Step II D: Web Annotation Tools

The second category of tools are Web Annotation Tools. In this blog I will present general information about Web Annotation Tools. 

Web Annotation Tools (WATs) allow annotations on HTML documents, i.e. on a web resource, like a web page. Rau et al. (2004) describe the major functionalities of WATs as “highlighting texts, inserting and editing annotations, organizing and presenting annotations hierarchically, and sharing annotations”. The annotations occur in a separate annotation layer, so the original source is not modified.

WATs can be used for individual or shared annotating. According to Glover et al. (2007), this sharing of notes (with people who have the same annotation system) is one of the two major advantages of inserting annotations into web resources. The second major advantage is the possibility to access the annotations from any web enabled computer.

If WATs are used for sharing than they are a type of Social Annotation (SA) tool. Social Annotation Technology is “an online social bookmarking tool that allows annotations on an electronic resource and supports easy online information sharing” (Novak et al. 2012). SA technology also provides a social platform for interactions and discussions.

Collaborative annotating is one of the key conditions for the annotating tool that is needed in this project, since medical experts must be able to annotate the medical documents in collaboration. Therefore, the larger category, Social Annotation Tools, is closer investigated. Novak et al. (2012) have found that the number of social annotation technologies grows due to “the need for using such tools in various settings and the benefits this technology offers”. One of these benefits is the created sense of community among the users in a given system and the resulting involvement in the community (Bateman et al. 2006). Novak et al. (2012) conclude that educationally used SA tools are found beneficial for collaborative learning. These benefits are positive for this project, however, they also state that it is best to use small teams (2-3 people) for collaborative SA activities. This is a recommendation to keep in mind when implementing the annotating tool.

Sources:

• Bateman, S., Farran, R., Brusilovsky, P. & McCalla, G., 2006, November 8-10. OATS. The open annotation and tagging system, Paper presented at the Third Annual Inter- national Scientific Conference of the Learning Object Repository Research Network, Montreal. 
• Glover, I., Xu, Z. & Hardaker, G., 2007. Online annotation-Research and practices. Computers & Education, 49(4), pp.1308–1320.
• Novak, E., Razzouk, R. & Johnson, T.E., 2012. The Educational Use of Social Annotation Tools in Higher Education: A Literature Review. Internet and Higher Education, 15(1), pp.39–49.
• Patrick Rau, P.L., Chen, S.H. & Chin, Y.T., 2004. Developing web annotation tools for learners and instructors. Interacting with Computers, 16(2), pp.163–181.