Transforming Classrooms with Social Annotation: Success Stories from Hypothesis Users
Educators across disciplines and institutions are turning to social annotation to drive engagement, boost comprehension, and deepen classroom conversations. This blog highlights real-world examples of how instructors have successfully used Hypothesis to transform learning environments, improve student outcomes, and make course materials more interactive and collaborative.
Introduction
As classrooms continue to evolve, there’s growing demand for tools that go beyond static reading assignments and encourage active, participatory learning. Social annotation is quickly becoming a go-to solution for faculty who want students to not just consume content, but engage with it—and with each other.
This post features powerful success stories from Hypothesis users in higher education and beyond. From improving student retention and comprehension to creating space for more inclusive dialogue, educators are using Hypothesis to fundamentally shift how learning happens.
How Instructors Are Using Hypothesis to Transform Teaching
1. Replacing Passive Reading with Active Engagement
At the University of Texas at Austin, Viranga Perera saw a major shift when he incorporated Hypothesis into his physics courses.
“Making annotations even a small percentage of the grade is enough to get students to pay attention and do the readings,” Perera explained.
The result?
“Because students came to class knowing the basics, we could spend class time talking about the meaning of what they read.”
Similarly, Allison Brenneise at the University of Minnesota noticed students were reading with more purpose:
“Students didn’t just read the text — they took positions on it… They learn how to disagree with each other without shutting down.”
2. Encouraging Peer-to-Peer Learning
Students aren’t just interacting with texts—they’re learning from one another.
“Hypothesis gives students the chance to see how reading can give them an advantage,” said Perera. “They learn that, by engaging with the material before they come to class, they can use the lecture to solidify their understanding.”
At Contra Costa College, English professor Maritez Apigo integrates peer learning into every assignment.
“With Hypothesis, there are no right or wrong answers. I can empower students to challenge ideas and express their own point of view,” shared Brandon Marshall, also a professor at Contra Costa.
3. Enhancing Classroom Discussions
Annotations become springboards for rich, in-class dialogue.
“The tags tell me whether a question is for me, or if it’s something the student wants to bring up during class discussion,” said Brenneise.
At Indiana University, associate professor Justin Hodgson noticed something else:
“You could see that students had meaningfully engaged with the material before class… We could dive right into the critical discussions that were sparked in students’ annotations.”
4. Supporting Remote and Hybrid Learning
In hybrid or online environments, Hypothesis keeps students connected—to the content and to each other.
At UC Santa Cruz, Professor Minghui Hu leaned into Hypothesis to maintain engagement with JSTOR content during remote instruction:
“What stood out about Hypothesis is that it not only has a social aspect, it creates a shared text in the classroom.”
At Indiana University, Hodgson’s team used Hypothesis to reimagine online first-year composition:
“Our biggest challenge was two-fold: how do we get students to read the texts, and how do we encourage them to engage more deeply?”
Featured Success Stories
Using Hypothesis through VitalSource Bookshelf, both institutions saw dramatic increases in student interaction.
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- In Perera’s physics course, students using Hypothesis engaged with the text over 3x more frequently than students who didn’t.
- At UMN, students in Hypothesis-integrated courses had a median of 10 days of text engagement vs. 4 days without it.
“The amount of engagement in this course is outstanding. It’s in the upper echelon looking across every course at every institution we power.”
— Nick Brown, VP of Product, VitalSource
Hypothesis helped students engage more deeply with JSTOR’s scholarly content—a challenge in many humanities courses.
“It was my job to reach them, and to help them catch up,” said Hu. “Hypothesis creates a shared text in the classroom.”
Over three semesters, students made nearly 79,000 annotations with a cumulative word count of over 4.6 million words.
“Hypothesis is one of the single most impactful tools I’ve ever brought into a classroom,” Hodgson said.
“We didn’t just address a pain point—we gained a new pedagogical opportunity.”
For a diverse and multilingual student population, Hypothesis opened up new possibilities for participation and support.
“Our faculty wanted tools to help all students feel welcomed and supported in the classroom,” said Kat King.
“Students love Hypothesis because it hits the sweet spot between innovation and familiarity.”
Survey results from 103 students showed:
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- 72% said Hypothesis helped them think critically about reading
- 68% identified peer responses as their favorite feature
“Hypothesis helps us empower students to take things further,” said Apigo.
Conclusion
Social annotation isn’t just a teaching tool—it’s a transformational shift in how students read, write, and think. Across higher education and even city governments, Hypothesis is helping learners engage more deeply, collaborate more effectively, and build community around shared texts.
If you’re looking to improve engagement and outcomes in your own course or institution, it might be time to give social annotation a try.