Serving IIIF and DTS APIs specifications from TEI data via XQuery with support from a SPARQL Endpoint

This paper presents two modules, one serving the IIIF presentation API, and another the three Distributed Text Services API specifications (Collection, Navigation and Document), as well as an additional experimental Web Annotation and indexes API. These are all served from XML TEI data with a RESTxq XQuery module within an exist-db application which also benefits from direct access to a SPARQL Endpoint containing a serialization in RDF of some of the information in the XML. The setup is not uncommon: we have our data collaboratively edited in GitHub, indexed from there into exist-db and transformed with XSLT to RDF-XML. The RDF-XML is passed on to a Apache Jena Fuseki on the same server and is indexed there as well, as RDF so that the two datasets are parallel and updated synchronously. What I want to argue is that the setup itself and the code involved are integrating part of the knowledge being served. They make assumption on the existing data and build the additional representation using that with an additional set of inferences. I conclude the contribution with some examples of use of these modules and their functions.

A Scaffolding Framework for Social Annotation in Online Classes

Web annotation is a genre of information technology that allows a user to annotate information in a shared document and anchor a discussion to the annotated information. When it is used socially in online classes, web annotation can support social reading, group sensemaking, knowledge construction, and community building (Chen, 2019; Kalir et al., 2020, Zhu et.al, 2020).To support several University of Minnesota instructors’ pivot to online teaching , we conducted a study that was focused on engaging undergraduate students in reading and discussing course materials in online classes. Following a co-design approach, we worked closely with instructors to design a generic scaffolding framework for social annotation activities and supported them to implement the framework, with course-specific customizations, in their classes. All participating courses are piloting a web annotation tool named Hypothes.is that is integrated in Canvas and allows students to read and annotate socially. This document describes the scaffolding framework, an important outcome of the study, which can be applied in various online/hybrid class settings.

Reading and connecting: using social annotation in online classes

Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many instructors to rapidly shift to online/distance teaching. With a narrow preparation window, many instructors are at a loss of strategies that are both effective in responding to the crisis and compatible with their professional practices. One urgent need in classrooms at all levels is to support social reading of course materials. To fulfill this need, this paper aims to present a systematic literature review on using Web annotation in K-12 and higher education to provide practical and evidence-based recommendations for educators to incorporate social annotation in online teaching. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents a systematic literature review of the use of Web annotation in formal education. The authors reviewed 39 articles that met the inclusion criteria and extracted the following information from each article: level of education, subject area, learning theory, learning activity design, Web annotation technology, research methods and learning outcomes. Studies were further analyzed and synthesized by the genre of learning activity design. Findings The authors identified five types of social annotation activity design: processing domain-specific knowledge, supporting argumentation and inquiry, improving literacy skills, supporting instructor and peer assessment and connecting online learning spaces. In addition, the authors developed practical recommendations on setting pedagogical goals, selecting annotation tools, deciding instructor involvement and developing evaluation strategies. Originality/value This study provides a timely response to online/distance teaching under the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a hope that these identified application areas, in combination with four practical recommendations, would provide pragmatic and evidence-based support for educators to engage learners in reading, learning and connecting.

Reading and Connecting: Using Social Annotation in Online Classes

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many instructors to rapidly shift to online/distance teaching. With a narrow preparation window, many instructors are at a loss of strategies that are both effective in responding to the crisis and compatible with their professional practices. This article presents a systematic literature review of the use of web annotation to support reading and discussion activities in formal education. As a genre of information systems, web annotation allows users to socially engage with web resources and is used in education to support social reading, argumentation, group inquiry, and community building. From this review we identified five types of social annotation activity design: processing domain-specific knowledge; supporting argumentation and inquiry; improving literacy skills; supporting instructor or peer assessment, and connecting online learning spaces. Practical recommendations for incorporating social annotation in online/distance classes are provided.

Open Web annotation as collaborative learning

This paper describes the use of open Web annotation (OWA) for collaborative learning among online communities. OWA is defined by the open standards, principles, and practices associated with the open Web. Specifically, this case study examines collaborative learning mediated by the OWA technology Hypothesis, a standards-compliant and open-source technology that situates collaboration in texts-as-contexts. Hypothesis OWA supports a repertoire of six collaborative learning practices: Affording multimodal expression, establishing connections across contexts, archiving activity, visualizing expertise and cognition, contributing to open educational resources, and fostering open educational practices. The use of Hypothesis OWA is then described in three online communities associated with scientific research and communication, educator professional development, and Web literacy and fact-checking. The article concludes by advancing three broad questions and related research agendas regarding how OWA as collaborative learning attends to linkages among formal and informal learning environments, the growth of both open educational resources and practices, and the use of open data as learning analytics.

The Marginal Syllabus

This case study examines educator learning as mediated by open web annotation among sociopolitical texts and contexts. The chapter introduces annotation practices and conceptualizes intertextuality to describe how open web annotation creates dialogic spaces which gather together people and texts, coordinates meaning-making, and encourages political agency. This perspective on texts-as-contexts is used to present and analyze educator participation in the Marginal Syllabus, a social design experiment that leverages open web annotation to foster conversation about educational equity. One conversation from the Marginal Syllabus is analyzed using mixed method approaches to data collection, analysis, and the presentation of findings. Learning analytics and discourse analysis detail how open web annotation mediated educator participation among sociopolitical texts and contexts of professional relevance. The chapter concludes by discussing open web annotation as a means of coordinating educator participation in public conversations about sociopolitical issues related to educational equity.

Practical Issues With Modern Marginalia

This chapter concludes the book and presents issues apropos to marginalia and annotation that warrant further consideration. In particular, the chapter addresses privacy concerns surrounding public annotation and other related ethical problematizations that accompany the use of web annotators. The chapter discusses the dilemma posed by the use of web annotation over digital writing spaces, such as blogs and personal websites, and its encroachment on the right to public and private discourse on the web.