Project Aloha: indexing, highlighting and annotation

Lifelong learning requires many skills that are often not taught or are poorly taught. Such skills include speed reading, critical analysis, creative thinking, active reading and even a “little” skill like annotation. There are many ways that readers annotate. A short classification of some ways that reader may annotate includes underlining, using coloured highlighters, interlinear notes, marginal notes, and disassociated notes. This paper presents an investigation into the use of a tool for highlighting and annotating on Web and off-Web passages and images. We are getting students to highlight and annotation on hardcopy documents and using the electronic tool. The Firefox add-on tool, Wired-Marker, was used exclusively in adding value to on-line course notes. The results suggest that the electronic highlighting and annotating tool has reached a level of usefulness where it is as good as physical highlighting and physical annotating. A highlighter-annotator should now be a prescribed item in the electronic pencil box of every student.