About eComma

Overview

eComma allows a group of users to annotate the same text together and to share their annotations with each other. Collaborative online annotation offers a new kind of reading experience: instead of making notes in the margin of a book, readers can now share their reactions instantaneously and build a body of commentary about a text together.  eComma may be used synchronously or asynchronously, depending on the task and circumstances.

History and Development

Originally designed by Professor Sam Baker and a team of graduate students from the Department of English at the University of Texas at Austin,  eComma was the result of a Digital Humanities Start-Up Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as IT Grants from the University’s Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services. Building on the original concept and design, the Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning (U.S. Department of Education Title VI Program) accepted the responsibility for development and usability testing in 2010. In keeping with our mission to promote open educational approaches to language learning,  COERLL developers turned eComma into a plug-in that works with most learning management systems such as Canvas, Blackboard or Moodle.

An Open Community of Practice

The mission of the Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning (COERLL) is to disseminate openly-licensed educational materials and tools that encourage consumers to become producers.  By sharing eComma in such an open way (no fees, no passwords), COERLL hopes to increase collaboration with other interested parties. The ultimate goal is to create an open community of practice around eComma that brings together teachers, learners, researchers and developers.  We are convinced that there are many innovative uses for eComma that we have yet to envision. And so, we entrust eComma‘s future to the community of users whose independent peer reviews will guarantee increased reliability and efficacy of the OER over time. That’s the power of the crowd.

The contents of this eComma website and the eComma Drupal module were developed under grant #P229A100014 and #P229A140005 from the U.S. Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.