Appendix A: Using Hypothes.is
Jackie Hendricks; Amy Lueck; Loring Pfeiffer; and Maura Tarnoff
Several of our modules feature annotation activities. Use the Hypothes.is guide below to learn how to use it as your annotation tool.
What Is Hypothes.is?
If you are a fan of marginalia [YouTube], then you are going to love Hypothes.is [Website]. It is a free tool for you to collaboratively and critically engage with course materials. Let’s start with the big picture: Here is a slightly dramatic but not wrong introduction to Hypothes.is [Website], covering its creation and purpose.
How Can I use It?
Basically, Hypothes.is layers—a type of skin over what you are reading so that you can highlight or annotate web pages, PDFs online, and YouTube transcripts. After you create an account and add the browser extension to your browser, you can activate Hypothes.is to initiate and respond to notes with text and photos. You can even embed a YouTube video. Annotations appear on a right-sided menu. You can write sweet nothings to yourself in private or go public with your feelings to the whole Hypothes.is community. When working with students, though, we recommend creating a private group to be respectful of their educational privacy.
How Can I Get Started?
The Hypothes.is folks are so kind to provide documentation for how to create a Hypothes.is account and install the browser extension [Website]. Below is a grand voice-over screencast of Hypothes.is from Touro University Libraries, which guides you from creating an account to activating your sidebar, creating a group, and annotating.
Attribution
“Appendix A: Using Hypothes.is” by Jackie Hendricks, Amy Lueck, Loring Pfeiffer, and Maura Tarnoff is adapted from “Hypothes.is for Social Annotation” from Open Voices, Just Choices: OER for Social Justice Faculty Handbook by Karna Younger and Theresa Huff, under use CC BY 4.0. “Appendix A: Using Hypothes.is” is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
