Perusall is a social annotation program which can help increase engagement and accountability with course readings.
Availability
Perusall is available through any web browser (Chrome, Firefox, etc). It is initially accessed through the Blackboard Course Site and then can be opened through the Perusall website. (You must be signed into your University account in the same browser.)
How it Works
Perusall is an external tool (what’s called a LTI) which can be made available for students to use through Blackboard. It includes assignable activities which automatically report back to Blackboard’s Gradebook upon completion. These activities involve commenting on and engaging with documents, images, videos, websites, etc. You can comment on your own but also respond to other classmates, combining everyones' knowledge and understanding of the material.
Your instructor chooses which materials they want you to engage with. These materials can be their own uploaded readings or images (within copyright laws) or from the Perusall library (both paid and free options). Based on the grading scale and expectations they set, your scores can be automatically sent back to Blackboard or they can reserve them until you’re ready.
Check out these videos for an intro to using Perusall as a student. (The videos are almost the same. The only difference is what Blackboard looks like: some courses use what is called Blackboard Classic and some use Blackboard Ultra. Find the one which looks most similar to your course.)