Perusall is a tool that enables students to collaboratively annotate a textbook or document. Instructors can order and assign online textbooks or upload articles in the form of PDF files. Students work in groups to annotate readings and asynchronously respond to each other's comments and questions. Perusall grades students' engagement to ensure they are prepared for class and nudges those who need help to keep everyone on track. There is no cost for students to use Perusall with a textbook, beyond the cost of the book itself. Perusall is available for integration into Canvas as well.
Professor George Hoffman is using Perusall in his course, HP 241, What Westworld Teaches Us About Being Human. Professor Hoffman teaches HP 241 in one of LSA’s team-based learning classroom in the Biological Sciences Building (BSB). He is finding that Perusall is an effective way to get student teams to connect with challenging readings. Each team annotates one of the course readings to share with classmates and Professor Hoffman has been pleased with the quality of the student comments. For more information about getting started, visit the Perusall website. Perusall will also be one of the technologies included in Technology Tools for Teaching on November 16th, a drop-in strolling breakfast event with interactive demonstrations.
