Technology for Teaching & Learning
36 Perusall – Annotated Reading
Jennifer Smith
Effective reading skills are critically important for student success and are vital when students enter their chosen profession. Reading may also be the most difficult thing to motivate students to do. The Perusall platform pairs social commenting and annotations with reading. The University of Florida Privacy and Security offices have approved Perusall for classroom use. This free tool is integrated with UF’s Canvas instance and can be added to the left-hand course navigation.
What is Perusall? | How Do I Use Perusall? | What Else Can Perusall Do? | Is Perusall Effective? | Where Can I Get Help with Perusall? | References
What is Perusall?
Perusall is an online tool that takes advantage of social learning strategies to promote asynchronous engagement with text and images. The instructor can upload reading materials, highlight important concepts and assign tasks to the class. Students can ask questions, make comments and respond to the comments of others. Instructors can view a “confusion report” to identify concepts that are unclear to students. Perusall will automatically assess student participation. Grades can be edited by the instructor (or not) and pushed to the Canvas gradebook.
This tool is centrally supported, and is available to you within Canvas. You can request a consultation about using this tool from the Center for Instructional Technology & Training (Click the Request Assistance button in the upper right corner).
How Do I Use Perusall?
Perusall Setup
- Create the Canvas Assignment using the External Tool feature (Perusall is already available as a choice)
- Click “Load AssignmentName in a new window,”
- If this is your first time, follow the prompts to create the course, link your account, and tour Perusall
- Review and adjust course Settings to your preference
- It’s a good idea to lower group size from the default of 20 students
- Set your Grading Standards
- Go to the Documents tab (Course Home page) to +Add (upload) your document
- Go to the Assignment tab (Course Home page) to +Add assignment by completing all steps
- View CITT’s Perusall Guide (recommended)
- View Perusall’s Getting Started guide.
- Watch Engagement with Readings and Peers Through Perusall (32:13)
Upload a Reading
- Click on “Documents” on the Perusall home page
- To add a book from Perusall’s catalog, click “Add > Textbook”
- To upload a reading (PDF or EPUB format) from your computer:
- Click “Add > Documents from my computer” or
- “Add > Documents from Dropbox”
- To add a web page as a reading, click “Add > Web page”
Create an Assignment
- Click on Assignments on your course home page
- Click Add assignment and select the document you want to assign
- Choose how much of the reading you wish to assign,
- Set a deadline
- Click Save changes
- Learn more about managing assignments
What Else Can Perusall Do?
Harvard University faculty member Kelly Miller and her colleagues used P