The Impact of Online Annotation Tools on Students’ Academic Performance in a Distance University Program

Abstract

The present study aims to test the effectiveness of the Nota Bene (NB) software as an on line annotation tool to enhance students' academic performance and to know their perceptions about the use of this tool. In this research, a quasi-experimental design was used in a private university in Ecuador. The participants were ninety-eight pre-service EFL teachers, who were trained during a five-month period and divided into two groups: control and experimental. They took a pre and a post-test at the beginning and at the end of the training period. The students from the experimental group answered a questionnaire about the perceptions on the use of NB. The statistically significant differences found in the results of the post-test indicate that NB is an effective software to enhance participants' academic performance. In addition, the students who used this tool had positive perceptions about the use of NB while doing their academic activities.

Innovation in the teaching-learning process of global climate change through the collaborative wall

“…Today, universities are using technological advances such as educational platforms, digital tools and web applications during the organization of courses in order to develop the students' skills (Almoeather, 2020;Zhang, 2018). In fact, teachers use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to create new virtual spaces that facilitate the learning process at home and participation of students in the classroom (Almoeather, 2020;Benitez et al, 2020).…”

“…The incorporation of technological tools and software in the educational context increases the motivation and satisfaction of students during the performance of the school activities (Benitez et al, 2020;Elekaei, Tabrizi, & Chalak, 2020;Galimullina, Ljubimova, & Ibatullin, 2020). Also, teachers use technology to promote the active role of students inside and outside the classroom (Benitez et al, 2020;Shen et al, 2020;Whalley & Barbour, 2020).…”

“…Technological advances are changing the organization of school activities inside and outside the classroom (Benitez et al, 2020). In fact, the incorporation of ICTs in the educational field transformed the teaching-learning conditions and improved the courses of English Language (Benitez et al, 2020;Elekaei, Tabrizi, & Chalak, 2020), Geometric Representation Systems (Salas-Rueda, Ramírez-Ortega, & Eslava-Cervantes, 2021), Biology (Manrique et al, 2017;Poli et al, 2016;Shen et al, 2020), Financial accounting (Han, 2018), Costs (Zhang, 2018) and Computer science (Salas-Rueda, 2020).…”

“…In the English language courses, the use of the Nota Bene software facilitated the collaborative work among the students and teacher through the dissemination of opinions and comments (Benitez et al, 2020). This software transformed the teaching-learning process through the presentation of multimedia resources and elaboration of comments (Benitez et al, 2020).…”

“…In the English language courses, the use of the Nota Bene software facilitated the collaborative work among the students and teacher through the dissemination of opinions and comments (Benitez et al, 2020). This software transformed the teaching-learning process through the presentation of multimedia resources and elaboration of comments (Benitez et al, 2020). The benefits of Nota Bene software in the educational field are the interaction between the participants of the educational process and increase of the academic performance (Benitez et al, 2020).…”