Hypothesis Workshop
Middlebury College, August 2020
http://bit.ly/middlehyp
Online, a book can be a gathering place, a shared space where readers record their reactions and conversations.
– Jennifer Howard, “With 'Social Reading,' Books Become Places to Meet” (2012)
Annotation as Ed-Tech
Ancient Ed-Tech
The Annotation
In context, In layers
Focused conversations
Additive to material
“Aristotle, Libri Naturales”, 13th Century�British Library
Layers of Annotation
My Course
My Colleagues
My Notes
Any Website, Article, eBook, Document, Multimedia
Hypothesis in �Teaching & Learning
Hypothesis makes reading active
I want students to learn the profits and pleasures of careful, engaged reading. To cultivate this kind of reading and learning, I’ve tried a lot of previous annotation tools but Hypothesis finally delivers on the promise of digital annotation.
– Lawrence Hanley, Professor, Department of English, San Francisco State
Hypothesis makes reading visible
Their annotations give me a window to their thoughts and understandings that I couldn't access otherwise...I wouldn't get this depth of interaction in a threaded discussion.
– Linda Parsons, Professor, Department of Teaching and Learning, The Ohio State University
Hypothesis makes reading social
Hypothesis is my literary Facebook. When I’m reading I sometimes wonder, ‘Does anyone actually understand this? Am I crazy? With this brilliant tool I know I’m not alone.
– Shannon Griffiths, undergrad at Plymouth State University
Annotating with Hypothesis
Select text to annotate
Reply to any annotation
Annotate together in groups
Hypothesis Teaching and Learning Resources
General Hypothesis resources useful to teacher and students:
More here.
Hypothesis in Canvas
Make your readings annotatable
Grade annotation “sets” in SpeedGrader
Hypothesis in Canvas Resources
Canvas- and LMS-specific Hypothesis resources:
More here.
Hypothes.is in the Classroom
6 Ways to Annotate for and with Students
1. It’s not about annotation, it’s about community
Yes, we want our students to do the reading. We want them to understand it. We want them to think critically about it. And annotation is a great way to help cultivate those skills and practices. But beyond just being an annotation tool, Hypothesis is also a great way for students to connect online in a substantive way, to ask each other questions, to share ideas, and to collaborate around their learning.
2. Invite your students to annotate the syllabus
Reading assignments are not the only educational artifacts that we can read and annotate together. Have students annotate your syllabus or other ancillary course materials. This is a great way to get students playing with the Hypothesis tool ahead of more rigorous or high-stakes assignments, and a way to open up your course design to student input. Especially if you are not meeting face-to-face, annotating “handouts” with students can help you continue to have those important, usually in-class meta-conversations about the course itself.
3. Just make your readings annotation-enabled
When we deliver content in digital formats we often lose the margins we’ve used in traditional books. And educational research suggests that students aren’t retaining as much when they read online. So don’t worry about coming up with an annotation activity or assignment. Don’t worry about assessment. Just turn annotation on for your students, give them some basic guidance on how to use the Hypothesis tool, and see how they make use of the digital margins.
4. Guide your students through the reading
Don’t worry about making students do a new activity or learn a new tool, just annotate the texts yourself for their benefit. This is a very real way to be present in their learning when you can’t physically be in the same place.
5. Seminar-style discussion online
Collaborative annotation is about as close to a seminar-style experience as one can have with a class online. Everyone has the book open, our conversation is grounded in the text and in each other’s comments about it. Even if you are meeting “face to face” through video conferencing, annotating the reading together ahead of those synchronous meetings will help make better use of that precious time.
6. Have students annotate your lecture
Post your lecture notes and slide deck as a PDF online and ask students to annotate them with questions...Like in-class clickers, the notes students make will help you better understand where students are confused and enable you to clarify course concepts. You might even get some feedback on how to improve your own teaching materials!
Hypothesis Pilot Program
Schools piloting or subscribing to Hypothesis
Technical support
support@hypothes.is
Pedagogical support
Community participation
Eryn Barker
ebarker@hypothes.is
How can you use collaborative annotation?