Promoting Engagement and Preventing Tribalism in Perusall’s Online Platform

Conference Tracks

Teaching with Technology – Research

Abstract

Students read less today, and technologies like Perusall offer new ways to encourage engaged reading. Integrating with a university’s LMS and mimicking social media, Perusall enables users to annotate texts in conversations with classmates. This environment, however, presents a challenge: the shift from educational goals to expressivism. When sharing content online, studies show that what we think are factual “assertions” or valid “endorsements” often are avenues for emotional attitudes — particularly moral outrage. Do Perusall annotations add to today’s divided climate, with tribalist critiques overpowering scholarly dialogue? A qualitative analysis of assignments from health sciences courses examines this question.

Session Format

Research Brief and Reflection Panels

1

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Image (Open Access)

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Feb 24th, 3:45 PM

Promoting Engagement and Preventing Tribalism in Perusall’s Online Platform

Students read less today, and technologies like Perusall offer new ways to encourage engaged reading. Integrating with a university’s LMS and mimicking social media, Perusall enables users to annotate texts in conversations with classmates. This environment, however, presents a challenge: the shift from educational goals to expressivism. When sharing content online, studies show that what we think are factual “assertions” or valid “endorsements” often are avenues for emotional attitudes — particularly moral outrage. Do Perusall annotations add to today’s divided climate, with tribalist critiques overpowering scholarly dialogue? A qualitative analysis of assignments from health sciences courses examines this question.