Annotating is the process of deliberately interacting with a text to enhance the readers understanding of, recall of, and reaction to the text. It involves adding extra information associated with a particular point in a document or other piece of information, such as a note that includes a comment or explanation. Annotating can be done in various ways, including highlighting or underlining key pieces of text and making notes in the margins of the text.
Annotating is an active learning strategy that improves comprehension and retention of information. It can help readers isolate and organize important material, identify key concepts, and monitor their learning as they read. Annotations can also be a key tool for close reading that helps readers uncover patterns, notice important words, and identify main points.
From a cognitive perspective, annotation has an important role in learning and instruction. As part of guided noticing, it involves highlighting, naming or labeling, and commenting aspects of visual representations to help focus learners attention on specific visual aspects.
Overall, annotating is a useful technique for anyone who wants to engage more deeply with a text, whether for academic or personal purposes.
