For years, discussion boards were considered a standard part of online learning. They gave students a place to respond, reflect, and participate asynchronously. But for many instructors, especially those teaching online for decades, discussion boards are no longer creating the kind of engagement they once hoped for.

During a recent webinar, Rachel Rigolino, Professor of English: Writing and Literature, SUNY New Paltz, reflected on her own experience teaching online:

“I’ve been teaching online since 1999 back in the days of dialup. So I was very much on board with discussion board for, you know, 25 years. This was a big move for me to say that I’m done with them.”

That shift is becoming increasingly common across higher education.

As instructors navigate AI-generated discussion responses, declining participation quality, and repetitive threaded conversations, many are turning to social annotation tools like Hypothesis to create more active, collaborative reading experiences inside the LMS.

Instead of discussing readings somewhere separate from the text, students engage directly within the material itself.

That difference changes everything.

Why Discussion Boards Stopped Working for Many Online Courses

Discussion boards were originally designed to encourage asynchronous participation. In theory, they created space for reflection and peer interaction.

In practice, many instructors found that discussions became repetitive, disconnected, and increasingly performative over time.

As Rachel Rigolino, Professor of English: Writing and Literature, SUNY New Paltz, explained:

“I think I held on to discussion board as a crutch for a long time.”

The problem is not necessarily that students stopped participating. The problem is that participation often stopped feeling meaningful.

Rigolino referenced research describing discussion boards as creating:

“nonsubstantive learner interaction.”

She also described the familiar structure many instructors recognize immediately:

“the dreaded threaded.”

Traditional LMS discussion boards often create a workflow where students:

• answer prompts in isolation
• repeat ideas already posted
• respond minimally to peers
• focus on completion rather than comprehension

The result is often what Rigolino described as:

“kind of unsatisfying to I think both students and to faculty as well.”

In many courses, discussion boards slowly become a routine task rather than a genuine learning activity.

For institutions rethinking online participation, Why Higher Ed Needs More Than Discussion Boards: Making the Case for Social Annotation explores why more instructors are moving toward collaborative, in-text discussion models.

Why AI Accelerated the Problem

Generative AI tools have made the limitations of discussion boards even more visible.

When prompts ask students for general summaries or surface-level reactions, AI can often generate acceptable responses instantly.

Rachel Rigolino, Professor of English: Writing and Literature, SUNY New Paltz, addressed this directly:

“At this point, you know, with Gen AI, the students are pretty easy to find answers to these questions.”

That creates a larger challenge for instructors:

How do you design participation that requires authentic engagement instead of generic output?

Many institutions are discovering that detection alone is not enough. Instead, instructors are redesigning learning activities to make thinking visible throughout the learning process.

Many instructors are instead redesigning coursework around visible engagement and collaborative reading practices. How to Design Reading Assignments That Work in the Age of AI explores how faculty are creating assignments that encourage authentic participation instead of generic AI-generated responses.

This is one reason social annotation has gained momentum in higher education.

What Social Annotation Changes

Social annotation moves discussion directly into the reading itself.

With Hypothesis, students can:

• highlight passages
• ask questions in context
• respond to classmates
• attach images
• link external resources
• annotate videos and web pages
• engage collaboratively around specific ideas

Instead of posting disconnected replies underneath a prompt, students interact directly alongside the material being discussed.

Rachel Rigolino, Professor of English: Writing and Literature, SUNY New Paltz, described the experience this way:

“The student has highlighted the text and then written something here. And students can then respond.”

That contextual interaction creates a very different learning environment.

Students are not simply reacting after reading.
They are thinking visibly while reading.

That shift creates stronger accountability, deeper comprehension, and more authentic collaboration.

Research and faculty experiences continue to show that combining reading and discussion in one space can significantly improve participation and comprehension. Can Social Annotation Improve Student Engagement? explores why social annotation often creates stronger engagement than traditional online discussion formats.

Why Social Annotation Creates More Dynamic Discussion

One of the biggest differences between social annotation and discussion boards is that conversations happen in context.

Students can see:

• what classmates highlighted
• where confusion emerged
• what passages generated debate
• how peers interpreted specific ideas

Rachel Rigolino, Professor of English: Writing and Literature, SUNY New Paltz, explained:

“If I’m signing on, I see that somebody did this and they highlighted this and I’m like, well, why? And then I’m reading what they say.”

This creates a more natural collaborative process than traditional threaded replies.

Instead of separate conversations detached from the source material, the discussion grows directly around the text itself.

Rigolino summarized the experience simply:

“The discussion is just so much more dynamic to me.”

That dynamic interaction is especially important in asynchronous courses, where instructors often struggle to recreate the energy of live classroom discussion.

Social annotation helps transform reading from an isolated activity into a collaborative one.

Annotation Makes Reading More Visible

One of the biggest instructional advantages of social annotation is visibility.

Instructors can see:

• where students engage
• which concepts generate confusion
• where discussion emerges naturally
• how students interpret course materials

That visibility helps faculty intervene earlier and teach more effectively.

Rigolino also described how students engage throughout readings rather than only at the end:

“I ask students to post throughout the text.”

This encourages ongoing engagement instead of single-response participation.

The format also supports multiple media types. Students can:

• add images
• share websites
• include videos
• annotate multimedia resources

The webinar highlighted that Hypothesis can even support annotation on YouTube videos using transcripts.

According to Rigolino:

“It is a lot of fun to be able to put in video as well and I think students respond to that.”

For instructors exploring multimedia learning workflows, Introducing Image Annotations: Bringing Visual Content into the Conversation explores how annotation can expand discussion beyond text into visual and interactive materials.

Social Annotation Before Live Class Discussions

Social annotation is not only useful for asynchronous courses.

Many instructors now use annotation as preparation before live sessions.

Students arrive having already:

• read collaboratively
• identified questions
• responded to peers
• explored difficult passages

Rachel Rigolino, Professor of English: Writing and Literature, SUNY New Paltz, explained:

“Having them do the annotations before you meet as a class and do in-person live discussion, it works really well.”

This creates stronger classroom discussion because students enter the conversation already familiar with the material and aware of peer perspectives.

The result, according to Rigolino:

“The students are much more engaged.”

This workflow is becoming increasingly popular in:

• flipped classrooms
• hybrid courses
• seminar discussions
• reading-heavy humanities courses
• graduate education
• online learning environments

Don’t Just Assign the Reading — Assign the Conversation explores how faculty are using annotation to turn reading into collaborative preparation before class discussions begin.

Why Faculty Are Moving Beyond Discussion Boards

The shift away from discussion boards is not simply about technology.

It reflects a broader change in how instructors think about engagement.

Faculty increasingly want learning activities that:

• make thinking visible
• encourage contextual discussion
• reduce passive participation
• support collaborative reading
• create stronger preparation for class
• remain meaningful in the age of AI

For many instructors, social annotation provides that structure.

More institutions are now evaluating whether annotation-based discussion creates better learning outcomes than traditional threaded forums. Social Annotation vs. Traditional Discussion Boards: Which Supports Learning More? compares how the two approaches differ in engagement, accountability, and collaborative learning.

Rachel Rigolino, Professor of English: Writing and Literature, SUNY New Paltz, closed with a clear reflection on her own experience:

“I’m probably not going to be going back to discussion board anytime soon.”

And finally:

“I’ve been sold on just totally social annotation.”

Watch the Full Webinar Clip

Watch the original webinar clip here:

Why Hypothesis Beats Discussion Boards – YouTube Webinar Clip

Frequently Asked Questions

What is social annotation?

Social annotation is a collaborative reading practice where students highlight, comment, and discuss directly within digital texts, PDFs, websites, or videos. Tools like Hypothesis allow discussions to happen alongside the material itself instead of in separate discussion forums.

How is social annotation different from discussion boards?

Discussion boards typically separate conversation from the reading material. Social annotation embeds discussion directly into the text, allowing students to respond to specific passages and ideas in context.

Why are instructors moving away from discussion boards?

Many instructors report that discussion boards often lead to repetitive or low-quality participation. Generative AI has also made it easier for students to produce generic responses without deeply engaging with course materials.

Can social annotation work in asynchronous courses?

Yes. Social annotation is especially effective in asynchronous learning environments because it allows students to engage collaboratively over time while reading independently.

Does social annotation help reduce AI-generated participation?

Social annotation encourages contextual, text-based interaction that is harder to automate meaningfully. Because students must engage directly with specific passages and peer comments, participation becomes more visible and authentic.

Can students annotate videos with Hypothesis?

Yes. Hypothesis supports annotation on YouTube videos through transcript-based commenting, allowing students to discuss multimedia materials collaboratively.

How do instructors use social annotation before live class discussions?

Many instructors assign annotations before class meetings so students arrive prepared, having already interacted with the reading and discussed ideas collaboratively with peers.

Related Blogs

Why Higher Ed Needs More Than Discussion Boards: Making the Case for Social Annotation

Explore why more institutions are moving beyond traditional discussion boards toward collaborative, in-text discussion experiences.

Social Annotation vs. Traditional Discussion Boards: Which Supports Learning More?

A deeper comparison of how annotation-based discussion changes participation, comprehension, and student engagement.

Don’t Just Assign the Reading — Assign the Conversation

Learn how instructors use social annotation to transform reading into an active, collaborative classroom experience.

How to Design Reading Assignments That Work in the Age of AI

See how faculty are redesigning reading assignments to encourage authentic engagement instead of AI-generated participation.

What Is Social Annotation and Why Are Universities Adopting It?

An overview of how social annotation works and why colleges and universities are increasingly adopting it across disciplines.