalfunctionsthatwedevelopedarecurrentlyinbetastage,andwearecommittedtofindingnewresourcesthatwillenableustoincorporatethemintothenextversionoftheapplication.Atthesametime,therearemanyexcitingpossibilitiesforannotation-associatedresearchanddevelopment;theHyperStudioprojectteamhasalreadywrittengrantproposalsfornewcollaborationswithMIT’sCenterforInternationalStudiesandMIT’scollegewritingprogram.WearealsoexploringtheincorporationofAnnotationStudiocapabilitiesintoMIT’sdevelopingMITxplatformandcollaboratingwithaMITfacultypublicarchivalprojectinmedicalhistorythatwillintegrateAnnotationStudiofunctionality.WehaveexploredotheroptionsrangingfromfarmingAnnotationStudioouttoacommercialsoftwarecompanyorsecuringmodeststeady-stateinternalMITsupport,topursuingnewgrantopportunitiesbeyondthecurrentfocusonannotation.Withtheincreasednationalinterestindigitalannotationseeninopentoolsfrominitiativessuchashypothes.is,LacunaStories,andJSTORlabs,AnnotationStudiointendstoseekcollaborationsthatwouldhelpsupportandstrengthenitseducationalfocus.Weareespeciallyinterestedinthebridgeannotationprovidesbetweenthereadingandwritingprocesses,bothofwhichareincreasinglywellcoveredbyopensourceprojects.Theeducationalcommonsholdsconsiderablepromiseformakingtheseandotheradvances,includingmultiformannotation,freelyavailable.Inaddition,weareseekingopportunitiestoexpandtheuseofAnnotationStudioinhighschoolsbyteamingupwithschooldistricts,teacherorganizations,andindependenteducationalorganizations.Atthesametime,wewillcontinueourresearchintothemodalities,concepts,andusesofannotationandhelpbuildwhatwebelieveisanimportantemergingDigitalHumanitiesfieldof



AnnotationStudies.Onthedevelopmentside,closerintegrationofopenstandardssuchasWC3’sOpenAnnotation23 andIMSGlobalLearningConsortium’sLTIstandard(LearningToolsInteroperability)24willensurecompatibilityandinteroperabilitywithother,similartools.BeyondAnnotation:IdeaSpaceIntheImplementationGrantproposal,weaimedatgoingbeyondthestrictannotationofdocumentstofurtherimagineandprototypesomeofthewaysinwhichinstructorsandstudentsmightuseannotationandthenetworkedenvironmenttointegratethereadingandwritingprocesses,asthebasisforessaysorothercreativetexts.Annotationhasmuchincommonwiththeprocessofnote-takingthattypicallyprecedesacademicwritinginthehumanitiesandarts,andtheonlineclassroomitselfoffersmanynovelpossibilitiesforpeercollaborationandsharing.25ThroughouttheImplementationGrantperiod,userfeedbackinregularpedagogicalmeetingsandcommentsofferedatvariousworkshopsandconferencepresentationsstimulatedHyperStudio’seffortstoprototypeanewworkingspaceinwhichstudentscancollectandorganizetheirannotationsfromdifferentclassreadingsasthebasisforessaywriting.Inaseriesoffocusgroupsweconductedwithclassroominstructorsandstudents,specificpossibilitiesaboutthedesignforanIdeaSpaceemerged.TheseexplorationsenabledHyperStudiodesignersandprogrammerstodevelopasimplebutfullyfunctioningprototypeofwhatwecallIdeaSpace.IntheIdeaSpacefield(Exhibit1,Appendix6),whichdrawsannotationsfromAnnotationStudio,userscanfilterandcollecttheirannotationsfromacrossseveraltexts,andthenorganizetheminanote-takingfashiontobuildarguments.Intheoutlineareatheycanalsoaddnotesthatconnectandcontextualizetheirannotations.Theannotationsretainlinkstotheirsourcetextsforcitations;theorganizedannotations/citationsandanyadditionaltextelementscanbeexportedintoawordprocessorofchoicesuchasMSWord,GoogleDocs,Scrivener,orPages.AllexportedannotationsretaintheirfullsetofDublinCorebasedmetadatasuchasauthor,title,year,edition,aswellasthecitedtextforpropercitation.UsersmayelecttobringtheirdraftedessaysbackintoAnnotationStudioforfurtherinstructororpeerreview,andallembeddedannotationswillretaintheirlinksbacktotheirspecificsourcelocationsintheoriginaltexts.Weareusingtheopensourcetool“Kanban”asthebasisfortheIdeaSpaceandarecurrentlydevelopingnewfundingthatwillenableustoofferanexperimentalversionintegratedintoAnnotationStudiointimeforuseinthefalltermof2016.AscreenshotoftheIdeaSpaceWorkspaceandabriefdescriptionareavailableinExhibit1,Appendix6.WebelievethatIdeaSpace,begununderthisgrant,hasgreatpotentialforeducationalinnovationandfundraising.HyperStudioiscollaboratingwithMIT’sWriting,Rhetoric,andProfessionalCommunication(WRAP)programtopursuethisinitiativefurtherandopenlyseekingotherpotentialpartnersinterestedinthiseducationaltechnology.

23https://www.w3.org/community/openannotation/(March2016)24https://www.imsglobal.org/activity/learning-tools-interoperability(March2016) 25See,forexample,EdwardBarrettandJamesParadis,"TeachingWritinginanOn-LineClassroom,"HarvardEducationalReview58(1988):154-72.



ConclusionAnnotationStudiohasopenedupaworldofhumanitieseducationanddigitalhumanitiesexplorationthathasexcitedafarlargernumberofstudents,experiencededucators,andscholarsthanoriginallyanticipated.ThefactthatitoperatesasanopensourceWebapplicationmeansthatitmoveseasilyacrosstheusualeducationalboundariesofinstitution,discipline,and(even)geographytosupportwhathaslongbeenrecognizedasoneofthecardinalmissionsofthehumanities—thetransmissionofandexpandedengagementwiththetextual(andmedia)traditionsofthehumanitiesandarts.AnnotationStudioreconnectsreadersofelectronictextswiththeage-oldlearningandscholarlypracticesofwritingmarginaliathroughapowerfulyeteasilymasteredinterfaceandbringsarangeofnewoptionsforsociallearningtothehumanitiesclassroom.AnnotationStudioisparticipatoryandcollaborativeinitssupportofanendlessvarietyofoptionsforsharingannotativeinsights,formingreadinganddiscussionsub-groups,anddevisingnovelapproachestoclassroominteractions.AnnotationStudiois,toquoteJohannaDrucker,a“humanitiestoolinadigitalenvironment,”atoolthat“extend(s)humanisticinquiry.”26Ourexperienceindeveloping,deploying,andrefiningAnnotationStudio,supportstheconclusionthatwhatsuccessithasachievedasaneweducationalapplicationderivesfromtheHyperStudioteam’seffortsto(1)designtheapplicationinclosecollaborationwithteachersandstudents,(2)useopen-sourcetoolsandadheretoopenstandards,and(3)concentrateonimprovingcorefunctionalityasinformedbyuserfeedback.HyperStudio’seffortstokeepthedesignofAnnotationStudiosimpleandtofocusoncoreannotationactivitiesensurestheapplication’sversatilityinawiderangeofeducationalsettingswhileprovidingareliablefoundationforaddingmoreadvancedfeatures.ThestrongpositivereceptionofAnnotationStudioduringtheimplementationgrantperiodmayalsobeexplained,weconclude,bythefactthatwritingmarginaliaisanintuitive,pleasurablelearningexperiencewhich,inthedigitalframeworkofawebapplication,opensupmanynovelapproachestothereadingandwritingprocesses.Asanopensourcewebapplication,AnnotationStudiobenefitsfromtheenthusiasmofmanyofitsclassroomadoptersforthepeersharingapproachofaneducationalcommons,aswellasfromacorestudentandinstructorinterestinincreasingtheparticipatorydynamicoftheclassroomengagementwithitssubjectmatter.Althoughdevelopmentofthewebapplicationhasprimarilyfocusedonclassroomuse,theapplicationalsooffersaframeworkforotherinnovativeapproachestohumanitiesandartseducation.Tonamejusttwo,anewconnectionbetweenannotativereadingandtothewritingprocessisexemplifiedinthenewIdeaSpaceextension;inaddition,theSharedMediaRepositoryconceptmentionedaboveoffersnewapproachestotheeducationalandscholarlyusesofarchivalresources.HyperStudioisactivelyseekingcollaboratorsintheseresearchareas.Itisworthnoting,also,thatwhatsuccessAnnotationStudiohasthusfarachievedowesmuchtotheinstitutionalsupportofferedbytheNationalEndowmentfortheHumanitiesandthecoreDigitalHumanitiesresourcesoftheHyperStudiocenteritself.AnnotationStudiowouldnothavebeenpossiblewithoutthemanagerialexperienceandcoordinationofHyperStudio.Situatedinanacademiccontextandmadeupofacombinationofclassroominstructors,designers,digitalhumanists,coders,andstudentresearchassistants,HyperStudioofferstheongoingmemoryandplanningthatsustainsaprojectthroughmultipleyears,duringwhichmanyparticipantscomeandgo.HyperStudiooffered

26 JohannaDrucker,SpecLab.DigitalAestheticsandProjectsinSpeculativeComputing(Chicago:UofChicagoPress,2009)XI.



ongoingprojectplanningandcontinuity,coordinationofparticipants,aprojectoutreachprogram,aworkingknowledgeofopensourceresourcesandcoretechnologyknowhow.Movingahead,theAnnotationStudiodevelopmentteamwillbuildonthesuccessofAnnotationStudio,workingwitheducatorsacrossthecountryandtheglobetointegratetheapplicationintoanexpandingrangeofhumanitiesclassroomsandtoadvanceitspotentialforsupportingclosereading,interpretation,argumentation,andwritingskills.ThroughthedeeperintegrationofopenstandardssuchasOpenAnnotation(W3C)orLTI(LearningToolsInteroperability),AnnotationStudiowillgaingreaterinteroperabilitywithotherannotationtoolsandexistinglearningmanagementsystems.TheuseofAnnotationStudioinHighSchoolsacrossthecountryisanincentivetoexploremoreeffectivewaysofsupportingthisnewgroupofusersthroughworkshops,teachertrainingseminars,andintegrationintoexistingschooldistrictinfrastructures.OpensourcedevelopmentencouragesustocontinueworkingwiththegrowingnetworkofopensourcedeveloperstoexpandAnnotationStudio’sfunctionalitywhilemaintainingitscorestrengthsofsimplicity,flexibility,andresponsivenesstotheuserexperience.



Appendix:1AnnotationStudioScreenShotsThefollowingscreenshotsprovideageneraloverviewofthecorefunctionalityofAnnotationStudio.Fordirectaccesstothepublicversionofthewebapplication,pleasegoto:http://app.annotationstudio.org1. AnnotationStudioWebApplicationLandingPage

Exhibit1:Mainapplicationlandingpagewithlog-infunctionstodifferentsub-domains.Toregisterforanaccount,theuserclicksonRegisterinthemenubaratthetopofthescreen.Easyaccesstotheregistrationsheet,mainAnnotationStudioinformationwebsite,andthesupportsiteareavailableinthetopmenubar.Here,thesub-domainMITStagingsiteisdisplayed.



2. MainAnnotationPage

Exhibit2:

MainAnnotationPage

Ontheleft,chapterscanbeselectedtonavigatethetext.Annotatedpassagesaremarkedinyellowinthetext,andalistofannotationsisdisplayedontheright.Thepassageassociatedwithaselectedannotationismarkedinthetext(seeblacktalk-bubbleicon)andalsoappearswiththeannotation,whichcancontainimagesandlinkstoanyweb-baseddocumentincludingvideo,soundfiles,andPDFs.



3. Dashboardwithquickaccesstodocuments,annotations,andclasses/groups

Exhibit3:

Dashboard

Thedashboardoffersanoverviewoftextssharedwiththeuser,e.g.classtextsanduser-createdtexts(Mine);anoverviewofauser’sclassandgroupmemberships;andalistofprivate,group,andclassannotationsonallsharedandprivatetexts.Theannotationsoverviewalsocontainsanexcerptoftheannotatedtextandthedocumenttitle.



4. DocumentUploadandEditingPanel

Exhibit4:

DocumentUploadandEditingPanel

UserscanuploadsimpleMS-WordandPDFdocumentsaswellastext-onlydocuments.Inaddition,HTMLcanbeaddeddirectlyintothetextwindowwhichcontainsarangeofformattingandlinkoptions.Userscanaddmetadatatothedocument,assignittooneormultipleclasses,anddefineoneoffourstatusoptionsfordocuments:Draft(canbeedited);Published(canbeannotated);Public(textandannotationscanbeviewedwithoutlog-in);Archived(cannotbeannotatedanymore).



5. AnnotationScreenwithFilteringOptions

FilteringisactivatedbyclickingonthegearbuttonatthetopoftheMainAnnotationPage

Exhibit5

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6. Multimediacomponentswithintexts

Exhibit6:

MultimediaComponents

Anytextcancontainimage,sound,andvideoelements.Whilethesemediadocumentsthemselvescannotyetbedirectlyannotated,theycanbefullyintegratedintothemainannotationtext,providingcontextualinformation.Here,asoundrecordingofRimbaud’s“Ledormeurduval”isembeddeddirectlyinthetextareaabovethepoem.



7. MultimediaAnnotations

Exhibit7:

MultimediaAnnotations

Anyannotationcancontainlinkstoimages,sounds,videos,andotherweb-baseddocuments.Annotationswithmediadocumentsappearwithintheannotatedtextonmouse-over;theyalsoappearwithintheannotationsidebarwhenclickingontherespectiveannotation.Here,avideointerviewwithBruceRiedel,DirectorofTheIntelligenceProjectattheBrookingsInstitute,isembeddedwithinanannotation.



8. UserProfilePageAccessedfromthe“MyProfile”optioninthemenubaratthetopofanyAnnotationStudioscreen.

Exhibit8:

ProfilePage

Ausercaneasilyaddtoordeleteclassesfromherprofile.Membershipinclassesdeterminesvisibilityoftextsintheuser’sdashboard;membershipingroupsdeterminesvisibilityofannotationsinthedashboardandtheannotationsidebar.



Appendix2:AssessmentIneducationaltechnologyprojectslikeAnnotationStudiowhereaninnovationisintroducedintheclassroom,theassessmentofstudentoutcomesshouldbeanimportantcomponentoftheexperimentaldesignanddevelopmentprocesses.Thesheerdailycomplexityofmanaginganewcurriculummakescapturingoutcomeschallenging.Assessmentandfeedbackmaybeleftsolelyasactivitiesthathappenafterthecompletionofthecourse.ForAnnotationStudio,wesoughttointegrateassessmentconsiderationsandplanningattheoutsetandtomakeuseofnewinsightsinongoingdesignanddevelopmentprocesses.HyperStudio’sdevelopmentapproachfocusesonprinciplesofco-designandagiledevelopmentwhichincludesfrequentmeetingswithcollaboratinginstructors,regularaccesstostudentsandimmersionintheeducationalcultureanditsroutines.BeingsituatedinanacademicdepartmentgivesHyperStudioanadvantageofbeingabletoroutinelygain--andsometimesimmediatelyincorporate--insightsfromtheclassroomandresultsfromongoingassessmentactivitiesintothedesignprocess.Assessmentandpedagogicalco-design.InthedesignanddevelopmentofAnnotationStudio,theHyperStudiostaffpresentedcollaboratingMITfacultywithamodelof“pedagogicalco-design”andworkedcloselywiththemindesigningandimplementingaprogramofassessmentsthatwouldmeasureselectedlearningoutcomesandthencomparetheoutcomeswiththeintendedobjectives.Thesecollaborativeefforts,developedinanongoingseriesofsemi-weeklypedagogicalmeetings,werecomplementedbyspecialpresentationsonformalassessmentapproachesbyourassessmentspecialist,Dr.AndreasKaratsolis.Theprocessenabledinstructors,students,anddesignerstoparticipateinevaluatingtheeffectivenessofusingAnnotationStudiointheclassroom.Pedagogicalco-designdistributesdesignprioritiesandlearninggoalsacrossarepresentationofclassroomstakeholdersandfitsthebasicdigitalhumanitiesmodelofprojectdevelopmentthroughcollaborationandsharedexpertise.Useoftheprojectassessmentspecialist.Ourmethodology,basedontheinputfromourassessmentspecialist,followedwell-establishedliteratureintheLearningSciencesoncoursedesign.27 Tointroducetheinstructorswhowereusing(orintendedtouse)AnnotationStudiotothisconceptualframework,Dr.Karatsolisofferedtwopresentations,oneatasemi-weeklyAnnotationStudiopedagogymeetingandanotheratanIAPworkshop(theinterclassJanuarysessionatMIT)forthelargerMITcommunity.Inadditiontotheseformalsessions,Dr.Karatsolis,conductedpre-andpost-interviewswithstudentswhowereusingAnnotationStudio,participatedinallpedagogymeetingsthroughout2014and2015,andprovidedfeedbacktoinstructorsinone-to-onesessions.Theindividualmeetingsweredevotedtocollaborativelydesigningtheassessmentprogramsforspecificcoursesandreviewingtheresultstheseeffortsyielded.Assessmentmethodsvaryacrossmultiplefields.AnnotationStudiomaybeadoptedacrossaspectrumofhumanitiesfieldsandcourses,sotherearechallengestodevisingageneraleducationalassessmentapproachtoannotationitself.Thereareavarietyofstudiesofannotationintheframeworkofspecificfields,coursesandpedagogicalstrategiesthatmaybestudiedforapproachestospecificapplicationsof

27 DeeL.Fink,CreatingSignificantLearningExperiences:AnIntegratedApproachtoDesigningCollegeCourses(SanFrancisco,CA:Jossey-Bass,2003);GrantWigginsandJayMcTighe,UnderstandingbyDesign,2nded.(AssociationforSupervisionandCurriculumDevelopment,Alexandria,VA,2005).



annotationintheclassroom.28 ThecoursesatMITthatweeventuallyanalyzedcamefromtheHumanitiesingeneral,butfromdifferentdepartmentsandfieldssuchasGlobalStudiesandLanguages(SpanishandGerman),LiteratureandComparativeMediaStudies/Writing(CreativeWriting).Eachcoursehadquitedifferentrequirementsandconstraints,soweapproachedassessmentinamoregeneralwaytodeterminestudentperceptionsofthevalueofannotationintheircourseworkandhowtheuseofAnnotationStudioimpactedthestudents’abilitytoreflectonanddiscusstextsinoralandwrittenformats.Weusedsurveyinstrumentswherestudentsself-reportedontheeffectivenessofAnnotationStudiofortheirclass;focusgroupsconductedbyDr.Karatsoliswithstudentsontheirgeneralimpressionsofhowannotationmayormaynotimprovetheirreadingandwritingpractices;andanalysesofstudentproducts(essaysandfinalexams)inrelationtotheannotationstheyhadproduced.AnnotationStudiosupportsanexpandedvarietyofclassroomapproaches.TheresultsofourassessmentswithstudentsoverallshowedthattheyappreciatedusingAnnotationStudiointheirclasses,notsomuchbecausetheywerenotfamiliarwiththeactivityofannotation(infactmorethan80%saidtheyalreadyusedmarginalannotationsinotherformats),butbecausetheapplicationsupportedavarietyofinteresting,novelinteractionswithinstructorsandotherstudents.AnnotationStudioexpandsthesocialengagementwithcontentinthehumanitiesandarts.IntheSpanishclass,studentsclaimedthatAnnotationStudiowasusefulinidentifyingandsharingthemes—forexample,locatinganddiscussingportionsofthetextthatsupportedacertainconcept.InaShortStoryWritingclass,80%ofthestudentsthoughtthatAnnotationStudiowashelpfulorveryhelpfulinsupportingthemingaininginsightsforrevisingtheirworkatthelanguage/discourselevel.IntwosectionsofthesameLiteratureclasstaughtbydifferentinstructors,apre/postsurveyshowedthat70%ofthestudentsfoundAnnotationStudiotosupportboththeirreadinganalysisandwriting.Thesamestudentsalsoreportedthattheyperceivedthatannotationincreasedtheirunderstandingofcomplexinformationandthereading/writingprocess.Overall,thesurveyswereencouragingandprovidedusefulinputforhelpinginstructorsredesigncurriculumandincorporateAnnotationStudiomoreeffectivelyintotheirclasses.

28 See,forexample,thesurveybyJamesBlustein,DavidRowe,andAnn-BarbaraGraff,"MakingSenseintheMargins:AFieldStudyofAnnotation,"Proceedingsofthe15thInternationalConferenceonTheoryandPracticeofDigitalLibraries:ResearchandAdvancedTechnologyforDigitalLibraries(NewYork:Springer,2011):252-259.



Appendix3:AnnotationStudioUseCasesThefollowingusecasesofAnnotationStudioofferavarietyofapproachestoannotationinarangeofhumanitiesclassrooms.Thisisjustasmallsamplingoftheremarkablevarietyofusestheapplicationhasfoundincontemporaryeducationalsettings.Indeed,fromthestandpointofuse,AnnotationStudioappearstoinspireconstantnoveltyandoriginalityinapproachestohumanitiesandartseducation.Additionaldetailsoneachofthesemini-casesandonotherscanbefoundontheAnnotationStudioInfoWebsite:http://www.annotationstudio.org/pedagogy/case-studies/.MaryIsbell(UniversityofNewHaven):AnnotationStudioinFirstYearWritingMaryIsbell,nowanAssistantProfessorofEnglishandDirectorofFirstYearWritingattheUniversityofNewHaven,usedAnnotationStudioinaFirstYearWritingSeminarwhenshewasaPostdoctoralFellowatYaleUniversity.SheusedAnnotationStudiotosparkaconversationabouthowauthorsusesourcematerialsintheirtexts.MaryIsbellaskedherstudentstolocateeverycitationin“TheAmateurSpirit,”anessaybyBlissPerry.Studentscollaboratedtohighlighteverycitation,determiningwhetheritwasparaphrasedordirectlyquoted,andidentifyingtheauthorofthecitation.Thehighlightingfeaturewasparticularlyuseful,Isbellnoted,becauseitvisuallydemonstratedtoherstudents“howmuchoftheessayhadcomefromanotherplaceandhowmuchtheauthorwasinteractingwiththeideasofsomeoneelse.”Byworkingthroughthetext,studentscouldseehowtheauthorwasusingsources,andthishelpedstudentsidentify“aproblemtheycouldworkwith.”Furthermore,thisexercisewithAnnotationStudiosparkedaconversationandintroducedtermsthatwouldbeusedfortherestofthesemester.Thefullcasestudycanbefoundat:http://www.annotationstudio.org/portfolio-view/mary-isbell-spark-a-conversation/RobertoReyAgudo(MIT):AnnotationStudioinSpanishIIIIntheSpringof2014,RobertoReyAgudo,LecturerinSpanishinGlobalStudiesandLanguagesatMITadaptedassignmentshehadalreadycreatedandusedinhisSpanishIIIclasstoAnnotationStudio.“IwantedtoseehowIcouldincorporateitintowhatIwasalreadydoing,”ReyAgudoexplained.“IdidnotwanttohavetochangeradicallywhatIdid.IjustwantedtoseehowAnnotationStudiocouldhelpmeenhancewhatIwasdoinginclass.”Accordingly,ReyAgudoadaptedtwopre-existingassignmentsforthedigitalannotationenvironment.Forthefirstassignment,hehadstudentsread“EsquinaPeligrosa”inAnnotationStudio,taskingthemwithfindinginstancesthatwouldcorroborateoneofthreepre-determinedinterpretationsofthestory.Studentshadtofindpassagesinthetextthattheythoughtwereindicativeorjustifiedtheirinterpretations,writeacomment,useatagtoidentifyit,andreadwhatotherstudentshadwrittenaswell.



Forthesecondassignment,usingthereading“ElEpisodiodelEnemigo,”studentshadtolookforspecificinformationinthetext,identifysynonymstoexpandtheirvocabulary,andpredicttheending.Inclass,theysharedtheirpredictionsandcheckedthemagainstavideoversionofthestory.Afterwards,theyworkedwiththetextinAnnotationStudio,doingliveannotationsingroupstofindevidenceinthestorythatwerehintstotheending.“TheassignmentsthatIhadthemdoonAnnotationStudioalwaysinvolvedstudentsreadingotherstudents’commentsanddiscussingwhatthey’vefoundoutaboutotherstudentssowewereabletobringtheirreadingsandcommentsintotheclassdiscussions,”ReyAgudoexplained.Thefullcasestudycanbefoundat:http://www.annotationstudio.org/portfolio-view/roberto-rey-agudo-enhancing-teaching/JodyGordon,ChrisGleason(WentworthInstituteofTechnology):AnnotationStudioandPublicHumanitiesThegoalofJodyGordon’sandChrisGleason’sstudiocourse“DigitalApproachestoBostonCulture:CuratingtheLegacyofJamesM.Curley“intheMedia,Communications,andCultureProgramatWentworthInstituteofTechnology,wastoengagetheirmostlynon-humanitiesstudentsinhumanitiesissuesfrominterdisciplinaryanglesusingdigitaltechniques.AnnotationStudioandavarietyofotherdigitaltoolssuchasOmeka,Neatline,andWorldmapwereemployedtocurateanexhibitforeachoftheroomsofformerBostonMayorJamesCurley’scurrentlyemptymansion.InAnnotationStudio,GordonandGleasonuseda35-pagemanuscriptthatgivesacomplete,roombyroom,overviewofthecontentsoftheJamesCurleyHouse.Itisaninvaluabledocument,astodaynoneoftheseitemsremainsinthehouse.Workingingroups,studentsinthisclassidentifiedanddefinedarchitecturalterms,addedmetadatatoobjectsmentionedinthetext,andaddedhistoricalimagestoillustratethemissingitems.Ultimately,Gordondescribed,“theabilitytopopulatethismanuscriptwithmetadataandothermaterialsgaveustheabilitytorepopulatetheseroomswiththeobjectsthatactuallyexisted.”Thefullcasestudycanbefoundat:http://www.annotationstudio.org/portfolio-view/teaching-digital-humanities-to-stem-majors/ElizabethWood(MIT):AnnotationStudioandtheRussianRevolutionInherclassSoviet&Post-SovietPoliticsandSociety,MIThistoryprofessorElizabethWoodusedAnnotationStudiotoexposeherstudentstothesametechniquesthatestablishedhistoryscholarsuseofsourcesaspartoftheirregularresearch.“Forme,languageisevidenceandlanguageiswhathastobecarefullyinvestigatedbecausehowsomebodyaddressessomethingisawindowintotheirmindset.Soasateacher,whatattractedmetoAnimationStudiowasthesensethatit’sawaytoteachstudentswhatIdointuitively:whenIseeatextI'mimmediatelydrawntothewords,thelanguage,thephrasing,thestereotypes,theunconsciouschoiceofwords,aboveallthewayofconstructingtheworld.”Fortheirdeeptextualanalysis,studentsinthisclasscouldselectfromanumberofuploadedoriginaldocuments,translatedfromRussian.Studentsannotateddocumentsindividuallyaspartoftheir



homeworkassignmentandsharedtheircommentswiththewholeclass.Inseveralclasssessions,projecteddocumentsalongwithstudentannotationswerediscussedcollectively.AnnotationStudioallowedstudentstolookbeyondthecontent,orasWoodputit:“…manystudentsthinkwhattheyaresupposedtogetisthecontent,themeatandpotatoesofthematerial.Theydon'tunderstandthevalueofnotlookingatwhatwassaidbuthowitwassaidnotjustwhatwasdecided,buthowpeoplewerethinkingaboutwhattheywerethinking.“Itgavethemawaytothinkabout“overtones,thewayyouwouldhaveinmusic,thatwordshavenotonlydenotationsbutalsoconnotations.“ForWood,usingAnnotationStudiointhisRussianHistoryclassgavestudents“aconcreteexamplefortheirownthinking.Itgeneratedaricherdiscussionbecausewecouldtakeconcretewordsandphrasesandsay‘oh,theearlyrevolutionariestalkedaboutcreatingaconstituentassembly.Howdidtheytalkaboutthatconstituentassembly?Whatdiditmeanforthem?Whatweretheirdreams?Whatweretheirideals?Wecanlookattheactualtext.’”



Appendix4Instructors’EvaluationsofAnnotationStudio’sImpactinLiteratureandEnglishReadingClassesThefollowingtwoaccountsofinstructorsusingAnnotationStudiointheirclassesdemonstratetheapplicationsadaptabilitytodifferentinstitutionalcontextsandeducationallevels.1. WynKelley(MIT):AnnotationbyDesign WhatcanstudentslearnfromusingAnnotationStudio?

IntwoyearsofexperimentingwithAnnotationStudioinliteratureclasses,Ihaveobserveddevelopmentsinstudents’learningthatsuggestthepowerofdigitaltoolstofocustheirreading,writing,andcriticalthinking.BeyondprogressinskillsthatstudentstypicallyrefineinhumanitiesclassesandforwhichourAnnotationStudiotoolsandpedagogyseemideallysuited,Ihavealsoseenremarkablegrowthinstudents’heightenedawarenessofthemselves,notjustasnovicelearnersbutasactiveresearchersinmyfield.Theydonotsimplylearntodosomethingintheseclasses;theybecomesomething.

Thisisnew.

ClassicHabits,NewExpectations

BothmystudentsandIbringcertaintraditionaltoolstoanyliteratureclassroom.Westartwithbooksandthehopethatreadingwillproducepleasure,stimulation,andinsight.Wealsobringcertainideasofliteracythatarisefrommid-twentieth-centurymodelsofclosereading.Formanyofus,thereadingexperiencecomeswithasetofstandardexpectations:

�Itislinear.Youstartatthebeginningandgototheend.Bookshaveadesignthatyoucanbestappreciatebyreadinginagivenorder.�Itiscontinuous.Bookshaveaunityandcumulativeeffectthatyouwouldlosebyjumpingaround.�Itiscomplete.Youmustreaditalltogetthemeaning.�Itisdeep.Yourfirstreadinggivesyou“only”surfaceunderstanding.Youmustreadandre-read,lookingforsignificantpatternsoflanguageandtheme,beforeyoucansayyouunderstandthetext.29

Studentsoftencometoclasswithsometraininginthesereadingpatterns,asenseofthemysteriesoftexts,andanexperience,sometimes,ofhavingprobedthesemysteriestoachieveunderstandingofthetext,itscharacters,oritsthemes.Iftheyhavenothadsomeexperienceofatextbeing“relatable,”theytendnottochoosealiteratureclass.

Withtheseclassicliteracies,studentsalsobringtrainingthatarisesfromtheirexperienceofreading,writing,andthinkinginadigitalspace.HenryJenkinshascalledliteraciesderivedfromonlinereadingcommunities—fansites,bookclubs,writinggroups—a“participatoryculture”thatteachesstudentsdifferentskillsfromwhattheymightlearninatraditionalhumanitiesclassroom.Humanitiesinstructorshaverespondedtostudents’digitalculturesofreadinginvariousways:byincorporatingvisualmediaintothecurriculum;bymakinglearningmoresocial,givingstudentsfreedomtocreatedigitalprojectsontheirownorinteams;orbyusingthepowerofinternettoolstovisualize,search,minefordata,compare,andmaptextsinmorediverseandcompellingways.Thismixtureofoldandnewmedia,traditionalandtechnologicallyadvancedlearningstyles,privateandsocialmodesofreadinghasvastlyincreasedtherangeandpotentialofwhatwecandoinourclasses.Startingfromthefirstdiscussionofwhetherweuseprintordigitaltexts,whetherlaptopsbelonginaliteratureclassornot,whetherWikipediaresearchisuseful,whetherblogscanprovidemodelsofgoodwriting,wecandebateendlesslytheimpactofnewmedialiteraciesontraditionalmodesofreadingandwriting.

29 HenryJenkinsandWynKelley,eds.ReadinginaParticipatoryCulture:RemixingMoby-DickintheEnglishClassroom(NewYork:TeachersCollegePressandNationalWritingProject,2013)94.



PoisedonaLine

Regardlessofhowstudentsviewhumanitieslearningindigitalspaces,theytendtoholdcertaintruthstobeself-evident.Chiefamongtheseisthefactthatstudentsdoonething,professorsanother.Professorsknowmorethanstudentsdo,andtheyteachwhattheyknow.Studentsdonotexpecttoknowwhatprofessorsknow,buttheyassumetheycandevelopcertainskillsandcompetenciesthatwillaidtheirpersonalandprofessionalgrowth.Inaliteratureclass,theseskillsincludereadingandwriting,research,andcriticalthinking.Generally,studentsdonot,however,anticipatelearningwhathumanitiesprofessorsdo:thatis,toeditdocuments,advancescholarship,orhavefield-changingorworld-alteringideas.

Yetstudentshaveaccesstoadvancedtoolsinmyfield,toolsthatwerenotavailabletoundergraduatesuntilveryrecently.Moreandmoretheycandotheworkliteraryscholarsdidinthepast:examinerarebooksandmanuscripts,studysources,translations,andadaptations,researchamongacademicbooksandjournals,publishtoawideaudience.Technicallytheycandomanyofthethingsacademicprofessionalsdo,eveniftheylacktheconfidenceofexperts.

Oftenmystudentscanalsowritecode,solveproblems,researchcomplicateddata,andplayasportoramusicalinstrumenttoo.Butaskthemtowritesomething,andtheymayfallapart.Ithinktheproblemmaybeoneofnomenclature,evenidentity.Studentsinaliteratureclasstoooftenthinkofthemselvesasnovice“readers”and“writers”;becausetheyarenovices,theymustbebadreadersandbadwriters.ButwhenIgivethemtasksthatrequiretheuseofAnnotationStudio,andwhenItellthemthatastheycompletethesetaskstheyareworkingaseditors,scholars,andcritics,somethingremarkablehappens.

Theybecomebetterreadersandwriters.StudentsasEditors

WhenIstartedtocollaboratewithHyperStudiofirstonMiximizein2011andthenonAnnotationStudio,Iwasthinkingaboutwritingandpublishinginadigitalspace.Students,itseemedtome,cannowpublishwithouttraditionaleditors.Theydonothavetouseeditorsatall,butiftheywanttobetakenseriously,theyneedtoknowandusethestandardtoolsofediting:preparingamanuscripttobereadbyothers,improvinglanguage,structure,andargumentsothattheirworkearnsrespect.Yetstudentsseldomthinkoftheiressaysassomethingtoedit.Oncetheyhavewritten,perhapsevenrevisedthem,theyputthemaside.Whatdifferentkindsofskillswouldtheyneedtomaketheirwritingpublicinameaningfulway?AnnotationStudiooffersasimple,practicaltoolforeditingtheirownwork—makingcommentsandchanges,speculatingonhowdifferentaudiencesmightreadthetext,goingastepfurtherfromtaskstheyhadalreadypracticedinrevisions.

Editingis,however,verydifferentfromwriting,andIfoundthatusingAnnotationStudiotoeditmadestudentsawareofdetailsintheirpapersthattheymighthavemissed.Italsoreinforcedthesocialaspectsofediting.Whethertheyeditedtheirownessaysorthoseofotherstudents,whethertheyeditedprivatelyoringroups,theyhadtothinkaboutaudienceinnewways,asextendingbeyondasinglereader,theprofessor,topeersinsideandoutsidetheclassroom.Editingalsogavestudentsasenseofresponsibilityfortheirownwork.Theywerenotsimplyhandingittoaninstructorforagradebutweremakingthemselvesaccountablefortheirideasandexpression.Annotationmadetheireditingpublicandvisible,tothemselvesandtopotentialcollaborators,andevenifwedidnotenduppublishingthesepapersoutsidetheclassroom,studentswerelearningtheskillsneededtoreachawideraudience.

Similarly,studentsmighteditthetextstheyreadandstudied.AtthetimeIwasteachingMaryShelley’sFrankensteinasacompilationofliterarybodyparts,ofstoriesandideasthatShelleyborrowedfromliterarysources.FindingandtrackingthesesourcesandthenrecordingtheirfindingswithAnnotationStudio,studentscouldseethelayersofShelley’sartfulborrowingsandadaptationsofthemythofPrometheus,forexample,ortheBible,Milton’sParadiseLost,theRomanticpoets,HumphreyDavy’slectures,andothermaterials.Astheyglossedunfamiliarwordsandresearchedunknowntexts,theywerecreatinganewtext,aversionofFrankensteinfortheircommunity,theirpeers.Astheyeditedthetext,itorpartsofitbecametheirs;itbecamemeaningfultothem.

Whethereditingtextsthey’dreadoronesthey’dwritten,studentsfoundannotationthefirststepofarewardingandabsorbingprocess.InAnnotationStudio,theycouldcreateapersonalarchiveofdocuments;theycoulduseAnnotationStudio’sselectionfeaturestoengagedirectlywiththetext;therecordoftheirmarkingsandcommentscouldcreateareadingmap,avisualizationoftheirownreadingprocess;andtheircommentsmight



formthebasisofadevelopinghypothesisorargumentaboutwhattheyhadobserved.Evenbeforesharingtheirannotationswithclassmatesoraninstructor,theyhadasearchable,sharablebodyofworkonwhichtobuildforessays,reports,anddiscussions.Andwhereastheyfoundwritingintimidating,editingseemedmanageable,especiallywithintheclearparametersAnnotationStudioprovides.Astheirannotationsdevelopedintonewwriting,studentsfoundtheirinhibitionsaboutwritingdisappear.StudentsasScholars

Studentscouldbecomeeditors.Itdidnotseemsobigastepforthemalsotobecomeresearchersinahumanitiesfield,usingthesamescholarlytoolsthatacademicshaveacquired.Whatdoscholarsdo,afterall?Theylearnthetypicalresearchtoolsanddiscoursesofafield;theycreatecommunitiesaroundasubjectorsetofmethods;theygeneratenewwaysofthinkingorlookingatmaterials;theytakerisks,tolerateambiguity,andinvitefailure;andfrequentlytheycollaborate,therebynurturingindividualgrowthandthedevelopmentofafieldaswell.UsingAnnotationStudio,Ifoundthatstudentscouldaccomplishmanyofthesetaskswithinanundergraduateclassroom.Theycouldbecomescholars.

MycasestudywasanadvancedundergraduateseminaronHermanMelville,called“MappingMelville”andtakingasitsbasicpremisetheideathatdigitaltoolsnowcompriseanimportantpartofacademicscholarshipinthehumanitiesandshouldbepartofstudents’workwithamajorauthor.Weapproachedtheideaof“mapping”throughthreedifferentcollaborativeprojects.

Thefirstinvolvedgeographicalmappinganddrewonstudents’examinationofMelville’suseofplacenamesinMoby-Dick.AlthoughthestudentsdependedonamappingtoolcalledLocast(developedintheMobileExperienceLabatMIT),theyannotatedMoby-DickextensivelyasawaytoexploreMelville’sgeographicalimagination.FromthisexercisetheydiscoveredthatMelvillereferstomanymoreplacesthanhischaractersvisit,evenonasextensiveajourneyasthatofthewhalingshipthePequod.Anextraordinarynumberofthesegeographicalreferencesclusterinregions,somepredictable(Nantucket,theSouthSeas),somenotsopredictable(Europe,Africa).Thesediscoveriesledtoinnovativereportsandessaysexploringthecultural,historical,andliterarysignificanceofplacestheymightneverhavenoticedotherwise.Andineachcase,studentschoselocationsofsomepersonalinterest—aplacetheyhadvisited,forexample,orthatafamilymembercamefrom.Theirworkvibratedwiththeintensityoftheirdiscoveries.

AsecondassignmentinvolvedsourcestudyofthekindIhadusedinmyclassonFrankenstein.Forthisproject,studentschosealiterarysourceforoneofMelville’sshortstories—say,hisuseoftheBiblicalstoryofJaelandSiserain“TheBell-Tower”orSpenserin“TheEncantadas”orEdgarAllanPoein“Bartleby,theScrivener.”Researchingliteraryscholarshiponlibraryshelvesandindatabases,studentsquicklyestablishedthatMelvillehadborrowedfromotherauthors.Thechallengewastoshowwhatdifferencethesesourcesmade,andheretheuseofAnnotationStudioprovedinvaluable,asstudentsaddedblocksofsourcetexttotheirannotationsanddevelopedcomparisonsbetweenMelvilleandotherauthors.Again,theresultingessaysshowedfine-grainedanalysisofdetailsaswellasanalyzinglargerpatternsofplot,genre,ortheme.TopicsincludedthepresenceofmelodramainFrederickDouglass’sTheHeroicSlaveandMelville’s“BenitoCereno”;Dantein“TheBell-Tower”;andMilton’sParadiseLostinMelville’sdifficultnovel,TheConfidence-Man.Ihaveneverseenresearchprojectsofthisdepthandrangebeforeinanundergraduateseminar.

Lastlystudentsusedanotherdigitaltool,TextLab,developedatHofstraUniversitybyJohnBryantandNickLaiaconafortheMelvilleElectronicLibrary(MEL),tostudyMelville’smanuscriptrevisionsofBillyBudd,whichtheauthorneverfinishedorsawprinted.Thetextisnotoriouslyunstable,butreadingacollegeeditionmightleadonetoassumethatMelville’sintentionsforitwerecoherentandlegible.Theyarenot,andagainAnnotationStudioservedanimportantroleinbreakingdownthetextforstudentsintomanageablesectionsforthemtoreadandannotateclosely.IntracingthewordsMelvilleaddedtoordeletedfromhismanuscriptandcomparingthemwithaneditedversioninAnnotationStudio,studentscametofreshconclusions.Remarkablyenough,theycouldengagewithandunderstandcomplicatedtext-analysistheorydevelopedbyMertonM.Sealts,Jr.andHarrisonHayfordinthe1960s,theorythatisofgreatinteresttoscholarsbutseldommakesitswayintostudents’handsandminds.

Mystudents,however,emergedfromthisclassconversantwithformsofresearch,analysis,andinquirythatuntilquiterecentlylivedinthespecializeddomainofMelvillestudies.IwasfascinatedtoseehowAnnotationStudioenabledthemtobecomescholarsofAmericanliterature.Forthem,theclasshadmadearcaneresearch



practicestransparentandaccessible,invitingtheirparticipationinthecriticalandcreativeexperimentsacademicspursue.Forhumanitiesscholarshipconsideredmorebroadly,thiskindoflearningcanrevitalizetraditionalfieldswhilereachingacrossthem,managinginformationinnewways,creatingcollaborationsbetweenstudentsandmoreadvancedscholars,andbreakinguprigidmethodsandanalyticalstructures.Inotherwords,theclasswasasgoodforthisliteraturescholarasitwasforthestudents.StudentsasCritics—orMaybeDesignersThemselves

IhavefoundthatwhenAnnotationStudiotakesacentralplaceinanundergraduateclassroom,studentsatacertainpoint“gometa.”Experiencedinusingandcreatingdigitaltoolsthemselves,theytendtohackAnnotationStudio,tointroduceimprovements,newuses,andfixesoftheirown.Forexample,longusedtoframingtheiruseofAnnotationStudioasagroupin-classexercise—aclosereadingofapassage,forexample—Iwassurprisedtoseestudentsannotatingtheirtextsaswewerediscussingthem,capturinggoodideasfromthediscussionasitflewby.Usinganannotationtoolfortakingin-classnotes?Ithadnothappenedbefore,butonceitdid,studentsaddedmanyin-classannotationstotheonestheydidfortheirassignmentsorteamprojectwork.

Theyalsocontributedenthusiasticallyandinnovativelytoourassessmentresearch.Inthespringof2015ItaughtaReadingFictionclasswithanotherLiteratureprofessor,InaLipkowitz,inwhichwesharedthesamereadinglistandassignmentsbutvariedouruseofAnnotationStudio.Shehadstudentsworktogetheringroupstogenerateandsharecomments;mystudentsdidnotseewhattheotherstudentswroteinAnnotationStudiountilmuchlaterintheterm.AHyperStudioresearcher,RachelSchnepper,visitedbothclasses,observeddiscussions,andreadessaysandassignmentstoevaluatethedifferencepublicvs.privateusesofthetoolmightmake.Regardlessofherfindings,mystudentsbecameengagedthemselvesintheassessmentofAnnotationStudio,volunteeringmanysuggestionsforimprovingandexpandingthetool.Theycouldnowthinkoftheirclassroomworkasaformofresearchanddevelopmentofthetoolanditspedagogy.Theirlaborsmightservealargerpurposethanthegradetheyearnedonpapersandotherassignments.Inthisevolution,studentsbecamecriticsofthewholeenterpriseoftheclass,ofliterarystudyingeneralandofannotationinparticular.

InonestrikingexampleofthewaystudentsusingAnnotationStudiobecamemoreawareoftheirownlearningstylesandoutcomes,becomingmore“meta”intheirstudies,oneintheMelvilleseminarsaidattheendofthesemesterthatshehadbeguntothinkofliterarystudy“inthecontextofengineeringand‘designthinking’”suchaswhatsheencounteredinherengineeringclasses.Hercommentopenedmyeyestothewaysstudentsexpecttobecomedesignersofexperimentsintheirscienceandengineeringclasses—whynotinLiteraturetoo?AnnotationStudiogavemystudentsopportunitiestoworkasEditors,Scholars,andCritics.Butforsomeitalsoseemedcompatiblewithskillshumanitiesprofessorsseldominvitetheirstudentstouse—todesignnotjusttheirowntoolsbuttheirownlearningprocess,theirownexperienceofreadingandwritingandthinkingcritically.Inthatmoment,Isawunexpectedpossibilitiesinthepedagogywehaddeveloped,discussed,andassessedoverthepastfewyearsoftheNEHgrant.Conclusion

Thisreportreflectsonanddistillsawiderangeofclassroomactivities,focusingprimarilyonarecenttwo-yearspan.Ihaveseenstartlingdevelopmentsinmystudents’workastheyhaveexperimentedwithmanydifferentusesofAnnotationStudio.

IhavealsobeeninvolvedwithdevelopmentofAnnotationStudioforuseinadvancedscholarshipandediting,throughtheHyperStudio’spartnershipwiththeMelvilleElectronicLibrary(ofwhichIamAssociateDirector)anditssuiteofscholarlyeditingtools(TextLab,JuxtaEditions,Itinerary).UnquestionablyAnnotationStudiohaspotentialforasrichcontributionstohumanitiesscholarship,research,andediting,astopedagogy,asmyexperiencehasdemonstratedsofar.

AnnotationStudioalsohasimmensevalueoutsideoftheacademy.AsIhaveseenwithbothscholarshipandteaching,AnnotationStudioisremarkablytransparent.Itmakesreading,writing,andthinkingvisible,enablingcreativeandcriticalconnectionsanddiscoveries.Inthatsense,ithasunlimitedpossibilitiesforallkindsofcommunicationsoutsidetheclassroomorlab.

Wearejustbeginningtounderstandthatpotential,andIhopetocontinuetheexperimentinnewdirectionsinthefuture.



2. JessicaKubiak(JamestownCommunityCollege):IntroducingAnnotationtotheDevelopingCollegeReader:UsingAnnotationStudioinENG0410,DevelopingReadingVersatility

BackgroundThissemester,I’mteachingthreesectionsofENG0410,whichisthesecondoftworeadingcoursesastudentmighttakeuponenrollingatJamestownCommunityCollege,partoftheStateUniversityofNewYorksystem.Becausewe’reanopenaccessinstitution,studentswhohavenotcompletedadvancedhighschoolworkaregivenplacementteststhathelpusdeterminewhichEnglishandmathcoursestheyshouldtake.Ourstudentbodyprofileissimilartothatofopenaccessinstitutionsacrossthenation,withaboutfiftypercentofstudentsrequiringdevelopmentalcoursework.Ourcampusestendtoenrollrural,white,first-timecollegestudents,andmostofmydevelopmentalreadingandwritingstudentstravelfromhomesoveranhourfromcampus,withlimitedinternetaccessandfewothereducationalopportunitiesoramenitiesnearby.Approximatelyhalfofmystudentsare“traditional,”whiletheotherhalfismadeupofpeopleperhapsmoreemblematicofthecommunitycollegelearner:older,mostlikelywithchildrenorgrandchildren,eitherrecentlylaidofforworkingmultiplepart-timejobs,andgenerallydistrustfulofinstitutions.RarelydoIencounteradevelopmentalcollegestudentwithpreviousexposuretoacademicexpectationsorhabits;myjobistopreparelearnerstoutilizeandrespondtotextsforacademicpurposes.

Oneofthemostinsurmountableobstaclesthatmystudentsfaceistheirbeliefthatgoodreadersalwaysreadeffortlessly,withoutstoppingtorereadorconsultothersourcesofinformation.Ihaveafewtoolsatmydisposaltocounterthis,andmostcenteraroundmodelingthebehaviorsofgoodreaders:activereadingskillssuchasslowingdownandconnectingunfamiliarconceptstoexistingschema,identifyingrhetoricalpatternsandmainideas,andmakinginferences.Theseskillsgetmanifestedthroughtheprocessofannotating,whichisthebackboneofmyreadinginstruction.Andwhiledemonstratingmyownreading-relatedhabitsofmindisusefulforhelpingstudentsunderstandthatreadingisaprocess,it’sonlywhentheyseetheirpeersengaginginthisprocessthatitbeginstoseemaccessible,andbeginstohavevalueandmeaningforthem.This,Ithink,iswheremystudentsbenefittedthemostfromtheiruseofAnnotationStudio.AssignmentLearningOutcomesMygoalsforthetwoAnnotationStudioassignmentsthatIdevelopedwereforlearnersto:

1. Gainawarenessoftherecursiveprocessofreading,aswellastheconnectionbetweenreading,thinking,andwriting.

2. Respondauthoritativelyinwritingtoapublishedtext.3. Engagewiththeideasofpeersinanon-threatening,non-distractingdigitalenvironment.4. Communicatewithintheparametersofashareddigitalspace.5. Establishatransferablereadingroutinethatincludesnotonlyannotation,buttheconsiderationofother

readers’ideas.Assignment#1SequenceIfirstimaginedI’duseAnnotationStudioanasadjuncttoannotationinstruction.Studentswouldbeintroducedtothekindsoftextthatgetannotated,alongwithmethodsofannotatingandwaystorespond,andonlythenwouldIintroduceAS.However,thebeautyofdigitalannotationisthatstudentscanwitnesseachother’sideasindevelopment,andcanconsideravarietyofapproachestorespondingtoatext.SoIintroducedAStomy0410studentsearlyinthesemester.

PriortothefirstASassignment,Iforegroundedanintroductiontotheconceptofannotationingeneralbyaskingstudentstoreflectonaseriesofquestions:

• Whatdoyouwanttogetoutofareading?• Whatdifficultiesdoyoufacewhenreading,especiallyastheyrelatetoyourreadinggoals?

Writtenresponsesandclassdiscussionsledtomyintroductionofannotationasonewaytobetterensurereadingsuccess.Iassignedareadingfromourtextbook,askingthemtoannotateinsmallgroups.

Studentsthencomparedtheirannotationswithothersmallgroups,andreportedouttothewholeclassaboutthecontentthatwasannotated,aswellasthemethodsusedforannotatingandpotentialusesformarkedupsentencesandmarginalia.



Basedontheirexperienceofannotating,studentsdevelopeda“ClassListforAnnotation”ofthekindsofinformationthatshouldbeannotated.

Next,studentsreflectedonthebenefitsandlimitationsoftheirfirstexperienceofannotating;Iaskedthemtothinkspecificallyabouttheexperienceofreadingwithagroup,andtheexperienceofwritinginatextbook,bothofwhichtendtobeunfamiliarterritoryforlearners.

Studentsexpressedsomeexpandedunderstandingofbothannotatingandreadingasaresultofgroupwork,alongwithsomedismayatthemateriallimitationsofhandwrittenannotation.

Atthispoint,IaskedthegrouptoselectanarticlefromYes!magazine,andtoldthemthattheywouldbeonceagainreadingandannotatingwithothers,onlythistimeitwouldbewiththeirentireclass,anditwouldhappenonline.

IdemonstratedtheuseofAnnotationStudioandinstructedstudentstocreateaccounts,whichmanyofthemdidonthespotusingtheircellphones.Ithensplittheclassintoseveralgroups,assigningeveryoneineachgroupresponsibilityforannotatingforoneelementfromourClassList.

Uponcompletingthistask,studentswereaskedtoreadalloftheirpeers’annotations,andtoselectthreenotesthatincreasedunderstandingorappreciationofthereading,notinghoweachannotationwashelpfulinthatregard.

Bythefifthweekofthesemester,studentswereexpectedtospeakwithoutpromptingaboutissuesraisedbythetextthey’dreadandtheirclassmates’responses,andtomakeprecisetextualreferences.ResultsandAnalysisParticipationinthisassignmentwasnearlyonehundredpercent.Becausethisseriesofactivitieswascompletedatthebeginningofthesemester,everystudentenrolledinthecoursewasexposedtoonlinedigitalannotation.

• Thetypicalattritionrateindevelopmentalcoursesisaboutfiftypercent,andthesingleassignmentcompletionrateinmyreadingcoursesisusuallyaboutthirtypercent,soensuringnearlyallofmystudentshadaccesstothesetoolsandwaysofthinkingwassignificant.Studentannotationswereplentiful.Moststudentshighlightedandcommentedtoanextreme,resulting

indocumentsalmostentirelyyellowedwithhighlighting.Annotationsincludedrewordedideasandquotedphrases;questionsaboutauthor’spurpose,thesis,andcredibility;emotionalresponses;hyperlinkstofurtherreadings;definitionsofunclearterms;labeledtextualcomponents;illustrationsoftheauthorsandmajorconcepts;andchallengestothetext.

• IndividualcontributionstothemarkedupdocumentfarexceedanythingI’veseenonstudents’printtexts,evenondisposablehandoutsthatarethefocusonintensein-andout-of-classwork.Itmightbethatstudentcomfortwithdigitalprofusenessgivesthemaccesstodigitalannotationthatisn’tavailablewithprinttexts.Furthermore,sinceseveralstudentshighlightedthesamephrasesorpassages,and,atsomepoints,wroteessentiallythesamecomments,I’mnotasconcernedasIoncewasthatlearnersmightnotproduceoriginalresponses.Writtenreflectionsonandclassroomdiscussionsaboutannotateddocumentsindicatedthatstudents

weremostinterestedinpeerannotationsthatdefineduncleartermsorchallengedthetext.Uponhearingthattheirannotationsresonatedwithoneormorepeers,learnersimmediatelybegancontributingevenmoretoclassroomdiscussionandcommunicatingmoreassertively.

• Thissuggeststhattheactofdigitalannotationmakesexplicitthenecessarilyconcurrentprocessesofreadingandwriting,anddoessoinawaythatstudentsarewritingdirectlyinresponsetoanestablishedtext,andaretherefore,inessence,borrowingtheauthorityofthepublishedauthor.ThisalsosuggestswhatIhavelongsuspectedaboutdevelopingreaders,whichisthat,althoughcollegereading(andcollegecomposition)textbookstypicallywaittoaddressargument,thisistherhetoricalmodethatstudentsmostreadilyseekout.

OtherOutcomesInadditiontothelearningoutcomesIestablishedwhendevelopingthisassignment,thefollowingwerealsorealized.DigitalannotationwithAS:



1. Mitigatedpracticalbarrierstoannotatingprinttextthataretypicallyencounteredbymystudentpopulation(duetorentedtextbooks,textbookdepreciationforresalepurposes,andawell-engrainedbeliefthatbooksarenottobewrittenin).

2. Introduceddigitalmediatothoseunfamiliarwithcomputingtechnologies;andgavethosecomfortablewithcomputingtechnologiesafamiliarplatformforacademicwork(asmanyofmystudentswhostronglyassociatedigitalmediawiththeireverydaylivesoftenhaveadversarialrelationshipswithprint-basedculture).

3. Introducedtextualannotationasacommondenominatoracrossacademicdisciplines.4. Establishedfamiliaritywithaformat(digitalmedia,highlightedtext,margincomments)thatisconsistent

withwhatlearnerswillencounterincollegecompositioninstructorfeedback.StudentResponseInmycourses,studentsencountermultipleaccesspointswithdigitalmedia:onlinecoursemanagementsystemsthathouseassignmentsheetsanddiscussionforums,retrievalofarticlesfromonlinedatabases,andassignmentsrequiringwebsitedevelopment(usingsitetemplatesandrequiringnocodingknowledge).AndalthoughIhaveneverexplicitlyaskedforfeedbackaboutthese,abouttwentypercentofmystudents–withoutprompting–expressdismay,frustration,orresistanceregardingmyuseofdigitaltechnologiesinreadinginstructionandassessment.

Afterstudentscompletedtheirfirstonlineannotationassignment,Ididtakeclasstimetoaskfortheirfeedback.Myquestionswereopen-ended:Whatdidyoulikeaboutit?Whatdidn’tyoulikeaboutit?Whatsuggestionsdoyouhaveforimprovement?

Thefollowingsampleofstudentresponsesarerepresentativeofhowpositiveandforward-lookingtheywere:

• “It’seasytogetintoanduse.”• “Itmakesournoteslookorganized.”• “Wehaveunlimitedspacetowrite,whichisgood.”• “Ilikethatsomenotescanbekeptprivate.”• “It’seasytoaccessotherresourcesontheinternetwhileyou’reannotating.”• “Ilikethatitautomaticallyhighlights.”• “Ilikedit!”• “Ithinkweshoulduseitagain.”• “Iwishwehadthisinallourotherclasses.”• “Iwishitcouldbemorelikeothersocialmedia,withawaytotalkwitheachother.”• “Gettingusedtoitwasachallenge,butIdidit.”• “Idon’tunderstandthedifferencebetweenaClassandaGroup.”• “Theyshouldputaninternetsearchengineintotheprogramsoyoudon’thavetoclickawayfromit.”

Assignment#2SequenceUponcompletingthefirstassignmentinvolvingAnnotationStudio,learnershadn’tyetmovedbeyondannotatingforunclearterms,emotionalreactions,andconnectionstopriorknowledge.We’vesincefullyexploredargumentdevelopment,criticalreading,purpose,tone,rhetoricalpatterns,andothercomponentsofacademicreading.So,togivestudentstheopportunitytorevisittheprocessofcollaborativedigitalannotationwiththesenewlydevelopedskillsattheirdisposal,anextracreditoptionforthefinalextendedout-of-classassignmentofthesemesterisforlearnerstomarkuptheintroductiontoMichaelPollan’sTheBotanyofDesire.TheassignmentitselfrequiresstudentstoexplainhowPollandevelopshisargumentthrougheachofthebook’sfourchapters.Botanyisanincrediblychallengingtextfordevelopingreaders,butIbuildplentyofsupportsintotheirreading,includingthisextracreditoption.ExtraCredit:AnnotatetheintroductiontoTheBotanyofDesireby:

• Identifyingandexplainingideasthatgetfurtherdevelopedorillustratedinoneormorechapters,notinginyourannotationswhereandhowthishappens.

• Identifyingimagesorconceptsthatgetreferredtothroughoutthebook,explaininghowtheseimagesorconceptsremainconstantortakeonnewmeaning.



Thisisessentiallyalargeportionoftheextendedassignment,onlydoneinreverse.Studentswhoaremotivatedbygradeswilltakethetimetoattempttheextracredit,therebyensuringbothincreasedcomprehensionandsuccessontheextendedassignment.Andfortheuncertainstudent,theannotatedintroductionwillprovideanotherperspectivethatcouldcontributetosuccessfulcompletionoftheextendedassignment.Themostimportantbenefit,though,isthatannotationwillcontinuetobeviewedasatoolforbothactivereadingandsharingtheexperienceofworkingwithatext.



Appendix5DistributionofAnnotationStudioUseDuringtheImplementationGrantPeriod(September1,2013–December31,2015)TheuseofAnnotationStudioexpandedrapidlyduringtheNEHimplementationgrantperiod,andwerepresentsomesimplepatternshere.Wedidnothavethemeansforexploringthisgrowthinmoredetail.Generally,wefoundthattheapplicationmovedfreelyacross(1)disciplinesorfieldsofstudy,(2)institutions,especiallysecondaryandcollegeeducationallevels,and(3)nationalborders.Figure1:GrowthofregisteredusersonthepublicWebapp(http://app.annotationstudio.org)from9/1/2013to3/1/2016.Thesefiguresdonotincludeusersonthecurrently23institution-specificsubdomains.

Overall,duringtheimplementationgrantperiod,morethan600distincteducationalsubjectclasseshaveusedAnnotationStudioforoneormultipleunitsaspartoftheircurricula,ofteninmultiplesemesters.Althoughwehavecontactedagreatnumberofeducatorsduringthegrantperiodand



discussedtheirusesandviewsoftheprojectanditscontributions,wehavehadsomedifficultyindeterminingexactnumbersforvariouskindsofclassroomuse.Thisislargelybecauseoftheunanticipatedproblemthateducatorsfreelynametheirclassesinavarietyofways:Whileit’seasytoidentifyENG100W16(e.g.atAndoverHighSchool)asanEnglishclass,manyotherclassnamesuseidentifiersthataremoredifficultorimpossibletodecipher.Sinceweintroducedtheoptionofsettinguporganization-specificsubdomainsoftheprojectin2014,23educationalinstitutionsincludingHarvardUniversity,GeorgiaTech,andHumboldtUniversityinBerlinhaveaskedtheHyperStudioprojectteamtocreateaseparateAnnotationStudiodomainwhichoffersaneducational“walledgarden”specifictotheinstitution’seducatorsandstudents.Figure2:DistributionofdisciplinesofAnnotationStudioclassgroups.Thesefiguresareonlyanapproximation.Duetothefree-formnamingofclassgroups,manygroupscouldnotbeassignedtotheirrespectivedisciplines.



Table1:InstitutionalUseDistributionofAnnotationStudioColleges,CommunityColleges,andUniversities: 595 (64%)HighSchools: 216 (23%)Otheracademicinstitutionsandnot-for-profits: 50 (5%)Corporations(includingpublishersandmediaorganizations): 41 (4%)Institutionswithsubdomainsand/ortheirownInstallations: 23 (2%)Table2:GlobalGeographicDistributionofActiveClassgroupsusingAnnotationStudio:ArgentinaAustraliaAustriaBelgiumBrazilCanadaColombiaCostaRicaDenmarkEcuadorEstoniaFranceGermanyHongKongHungaryIndiaIreland

IsraelItalyJapanMexicoNetherlandsPeruPolandPortugalRepublicofKoreaSingaporeSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTurkeyUnitedKingdomUnitedStates

WhitePaper AnnotationStudio:MultimediaAnnotationforStudents March31,2014

MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology GrantNo.HK-50072-13

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Appendix6:IdeaSpaceIdeaSpace,currentlyinworkingprototypestage,isprojectedtobeanextensionofAnnotationStudio,inwhicheachstudent’sannotationsaredisplayedandorganizedaroundthestudent’stags.Inthisspace,shownbelow,thestudent’sannotations(includingimagesandothermedia)canbesorted,arrangedandstructuredtoprovidethebasisforarguments,whichinturnwillformthecorestructureforstudentessaysorotherformsofacademicwriting.Aworkspaceforwriting.IdeaSpacewillhelpstudentsorganizecitations,comments,andpreliminarytexttocreateanoutlineofanessaywhich,whendrafted,canbebroughtbackintoAnnotationStudiotoappearinthestudent’sdashboard(seeExhibit3,Appendix1,above).Thestudent’speersorwritinginstructorsmaythenprovidefeedbackonthistextbyaddingnewcommentsandannotations.TheIdeaSpacewillprovidebothaworkspaceforthedevelopmentofwriting,andalsoawindowintothewritingprocessitself,fromwhichaninstructorwillbeabletoengagewiththestudent.Mixingandmanagingreadingnotes.InafutureversiontheIdeaSpaceworkspaceshowninExhibit1belowwillbeaccessiblefromthetopmenuofAnnotationStudio.

Fromannotativereadingtocomposition.TheIdeaSpacepresentsanovelinterfacethatresonateswiththewayinwhichmanystudentscurrentlyuseAnnotationStudio:firsthighlightingevidenceinthetextthroughthecollaborativeannotationprocess,andthenlaterextractinganddrawingonthesesamepiecesofevidencetocomposewrittenarguments.Justasdigitalinterfaceshelprealizeanideal

Exhibit1:

IdeaSpace-Workspace

Thelargerworkspaceontheleftdisplaysauser’sannotationsorganizedbytags.Userscancurrentlyfiltertheirannotationsbytagsandsourcedocument.Individualannotationscanbedraggedintotheoutlinespaceontherightfororganization,grouping,andnesting.Freeformcontextualnotescanbeaddedaswell.



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environmentforannotation,theyalsooffermyriadwaysinwhichtosupportandenrichthisprocessofcutting.Theeaseofsorting,filtering,duplicatingandrearrangingmaterialindigitalsettingsaffordsafastandintuitivewaytoturnfromannotativereadingtocomposition.Trackingsources.Thecapacityofthesevirtualmaterialstoretainlinkstooneanother,keepingtrackofwhereandwhenannotationsoreditshavebeenmade,maynotonlyrelievereader-authorsofsomeoftheworkofmanagingcitations,butalsogivescholarsagreatlyaugmentedrecordoftheirownresearchprocess.ThisrecordmaypersistthroughoutthescholarlycyclewhenworksexportedfromtheIdeaSpacearethemselvesuploadedintoAnnotationStudio.Modularityandadaptability.WhiletheIdeaSpaceisconceivedasaddingtoAnnotationStudio’ssupportforstudentwork,itsmodulardesignandimplementationenableittoworkincombinationwithothertoolsandsourcesofdata.Theapplication’sfirstdatamoduleretrievesannotationsfromtheAnnotationStudiodatabase,whoseformatconformstoopenannotationstandards,meaningthattheinterfacecouldeasilyextendotherannotationenvironments.Asimpledesignforaddingnewdatamodulesgivesinstructorstheabilitytotailortheapplicationforusewiththeirowncombinationsoftoolsandarchives.Farmorethanavisualorganizerforannotations,theIdeaSpaceisatoolthroughwhichuserscancombine,juxtaposeandadaptanyscholarlymaterialinthecompositionofcompellingandrichlycontextualizedwriting.



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Appendix7:AnnotationStudiointheNews(http://news.mit.edu/2014/new-qannotation-studioq-tools-translate-an-ancient-literary-practice-into-the-digital-age)

21.4.2016 New Annotation Studio tools translate an ancient literary practice into the digital age | MIT News

http://news.mit.edu/2014/new-qannotation-studioq-tools-translate-an-ancient-literary-practice-into-the-digital-age 1/3

RELATED

21st Century Humanities at MIT

About Annotation Studio

Digital learning in the humanities at MIT

HyperStudio

Comparative Media Studies / Writing

New Annotation Studio tools translate an ancientliterary practice into the digital age

Detail, Annotation Studio program

image courtesy of shass

Among the humanities initiatives at MIT are numerous projects in the digital humanities — a

field of research, teaching, and creation that couples the disciplines of the humanities with

computational approaches. Digital humanities projects often use such methodologies and

techniques as web-based media, digital archiving, data mining, geo-spatial analysis,

crowdsourcing, data visualization, and simulation. At MIT, digital humanities practioners use

digital tools and big data to investigate research questions, while also presenting scholarship

through, and within, new media forms. We recently talked with the creators of Annotation

Studio, an innovative School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS) program that

is empowering readers and writers — both in and beyond the classroom.

Time was, avid readers wrote notes in the margins of much-thumbed books, adding their own

thoughts to the author’s and enriching the volume for future generations. John Adams, for

example, is so well known for the witty repartee he exchanged with his own library that whole

essays have been written about his annotations and comments.

The popularity of e-books could sound the death knell of such illuminating marginalia, but the

Annotation Studio, a suite of easy-to-use digital tools developed by HyperStudio (the MIT

SHASS lab for digital humanities), promises to improve upon traditional techniques for entering

marginalia and side notes in books — enabling readers not only to annotate texts across

media, but also to share comments with others and to enhance them with links, images, video,

and audio.

School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

January 15, 2014

&



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Drawing on HyperStudio’s educational design expertise, Annotation Studio integrates a

powerful set of textual interpretation tools behind an interface that makes using the tools

intuitive for both students and their teachers.

The power of annotation

Recently, HyperStudio (a research program of Comparative Media Studies/Writing) received a

Digital Humanities Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to continue

developing and implementing Annotation Studio.

“Annotation is a very ancient practice; it’s probably been around as long as reading,” says

James Paradis, the Robert M. Metcalfe Professor of Writing and one of the two project

directors. “As text becomes digitized, it becomes more difficult to write comments. We think

there’s value to letting people annotate in the same space.”

Annotation Studio grew out of an earlier program called Miximize, which was developed at MIT

between 2010 and 2011, in close collaboration with Wyn Kelley, a senior lecturer in literature.

Kelley had her class use Miximize to insert notes, definitions, and references into a digital

version of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Annotating works digitally has many advantages over old-fashioned note-taking, Kelley says. “It

gives students so much more control over their work and so much more connection to the

text. And, it relieves them of their inhibitions about writing. I see much better writing when our

students use digital annotation.”

Of the new annotation tool, one of Kelley's students said, "I am actually writing down ideas

while reading, and by writing them down I’m looking deeper into the text — not like when I just

read the book and said, 'Oh, it may mean this.' Now it's more, 'Oh what does this mean?’ Then

I keep asking questions, because I am annotating. I am thinking about the text more."

Using an open software system

Recognizing the potential of this digital humanities project, researchers in HyperStudio decided

to expand the program’s capabilities, and Annotation Studio was born.

“Every commercial textbook publisher is trying to create this, but they deliver proprietary stuff

— not something you can adapt and change,” Paradis says. “We use open software.”

To date, Annotation Studio has been used in writing, foreign languages, and literature classes

at MIT. The feedback from students has been positive, according to Kurt Fendt, executive

director of HyperStudio and project director. “Students want to use annotation not only for

class work, but also for their own writing,” he says. Faculty using Annotation Studio in the

classroom, such as Kelley, have been a central part of the development team, providing

feedback and suggestions to improve the tool.

A white paper on the project describes the Annotation Studio team as "a combination of

classroom instructors, designers, and software developers who meet throughout the academic

terms, often with student users, to engage in a collaborative design process focused on end

users from the start. Feedback from students and faculty using the prototype has continuously

informed software development."&



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About This WebsiteThis Website is maintained by the MIT News Office.

MIT News Office • Building 11-400 Massachusetts Institute of Technology • Cambridge, MA 02139-4307

Topics:

Engaging in the digital age

With the help of the NEH grant, Fendt, Kelley, Paradis and colleagues now aim to further

develop the capabilities of Annotation Studio and to make the program broadly available.

“We’re sharing everything,” Fendt says.

Other universities worldwide have already begun using Annotation Studio in their own courses,

or have taken the code as the basis for their own projects — an indication that digital

annotation fills a clear need. “Ten years ago, people struggled to read digitally, now some

prefer it,” Paradis says. “We want to return to people the capability of engaging with text — in a

digital age.”

Story prepared by MIT SHASS Communications

Editorial and Design Director: Emily Hiestand

Senior Writer: Kathryn O'Neill

Communications Assistant: Kierstin Wesolowski

Digital humanities Comparative Media Studies/Writing

Foreign languages and literatures Literature, languages and writing

Student life Students

&



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Appendix8CreditsADigitalHumanitiesprojectofthescopeofAnnotationStudiocanonlyberealizedwithmanycollaboratorswithavarietyofexpertiseondifferentlevels.OneofHyperStudio’scorefunctionswastoprovideacentralorganizinglocusandongoingprojectplanningfunctiontocoordinatesomanykindsofinput.HyperStudio’sconceptofco-designandagiledevelopmenthasbroughttogethercolleagues,students,developers,andmanyothersatallstagesofdevelopment.Here’sanincompletelistofthosewhocontributedtothecreationandimplementationofAnnotationStudio.AnnotationStudioTeamJimParadis(PI)KurtFendt(Co-PI)WynKelley(Literature)SuzanneLane(Writing,Rhetoric,andProfessionalCommunication)AndreasKaratsolis(Assessment)JamieFolsom(SoftwareDeveloper)RachelSchnepper(OutreachCoordinator)GabriellaHorvath(Administrator)LiamAndrew(ResearchAssistant)DesiGonzalez(ResearchAssistant)AndyStuhl(ResearchAssistant)EvanHiggins(ResearchAssistant)PerformantSoftware(add.softwaredevelopment)Thoughtbot,Inc.(add.softwaredevelopment)AdvisoryBoardJohnBryant(HofstraUniversity)JohnUnsworth(BrandeisUniversity)ElyseGraham(StonyBrookUniversity)WynKelley(MIT)SuzanneLane(MIT)EdwardSchiappa(MIT)ParticipatingInstructors(selected)AtMIT:NoelJackson(Literature)InaLipkowitz(Literature)MaryFuller(Literature)GretchenHenderson(Literature)



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HelenLee(ComparativeMediaStudies/Writing)JoaquinTerrones(Literature)RobertoReyAgudo(GlobalStudiesandLanguages)KristofMagnusson(GlobalStudiesandLanguages)EllenCrocker(GlobalStudiesandLanguages)DagmarJaeger(GlobalStudiesandLanguages)PeterWeise(GlobalStudiesandLanguages)ElizabethWood(History)ElizabethChoe(OEIT)MarahGubar(Literature)MariaKhotimsky(GlobalStudiesandLanguages)ShariannLewitt(ComparativeMediaStudies/Writing)AtotherUniversities:AlexMueller,UniversityofMassachusettsatBostonAndrewNewman,StonyBrookUniversityBertLott,VassarCollegeBrigitHuber,UniversityofInnsbruck,AustriaCatherineTurner,UniversityofPennsylvaniaCharlotteNunes,SouthwesternUniversityChristyShaughnessy,Washington&JeffersonUniversityColinBrown,HarvardUniversityDawnColeman,UniversityofTennesseeDomingoLedezma,WheatonCollegeEthnaLay,HofstraUniversityGabriellaGangi,UniversityofNewHampshireHeatherKlemann,YaleUniversityIanPetrie,Centreforteaching&Learning,UniversityofPennsylvaniaJacquelineDoughterty,UniversityofPennsylvaniaJasonPrentice,BostonUniversityJessicaKubiak,JamestownCommunityCollegeJillianDeMari,HarvardUniversityJodyGordon,ChrisGleason,WentworthInstituteofTechnologyJohannaTomlinson,UniversityofIowaKatePantelides,EasternMichiganUniversityKimVaeth,BentleyCollegeLauraWitherington,UniversityofArkansas,FortSmithLisaGordis,BarnardCollegeMariaEsterRinconCalero,BostonCollegeMarisaParham,AmherstCollegeMaryIsbell,UniversityofNewHavenMaryLewis&CharlesClavey,HarvardUniversityMelanieMcNaughton,BridgewaterStateUniversityMelaniePeron,UniversityofPennsylvaniaMichaelUllyot,UniversityofCalgary,CanadaPeterJones,QueenMary,UniversityofLondonRachelArteaga,UniversityofWashingtonRachelChaffin,UniversityofPennsylvania



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RobHardy,CarletonCollegeSamFallon,SUNYNewPaltzSarahHorowitz,WashingtonandLeeUniversityShannonReed,CornellCollegeTomDenton,DutchessCommunityCollegeVimalaPasupathi,HofstraUniversityWinterWerner,WheatonCollegeZoranKuzmanovich,DavidsonCollegeAtHighSchoolsNicoleCarter,CarthageJuniorHighSchool(MO)BrianKrause,MiraMesaHighSchool(CA)ElizabethLilly,OakmontRegionalHighSchool(MA)DerekWright,AlpharettaHighSchool(GA)AllenDrinkwater,WakefieldHighSchool(MA)JustinOngley,NewMilfordHighSchool(CT)

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