In an age when artificial intelligence is reshaping how we interact with information, how can we help students engage more deeply with course readings and each other?
That’s the question at the heart of “Reading in the Age of AI: Introduction to Perusall,” a CRTLE virtual webinar featuring Dr. Peggy Semingson and Dr. Katie Welch with Dr. Sarah Shelton. Together, they unpack how the tool Perusall can be integrated into Canvas courses and support active reading, social learning, and academic integrity in a world of generative AI.
Watch the full recording here: https://youtu.be/9lqmkU7u8Rw
Setting the Stage: Reading, Writing, and AI (Dr. Peggy Semingson)
Dr. Peggy Semingson, Director of CRTLE, opened the webinar by framing the broader context of how AI is reshaping students’ reading behaviors. She discussed the increasing reliance on AI tools that summarize or interpret texts, which can lead students to bypass the kind of active, reflective reading that supports deep learning.
Rather than viewing this shift solely as a threat, Dr. Semingson encouraged faculty to think about how we might respond by reimagining reading assignments in ways that make engagement more visible and collaborative. Tools like Perusall, she noted, can help instructors shift from passive to participatory models of reading that align with the realities of AI-enhanced learning environments.
Using Perusall to Support Social Annotation (Dr. Katie Welch)
Dr. Katie Welch shared how she uses Perusall in an asynchronous course as part of a backward design approach where her goal is for students to be able to read and present on a scholarly article by the end of the semester. To prepare them for this, she assigns articles in Perusall throughout the course and uses the platform’s social annotation features to scaffold reading skills and build confidence. Students engage with the text together, ask questions, and respond to one another’s insights, laying the groundwork for independent analysis and a final poster presentation.
Throughout her conversation with Dr. Sarah Shelton, Dr. Welch focused on several key benefits of Perusall:
- Social Annotation: Students highlight and comment directly in readings, responding to peers and instructors.
- Engagement Tracking: Instructors can see who’s reading, when, and how actively.
- AI Integration: Perusall’s new features offer automated scoring and feedback, but faculty retain full control.
The conversation, full of ideas for using Perusall in both online and face to face classes, emphasized that reading—like writing—is not immune to AI disruption. But rather than fight AI, faculty can respond by designing reading experiences in Perusall that:
- Require curiosity, connection, and context
- Encourage peer-to-peer learning
- Reward student engagement and growth
- Allow for differentiation
- Support accountability through transparency, not surveillance
Watch the video for the full conversation and more ideas.
Teaching Tips:
- Start with short, low-stakes readings to build familiarity and reduce stress (for instance, Perusall has a built-in assignment for reading and annotating the course syllabus).
- Do the annotations before or with students to provide a model annotation to guide their future independent or group work.
Resources
- Learn more about Perusall: https://perusall.com
- Support and Resources Page from Boston College: https://cteresources.bc.edu/documentation/perusall/
- Community of Instructors Using Perusall: https://www.perusall.com/perushall-community
- Perusall Blog and Podcast: https://www.perusall.com/blog
Join the Conversation
We’d love to hear from you! Are you using Perusall or other social annotation tools? How are you rethinking reading assignments in your classes this fall? Share your thoughts, questions, and experiences in the comments below. Let’s keep the conversation going!