Teacher instructions: Copy and paste these instructions into your own course to use with your students. Be sure to review the instructions before posting in your courses. You may want to make adjustments depending on how you plan to assess annotations or due to your specific discipline and/or assignment.

Instructions for students

Purpose: Collaboratively annotating the video together will allow us to share perspectives, ask and answer each other’s questions, and make visible reflections and connections from the video to our other course materials. Review how to add annotations to YouTube transcripts here..

Instructions: As you watch the video, add at least 2-3 annotations. Here’s some guidance for what you might include in your annotations:

• Ask a question about something that is unclear or confusing to you
• Paraphrase something the video is explaining in your own words
• Connect something discussed in the video to what we have read in class; cite the material it’s connected to and explain the connection
• Find an idea or concept in the video that is  connected to something you already know or your own life experiences.  Explain how and  add  links, images, or video to outside resources if appropriate (review instructions on how to add an images/links  or videos to annotations)
• Comment on how a portion of the video broadened, challenged, or changed your way of thinking
• At the end of the video, add an annotation to summarize what you believe to be the key ideas/points of the text, or ask a question that you felt was left unanswered, or that you’re still unsure about
• Reply to a classmate with an additive annotation (add to the conversation by answering their question or extending their response). Here are some ideas on how to start an additive response to a classmate:
  • What did you mean by…
  • Did you consider…/ You might consider…
  • I think you should…
  • I connect with…/It made me think…

Important notes about annotating: 

• Make sure you hit “Post” after you complete your annotation, or else your annotation will not be saved.
• Make sure it says “Post to [this class]” and not “Post to only me” or else I won’t be able to review your annotations.
• If someone replies to your annotation, you will not receive a notification. Check back periodically to continue the conversation!