Using group supervision and social annotation systems to support students’ academic writing

Abstract

In this best practice paper, we present how we have used a Social annotation system (SAS) in a bachelor’s thesis course in media technology to support students’ academic writing. In the paper, we reflect on both technical and social practices with using SAS. Despite limited instructional support and despite the fact that different groups used SAS in different ways, there have been a high completion rate, good quality of the theses and satisfied students. The combination of group supervision and the use of SAS has been successful, especially when taking into consideration that this was the first year we broadly introduced SAS in the bachelor’s thesis course.