Edji

I have written few recent posts describing tools or tactics for layering. I have identified some tools similar to those identified in my book, but that require the educator to submit content to the service. This approach can be differentiated from the tools I have concentrated on previously in that my previous focus was on services that took as an input a web address for video or text/images. An issue that has always troubled me was a concern that “taking” the content created by someone else even with modifications and then reposting to the web seems iffy by copyright standards (unless protected to limit access to those in a class – TEACH act). This can be differentiated from content that is used offline and the layering methods I have already featured that combine content from the content author with layering additions in a way that still sends the creators content from his/her server. This is not to suggest that most uploads of content into a layering system are violations. I just assume that the possibility is there.

The present example of a layering service is Edji.it. It is a service that first requires the user to upload content (text, pdf, image) and then allows the host (i.e., teacher to display highights/comments or to offer students an assignments based on the shared content).

The social opportunity in Edji is accomplished by sharing a four-letter code that is added to the end of the Edji address (e.g., edji.it/XXXX). The developers think about layering activities a little differently than I do. I automatically assume that student work is done independently and at different times. The developers often use examples in which students are working in a whole class setting and the code is shared via posting to a smartboard. The developers offer some ideas for implementation and they describe some of these ideas as collaborative annotation.

One of the specialized tools that has been built into the service is the option of displaying a heat map of annotations (available in the paid version) showing the most commonly highlighted material. This is not as unusual as it might first seem. A similar opportunity is available with Kindle books and readers can turn on a feature displaying the content that has been most commonly highlighted. The educator sending out the assigned reading can also view the highlights and comments added by individual students and this offers a way to evaluate a requested task.

A free version is available to educators wanting to give Edji a try or who want to use the service for a special project. The “all you can eat” version is $5 per month.

I see Edji as similar to Hypothes.is with the additional opportunity to review the additions of individual users from a convenient control center or to InsertLearning without the additional features of objective questions or embedded discussions. Hypothes.is is free and InsertLearning is $8 a month.