DIGIB303 Perusall Guide.

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- DIGIB303 -
Digital Transformation
Mini-case Prep with Perusall

Introduction
Perusall will help you to master readings quicker, understand the case material better, and
get more out of classroom discussions. To achieve this, you will be collaboratively annotating
the case (and other readings) with your classmates.
Everyone in the class will read collaboratively and give (and receive) feedback to aid their
understanding and application of the course concepts. Also, your collaborative annotations
will help direct class discussions to aspects of the case that are of most interest, thought‐
provoking, or causing confusion.
While you read, you will receive rapid answers to your questions, help others resolve their
questions (which also helps your learning), and (indirectly) will advise the instructor how to
make class time most productive. In short, it will make the case discussion more fun and
engaging.
Your Goal
You can start a new annotation thread in Perusall simply by highlighting some text, asking a
question, or posting a comment; you can also add a reply or comment to an existing thread.
Each thread is like a chat with one or more members of the class. Your goal in annotating each
reading assignment is to stimulate discussion by posting good questions or comments and
helping others by answering their questions.
Thoughtful Annotation
By annotating thoughtfully, you will learn more. Effective annotations deeply engage points
in the cases or readings, stimulate discussion, offer informative questions or comments, and
help others by addressing their questions or confusions.
To help you connect with classmates, you can “mention” a classmate in a comment or
question, to have them notified by email (they will also see a notification immediately if
online), and you will also be notified when your classmates respond to your questions.
Your annotations are evaluated based on timeliness, quality, quantity, and distribution:

Timeliness
Any subsequent class discussion depend on you having done the reading in advance, so
completing the reading and posting your annotations before the posted deadline (i.e. no
later than 11.30 pm on the day before a discussion) is required to receive full credit.
Quality
The cases will serve as the basis of in‐class discussions. Therefore, you must read the text thoughtfully
and attempt to lay the foundation for the work in class. Every annotation is assigned one of the
following evaluations:
2 = Demonstrates thorough and thoughtful reading AND insightful interpretation of the reading
1 = Demonstrates reading, but no (or only superficial) interpretation of the reading
0 = Demonstrates no thoughtful reading or interpretation
Some examples of this appear below.

Quantity
Ideally, your annotations will reflect the considerable effort you have put into engaging with the case.
This effort is unlikely to be well represented by just a few case annotations. At the other extreme, 30
annotations per case are probably too many unless a few them are superficial or a short comment or
question (which is fine, because it is OK to engage in chat with your peers). Somewhere in between
these two extremes is about right. Also, thoughtful questions or comments that stimulate discussion
or thoughtful, helpful answers to other students’ questions will earn you a higher score for the
assignment.

Distribution
To lay the foundation for understanding in‐class discussions, you must at least familiarise yourself with
each case in its entirety. Annotating only part of the text or failing to distribute your annotations
throughout the case lowers your overall score.

Overall Case Scores

For EACH case, your overall score is calculated using your 5 highest‐quality annotations for that case,
so be sure to write at least this number to ensure the best score. Because we want you to engage in a
natural conversation with your classmates through your annotations, your overall score only depends
on these 5 highest‐quality annotations. So long as you have 5 high‐quality annotations, a brief
response to another student (e.g., answering “Yes” to what is just a yes or no question) will not hurt
your overall score.

Academic misconduct
Misuse of Perusall ‐‐ for example, posting comments that are copied from the text or external web
sites ‐‐ will be treated the same as every other type of academic misconduct and will, at a minimum,
result in an overall Perusall Mini‐case score of 1% for the paper.

Suggested Annotation Ideas

Highlight during reading...

 Who? Important case actors and organisations

 What? The problems and issues faced by managers and organisations.
 When? The important background and timeframes
 Where? Relevant geographies and locations, organisational units
 Why? Why is this information presented in the case? Why does it matter? Why was it written
the way it was? Why does the manager consider this important?
 How? How does this occur, or how does the organisation/manager do what they plan to do?
 Vocabulary: Any words you do not know. Any terms that seem essential.
 Important details: Critical facts, figures, or events.
Suggested annotation tactics:
 Summarise
 Make connections
 Make predictions
 Write reflections, reactions, comments
 Analyse the case's situation and complications
 Identify and provide background about important case details
 Formulate opinions
 Ask questions
 Look for patterns
 Compare the case with other companies, industries, or technologies
 Define, clarify, or explain
 Propose solutions for the case's complications
 Suggest elements which can help answer the case preparation questions

Getting Started
• Perusall is one of the most innovative pedagogical tools available today. Be sure to check
on Moodle for any case preparation questions that are intended to stimulate your
thinking about the case, as well as any supplementary readings that can help you to
engage with the case.
• You access the Perusall cases directly from within Moodle (available in the ‘General
Resources’ section).
• Be sure to use the SAME email address throughout the course or risk having Perusall lose
some of your accumulated marks.

Helpful Links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72c622KD7Ow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKKdPaZhz7Q

https://app.perusall.com/home

Don’t leave Perusall prep until the last minute ‐ you might run out of time!

Enjoy!