Hypothes.is is a collaborative annotation tool that can be integrated in a Canvas assignment, allowing students to annotate an external webpage or PDF, as well as see and comment on each other’s annotation. The instructor can also participate, and access individual student annotations through SpeedGrader.
Helping our students understand how we want them to read is important for their academic success. The collaborative nature also makes reading into a more social activity, where students can engage with each other while also engaging with the text they are reading. This is also another way to check students’ engagement with assigned readings beyond quizzes.
There are a number of repositories of open-source and open-access materials online, such as Project Gutenberg. Students can read and annotate works of literature, transcribed historical documents, government web pages and documents, and other materials that are openly available on the web.
Download essays in PDF form from the GU Library’s databases and have students annotate them, looking at form, content, evidence, etc. This can help students better understand how to read scholarly journal articles and research papers.
Students can examine essays or op-eds for various rhetorical strategies, as well as fact-check, find sources, and examine the evidence presented in a piece.
For more examples of uses of Hypthes.is in a university setting, visit their website.
We have a Hypothes.is tip sheet that has instructions on how to set up a Hypothes.is assignment in Canvas, as well as how to do the annotations. You can always contact cndls@georgetown.edu for any other assistance
