What is Hypothesis?

Hypothes.is is a popular collaborative note-taking and annotation tool that is available within Canvas.

What Can You Do with Hypothesis?

Hypothesis allows you to highlight text and take personal notes that only you can see; and as a collaborative tool, it also allows you to communicate with your classmates about a shared text by creating annotations in the margins that everyone can see and respond to. Similar to the way you may have used the Canvas Discussion Board tool in other classes to produce threaded conversations about assigned reading, Hypothesis allows you to have conversations directly in the marginalia of the text--literally on top of the readings themselves. Think of it as a collaborative space to hold a running conversation about our reading, connect it to lectures, ask each other questions, and share ideas.

How to Use Hypothesis

The goal is to work collaboratively to produce engagement with and understanding of the text we're reading together. So some good dos and don'ts are:

Don't summarize
Do ask a question about something that's confusing or unclear to you
Do explain and elaborate on things you find especially significant or important
Do deepen conversations by responding substantively with additive replies to one another's annotation comments (replies that add to/extend the conversation by elaborating on what's been said)

The Three Ways You Can Markup a Text in Hypothesis

1) Highlight a section of text (private, visible only to you)

After making a selection, you use the popup Highlight control to create this type of annotation. As the name implies, it is just a highlight. It anchors to its selection in the document, and quotes the selection, but there are no comments or tags. A highlight is always private (“Only me”), which means only you can see it, and only when you’re logged in.

2) Annotate a section of text (either private or shared)

After making a selection, you use the popup New Note control to create this type of annotation. Like a highlight, it is anchored to the selected text which it also quotes. Unlike a highlight it includes extra stuff that you add: text, images, links, videos, and/or tags. You can mark the annotation “Only me” so it’s visible only to you; or you can select "Post to HSTAFM 151" to make it visible to your classmates.

3) Create a Page Note (either private or shared)

A page note is like a social bookmark: it provides a place to add comments and/or tags to a text without anchoring the information to a selected passage. You create one using the New Note control on the Hypothesis sidebar’s vertical toolbar. As with an annotation you can add text and/or tags.

4) Reply to a shared annotation or page note

Similar to the way you reply to classmate's posts in Canvas Discussion Boards, in Hypothesis you'll create a conversation about the reading (or whatever shared text you're examining) by replying to one another's annotations. Simply click reply and add your response to what a classmate has shared.

Here’s some guidance for what you might include in your annotations:

Ask a question about something that is unclear or confusing to you.
Comment on a passage or idea and explain how it broadened, challenged or changed your understanding.
Connect a passage or idea to something you’ve learned in the class, and explain exactly what that connection is.
At the end of the assigned reading, add an annotation to summarize what you believe are its key ideas/points, or ask a question that you feel was left unanswered, or that you’re still unsure about.

Here's some guidance on replying to classmates' annotations:

Remember that your replies should be additive, meaning they should add to and extend the conversation by elaborating on what's been said.
Here are some ideas on how to start an additive response to a classmate:
- Here's why I think you've made a great point...
- Here's why I agree/disagree with you...
- This was interesting/confusing/surprising to me too because...
- You've asked a great question, I think the answer might be...
- What did you mean by …
- Did you consider …/ You might consider …
Remember to always be respectful and considerate--we're here to learn together.

Other important notes about using Hypothesis:

Remember that you can add images, links or videos to your annotations!
Remember that Hypothesis can be used to create both private notes for yourself and annotations to be shared with the class. Make sure you select "post to HSTAFM 151" and not “post to only me” for annotations meant to be viewed by everyone and graded to fulfill the assignment.
If someone replies to your annotation, you will not receive a notification. Check back periodically to continue the conversation!