Hypothes.is

What features of Hypothes.is support/hinder student engagement?

Hypothes.is can be a powerful tool for student engagement. In addition to simply highlighting text, users can organize notes, add tags, and have discussions within the text, video, image, etc. Students are used to communicating through digital devices, so this is second nature to many of them. It is also very user-friendly. The major downside, as with all digital tools, is that students have to have access to a device of some sort.

How does Hypothes.is support/hinder literacy development?

Hypothes.is supports literacy development by encouraging collaboration and close reading of text. Students are encouraged to think critically about the text (or video, image, etc.), and consider the view points and opinions of others. Private groups and tags can be created, so students can view only the information that is relevant to their group/class.

One hinder to literacy development is in the area of oral literacy. There is power is having face-to-face discussions. However, Hypothes.is could be starting point for conversations, or a tool that students use when they are not in the same room as one-another.

Who (or what entity) developed Hypothes.is? What is their background?

Hypothes.is began in 2011 when a Kickstarter drive raised $100,000 to fund a working prototype. The 34 team members behind Hypothes.is come from a variety of backgrounds. You can read more about them here.

What is the cost, accessibility, and ease of use of Hypothes.is? What privacy considerations need to be taken into account when using this tool?

Hypothes.is is free to use. The tool is accessible to anyone using Google Chrome as a web browser, since it is an extension of Chrome. I found it very user-friendly, and easy to use. The privacy policy can be found here. It is quite lengthly, but from what I gathered, privacy settings can be modified.

What age group would you recommend Hypothes.is for - and why?

Users are required to be 13 years of age or older.

What are your own thoughts or experiences with Hypothes.is?

I did not have any experience with Hypothes.is prior to digging into it for this page. Signing up for Hypothes.is was very easy:

• Users are required to enter a username, email address, and password.
• A verification email is sent, and users must click on the link to activate their account.
• Next, users must download the Chrome extension.

Below is an overview of my experience using Hypothes.is for the first time.

When you visit a website, you will noticed a small "h" next to the address bar. Clicking on this h will display the annotation tools available. Highlight the text, and an annotation icon appears. The box pictured above will pop up, allowing you to type text, add tags, and share with others.

As you can see, the text is now highlighted, and there is a small 1 on the far right, which indicates that there is one annotation. If the annotation is made public, other Hyplothes.is users can view and reply.

This is what my hypothes.is profile looks like after annotating and tagging two articles about the emerald ash borer.

I can click on each annotation to see the full text. I can also click on "Visit annotations in context" to view the original website.