MarkLayer for Educators
Teachers spend lessons explaining what to look at on a webpage, "see this paragraph, ignore that sidebar, notice the chart." MarkLayer turns that explanation into a single share link. Pre-annotate the source with arrows, highlights, and questions; drop the link in your LMS, Google Classroom, or class email. Students open it in any browser, see exactly what to focus on, and reply to your prompts in context.
For educators, MarkLayer is a free way to pre-annotate any web resource and share it with students via a single link. No district account setup, no per-student license, no plugin install for the class. Just an annotated page that opens in any browser.
On this page
The problem
Sharing a web article with a class means writing 'read paragraphs 3-7' in the assignment description, then fielding emails when students get lost on the page. Most annotation tools require district IT to approve a new platform, every student to register, and parental consent forms to file.
Why MarkLayer fits teachers and educators
- Free with no district subscription, IT approval, or per-student licensing.
- Anonymous by design. No student emails or accounts collected.
- Pre-annotate any web page once; share to entire class via link.
- Threaded comments mean students answer your questions on the source itself, not in a separate doc.
- Multi-page projects bundle several sources into one shareable link for a unit.
- Open source. Passes most school-district security reviews.
How it works
- Pick the resource. Open the article, news story, or web page you want students to read.
- Pre-annotate it. Highlight the passages they should focus on. Add arrows pointing at evidence. Pin questions or discussion prompts directly to the relevant sentences.
- Generate a share link. Click "Share" to get a single URL.
- Distribute to the class. Drop the link in Google Classroom, Canvas, Schoology, your LMS, or class email.
- Students engage in context. Students open the link, see the annotated page, and respond to your prompts pinned to the page.
Frequently asked questions
- Do students need to sign up to see my annotations?
- No. The share link opens the annotated page in any browser, and students who want to create their own annotations paste a URL at marklayer.app — also no install. The Chrome extension is optional, for pages the web app cannot embed.
- Is MarkLayer FERPA / student-data safe?
- MarkLayer collects no personal data, requires no accounts, and stores no student identifiers. Annotations are tied to anonymous random local display names. The codebase is open source. District IT can audit it directly.
- How is this different from Hypothesis or Diigo for classes?
- Hypothesis has a stronger education vertical with classroom group features but requires sign-up. MarkLayer is the lower-friction option: zero accounts, instant use, but without the public-group academic structure.
- Can I save annotated lessons to reuse next year?
- Share links last as long as they are accessed regularly. For a permanent archive, take a screenshot of the annotated page, or self-host MarkLayer on your own infrastructure.
Other use cases
Try MarkLayer
Paste any URL at marklayer.app and annotate the live page in your browser. No install, no account, no sign-up. Recipients of your share links don't need to install anything either.
Annotate a page