AnnotEasy: A gesture and speech-to-text based video annotation tool for note taking in pre-recorded lectures in higher education

Abstract: This paper investigates students’ attitudes towards using gestures and speech-to- text (GaST) to take notes while watching recorded lectures. A literature review regarding video based learning, an expert interview, and a background survey regarding students’ note taking habits led to the creation of the prototype AnnotEasy, a tool that allows students to use GaST to take notes. AnnotEasy was tested in three iterations against 18 students, and was updated after each iteration.  The students watched a five minute long lecture and took notes by using AnnotEasy. The participants’ perceived ease of use (PEU) and perceived usefulness (PU) was evaluated based on the TAM. Their general attitudes were evaluated in semi structured interviews.  The result showed that the students had a high PEU and PU of AnnotEasy. They were mainly positive towards taking notes by using GaST. Further, the result suggests that AnnotEasy could facilitate the process of structuring a lecture’s content. Lastly, even though students had positive attitudes towards using speech to create notes, observations showed that this was problematic when the users attempted to create longer notes. This indicates that speech could be more beneficial for taking shorter notes.