How Annoto Transformed Dr. Iliana Portaro's Spanish Courses at Southern Utah University

This case study highlights how Annoto transformed Dr. Iliana Portaro’s Spanish courses at Southern Utah University — fostering engagement, quizzes, collaborative learning, and skill development through innovative practices.

At a glance

• Institution: Southern Utah University, Department of Languages and Philosophy / Interdisciplinary Studies
• Courses: Spanish 3100: Conversation through Film · Spanish 3300: Introduction to Literary Studies
• Instructor: Dr. Iliana Portaro
• Class size: 25–35
• LMS: Canvas
• Use case: Multiple learning journeys — quizzes, discussion, skills assessment, flipped classroom, feedback

Course structure

Dr. Iliana Portaro teaches two Spanish courses at Southern Utah University, each with 25 to 35 students, using a flipped-classroom model to boost engagement and learning. In this model, students prepare before class, and Annoto has helped enhance interactions beyond individual student-teacher exchanges, allowing for more collaborative assignments. The courses focus on Spanish literature while also expanding vocabulary and developing advanced skills in speaking, listening, reading, and writing — helping students engage with complex ideas in Spanish.

Revamping the curriculum

Annoto was fully integrated in homework assignments, class discussions, and assessments. As an educator, it is not uncommon to hesitate revamping curriculum to incorporate new tech tools. However, from the very beginning Annoto proved to be very user-friendly and the feedback from the students was extremely positive.

— Dr. Iliana Portaro

The Annoto Quizzes were easy to set up and it provided students with immediate feedback. I’ve embedded 3-5 quiz questions per video. The format is also very accessible for the students. It was also beneficial to give students additional feedback or information on specific questions.

— Dr. Iliana Portaro

Practicing course skills

To support skill development, I incorporated Annoto quizzes into recorded PPT lectures that reviewed literary terms and material previously introduced in-class. Students in this course are still developing advanced listening in the target language. The goal of the quiz was to give students a low-stake opportunity to practice their listening comprehension skills, while also reinforcing the course content. The quiz structure also allowed students to slow down and focus.

— Dr. Iliana Portaro

Practicing discussion skills

To prepare for class discussions, students watched weekly films. I used Annoto to create various questions focused on scene analysis using cinematic terms in Spanish. The ability to watch clips multiple times and make precise annotations enhanced engagement compared to past discussion forums. Students regularly commented on each other’s work and often exceeded requirements by sparking new topics and supporting each other, whether they needed clarification or had differing understandings.

— Dr. Iliana Portaro

Flipped classroom

In a flipped classroom, there is an essential emphasis on student preparation before a class session. Before Annoto, the activity flow while students completed assignments to prepare for class discussions was majorly bi-directional, centering on the students and myself. Annoto allowed me to expand the student interaction in my classroom and creatively innovate my assignments. It was also reassuring to see how students had interacted with the content and their level of engagement. This also saved class-time since we were able to move through the material more effectively.

— Dr. Iliana Portaro

Capabilities of Annoto used in the course

“From the very beginning, Annoto has been very user-friendly, and the feedback from students has been extremely positive.” Across the two courses, the department put three capabilities to work: in-video comments, in-video quizzes, and analytics.

What the instructor said

Annoto not only expanded student interaction with their peers, but it also improved how they interacted with the course content. For example, in Spanish 3100 (Conversation through Film), students learn how to analyze film in Spanish, practice their communicative skills (speaking, listening, reading, writing), and expand their cultural knowledge of Spanish-speaking communities.

— Dr. Iliana Portaro

Keep reading

Related: Accessibility Is Engagement: UDL and Inclusive Video Learning, University of Padova: Deepening Comprehension In Asynchronous Learning, and From Comments to Conversations: In-Context Video Discussion.

New to Annoto? Start with What is Annoto?, or see it inside your LMS: Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard, and Brightspace.