Analysis of student engagement and critical thinking skills in digital annotation-assisted collaborative reading activities

This research is conducted to describe how digital social annotation media engages students and develops their critical thinking skills in collaborative reading activities. The research used a qualitative approach with a case study design, in which participants were fifth-semester college students. The data were collected through observations and reflections on students' digital annotations via online platforms, such as Google Docs. The results show that digital annotation-based collaborative reading engages students along behavioural, cognitive, and affective dimensions. Students evidenced active construction, information searching to support their ideas and deeper understanding. Further, the integrated use of the QAR strategy during collaborative reading pushed students to be more critical in analysing, evaluating, and reflecting upon the text. These findings indicate that, with the various advantages offered, digital annotation tools may provide a favourable potential to enhance student active engagement and support the development of critical thinking skills in collaborative learning environments. The current study underlines the integration of technology-driven approaches into curriculum design and further research on digital tools for the enhancement of critical thinking.