Frontmatter

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Abstract

For this workshop, we will explore Hypothes.is, a versatile digital annotation tool, for social reading online. Throughout the workshop, we review the various options for deploying Hypothes.is on a web browser. By introducing participants to the different options of using this tool, the workshop empowers them to remain flexible in adapting to student needs and technological contexts. Participants will leave this workshop with concrete skills for using digital annotation and some ideas for how it can enhance their own goals for the classroom.

We will examine the following applications for Hypothes.is: first, in a course site on the CUNY Academic Commons; second, as a browser extension that can be activated on top of most webpages; third, by embedding it into the code of a website; and fourth, by using the URL "prefix" as a workaround or backup plan. Learning to use these various options allow instructors to provide students with the path of least resistance for using digital annotation.

Learning Objectives

In this workshop, participants will:

• become familiar with Digital Annotation as a pedagogical method
• learn how to activate Hypothes.is on:
  • The CUNY Academic Commons
  • Firefox and Chrome browsers
  • Via URL manipulation
  • On personally owned/mangaged web pages
• develop the flexibility to use Hypothes.is according to student needs

Estimated time

1-2 hours.

Prerequisites

• Familiarity with the CUNY Academic Commons (if applicable)

Contexts

Pre-reading suggestions

• Article from the Hypothesis Blog by Education Coordinator Jeremy Dean with ideas for implementing Digital Annotation: "Back to School with Annotation: 10 Ways to Annotate with Students."
• Scholarly article about different annotation tools (including Hypothesis) for social reading and online engagement: "Towards Open Annotation: Examples and Experiments."

Projects that use these skills

• See Hypothes.is in action on a short story by Junot Diaz.
• There are many other platforms and tools that use social annotation within academic contexts:
  • Annotation Studio at MIT
  • Lacuna Stories at Stanford
  • Manifold Scholarly Publishing Platform at the CUNY Graduate Center. See what social annotation looks like in Debates in the Digital Humanities.

Ethical Considerations

• Digital Annotation is a great way to experience reading as a social activity. However, whenever exploring new tools for teaching, always consider how technology tracks student data, and make sure that you don't needlessly expose your students. When annotating in "public mode," student usernames and annotations will be available for anyone to see. Therefore, be mindful of the requirements and expectations for students to identify themselves in usernames and how you (as the instructor) are modeling annotation content and style for students. One way to ensure student privacy is to create "reading groups" whose annotations are only visible to group members. This workshop covers how to configure reading groups in the Reading Groups lesson.

Resources (optional)

• Hypothes.is official Troubleshooting page
• Advanced: Developer's overview of the Hypothes.is system

License

Workshop leader: Filipa Calado, Graduate Center Digital Fellows

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.