Overview
AnnotationsX is an educational tool that allows faculty to set up text, image, and video objects within their Canvas (or Edx) course site, so that students can engage with the materials by submitting annotations.
Since AnnotationsX is still in pilot phase, you must request it to have it added you your Canvas course. If you would like to participate in the pilot, please send your request to atg@fas.harvard.edu.
Using Text Annotation Instructors can set up a text object, such as a short story or poem, that will be available to the class. The instructor and students can then view and annotate the text from within the Canvas site, see each other's annotations, and add comments to existing annotations submitted by the instructor or fellow students. Annotations can also be tagged, for easy sorting and organization of annotations. This is useful to engage students in careful readings of short texts.
Using Image Annotation Similarly, instructors can set up an image object to be available to the class. The instructor and students can then view and annotate the image from within the Canvas site, see each other's annotations, and add comments to existing annotations submitted by the instructor or fellow students. Annotations can also be tagged, for easy sorting and organization of annotations. This is useful for close examination and discussions of images.
Using Video Annotation Instructors can also set up video objects to be annotated. Instructors may specify YouTube videos. Students will be able to annotate segments of a video, indicating relevant starting and stopping points. When the video is played, annotations automatically appear at the corresponding times in the video.