Trout Library Blog

More EdTech Tools for Online Engagement - Hypothes.is

If you’re looking for a new ed tech tool to add to your online engagement arsenal consider Hypothes.is.

Hypothes.is is a web-based social annotation tool. It allows you and your students to highlight and comment/annotate/discuss web pages or pdf articles directly on the text. Sort of like digitally writing in the margins. This tool would be extremely useful to get students to complete their reading assignments, think critically about their readings and engage in class discussions.

It is web-based and does not require downloading or installing software, although it has an optional Chrome extension which is recommended. To start, create an account at web.hypothes.is. I suggest then adding the Chrome hypothes.is extension to your browser or bookmark the web page [https://web.hypothes.is/start/]. I recommend creating a group for your course and share the unique URL for your group with your students to allow them to join the group. This ensures your class annotations will not be public. Grab the URL for your reading and add it to Hypothes.is by clicking “Paste a Link”.  Also share the URL for the reading with students. Students will have to create a Hypothes.is account and login to allow them to make their own annotations to the reading. In the screen capture below you can see a PDF journal article I added to Hypothes.is. I have logged in and have the Hypothes.is annotation toolbar open to the right. I can add a note to the entire document, called a "page note". I can also highlight text and add an annotation by clicking the quotation mark button. It works best if you use web pages or PDFs that have a direct link. 

There are a number of ways instructors can use Hypothes.is. You could add a page note with a few discussion questions and have your students respond. You could also have students complete an annotated bibliography using Hypothes.is. Read this article on 10 ways to use hypothes.is with students for more ideas. The downside is that you cannot grade comments directly in the tool. You can, however, go to each student’s annotation list to see their entire annotation activity which might make grading easier. I'll share my annotation list so you can see what I mean. 

If you have any Hypothes.is tips or tricks to add, leave us comment. If you have questions about using this tool let me know. 

Roxanne Sutton

Technical Services Librarian

rsutton@harcum.edu

610-526-6022