The Collaborative Annotation Tool on Slice provides academics with the ability to invite students to make annotations on a shared layer. In one of her final lectures for 2015, Dr Nalini Pather, UNSW Australia, used the annotation tool to provide over 200 students with an interactive way of reviewing their knowledge of gross anatomy before their upcoming exam.

A series of exercises were set up on separate layers and images, where students were asked to place pins in anatomical features. Each student worked individually and had no access to annotations made by their peers.

After giving all students a chance to attempt the question, the lectern computer screen was refreshed to load all student responses for the lecture hall.

Prior to the lecture, Dr Pather had annotated answers using the polygon drawing tool on a separate layer. Returning to the ALL LAYERS screen, (clicking <Back), the answers were revealed to the students and any misconceptions discussed. In the case of the image below, where one image had multiple exercises, the layers for the question not being discussed were hidden using the eye button. This tool was used in conjunction with the Smart Sparrow poll widget so that the practical and theory elements of the discipline were integrated.

The review session was warmly received, with students enjoying the interactive experience. Dr Pather plans to incorporate these exercises in future lectures. To use collaborative annotations in your own classes watch our short video or contact s.dowdell@best.edu.au.