The rapidly evolving educational landscape allows, and often demands, the integration of innovative digital approaches into the curriculum. Whether the course is conducted in-person, online, or hyflex, synchronous or asynchronous, the wide range of available digital tools and platforms now offer multi-faceted learning experiences designed to actively engage students. In our biology classes, we used Metacognitive Discourse Forum (MDF), an approach to collective annotation on an assignment, which may help students develop critical thinking, metacognitive skills, and improve academic performance. The article describes the utilization of MDF in our classes and discusses its potential impact for enhancing STEM teaching and learning.