At an upcoming October 13 conference for our Western Massachusetts Writing Project, I am facilitating a workshop session around digital annotation, with technology like Hypothesis and NowComment and with sites like Marginal Syllabus and Educator Innovator in the mix. My aim with my session — Conversations from the Digital Margins — is going to be to work sequentially on a single article — moving from single copy/pencil notes, to workshop wall copy/sticky notes, to online annotation.
So, from solo to group to crowd.
I’m still thinking through the way I envision the workshop unfolding and am mulling over which article from last year’s Writing Our Civic Futures project that I want to pull into my workshop. What I find interesting is that the participants of my session will be in “conversation” in the margins with participants of the annotation event from last year. The discussion will continue ….
If you are a Western Massachusetts educator, we invite you to register for the Saturday October 13 conference, which features many workshops from WMWP teacher-consultants and a keynote address by a WMWP alumni, Kelly Norris, whose book — Too White: A Journey into the Racial Divide — has just come out.
Last year, we had Sydney Chaffee, a teacher of the year, as our speaker.
Peace (beyond the margins),
Kevin
One further suggestion that probably goes beyond the scope of your conference. I would suggest that all annotation has a purpose and that the products of annotation have some purposeful use. Maybe ask the question at the end: now what can we do with the annotations? Poems? Responses? Further questions? Projects? I have been asking students to use annotation to write summaries. Since I suggest a purpose, students tend to be more specific in their responses. A more generic purpose would be reflected by a more idiosyncratic. I think of this much like I think of code-shifting, different dialects for different social circumstances. Just riffing, dude.
Antispamspiffery: my blokes Well, me and my blokes was at the pub t’other e’en and this American walks in and says, “I challenge any of you whining Brits to an annotation match.” Can you imagine?
Good advice (as always)