Lydia C. Spotts
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Jenifer Monger
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Denise Rayman
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Building authentic connection and professional skills in a fully online, asynchronous program
Indiana University’s School offers a master’s program in Library and Information Science that has been fully online and asynchronous since 2013.
With graduate students spread across time zones and balancing work, family, and career changes, faculty faced the challenge of making asynchronous courses more than a solitary experience. They wanted to create a genuine community while also preparing graduate students with the collaboration skills they’ll carry into their careers.
Hypothesis became the tool that helped them bridge the gap, turning weekly readings into collaborative conversations that mirror real-world digital communication.
The Challenge:
Engagement & Belonging in Async
Traditional LMS discussion boards weren’t working. As one instructor put it:
The rigid, prompt-and-reply model of LMS discussions boards left students disengaged. Faculty wanted a way for learners to interact more naturally, to share their thought processes, and to connect across distances.
“This finally felt like how people actually interact on the internet… social annotation actually feels natural to the online environment.”
The Solution: Hypothesis With Their Course Readings
Instructors integrated Hypothesis directly into their LMS, Canvas, requiring students to annotate the course readings each week.
“We upload the weekly readings… one of the assignments is for the students to comment… It’s a very nice way to engage with the weekly readings.”
Instructors also co-created prompts tied to assignments, helping students move beyond surface-level responses:
“Students enjoy it… it feels more authentic… they feel more comfortable to share their learning process and ask others for help.”
The canvas integration made the workflow seamless, while features like @mentions allowed faculty to re-engage students and show their presence:
“It allows me… to do the @mentions so they get the notification that I have responded… it goes both ways.”
What Changed:
Workforce-Ready Collaboration
By annotating readings together, students practiced exactly the type of online communication they’ll need in the workplace:
“So much of work conversation happens in Teams, Discord, Slack… learning how to communicate… Hypothesis lends itself well to that.”
This extended to cross-time-zone collaboration, but without the headaches of scheduling group projects:
“It can still be asynchronous… they can collaborate and talk… without having to set up meetings and figure out time zones.”
Student Voices: Learning Together, Even Online
Faculty feedback was clear: Hypothesis builds community and engagement. Students echoed this sentiment in their own reflections:
- “I’m very glad to see a return to Hypothesis after using it in LIS_S581! By far the most effective piece of collaborative note-taking software I’ve used. Something I will definitely be recommending to my colleagues in academia.”
- “Looking back at utilizing Hypothesis in S581, I wholeheartedly agree that this tool was beneficial to my learning and engagement experience.”
- “I enjoyed using Hypothesis in S581 as a way to collaborate with others or view peer input while maintaining the ability to read and work at my own pace. Though this is strictly an online learning environment, I at no point felt like I was on my own.”
These comments highlight how Hypothesis not only supports academic engagement but also reduces the sense of isolation common in asynchronous programs.
Community and Belonging in Async
Hypothesis gave students space to be human with one another, to joke and share, and to build meaningful relationships even without live class meetings:
“This has created more connection and community… being a learner in a community… starting to make connections in the field.”
Implementation Patterns That Worked
Faculty experimented with creative assignments that turned students into leaders of the conversation:
“They do the base annotation, and then their peers come in… it builds an assignment based on both sides of social annotation.”
Why Hypothesis
The IU team had previously used another social annotation tool, but found Hypothesis a better fit.
“I prefer Hypothesis security… I prefer that there’s no AI in it… and that it’s fully integrated with Canvas.”
This combination of security, simplicity, and seamless LMS integration made Hypothesis a sustainable choice for long-term use.
Outcomes
Together, these outcomes transformed what it means to run a fully asynchronous graduate program: not just isolated learners, but connected professionals building skills for the workplace.
More authentic student participation than traditional discussion boards.
Community across time zones that helps reduce isolation.
Workforce-ready skills in respectful, productive online communication.
Ease of use for faculty with Canvas integration and @mentions that keep the conversation active.
About Hypothesis
Hypothesis is a social annotation platform that helps students read more deeply, think more critically, and engage more actively with course materials. Trusted by over 400 colleges and universities, Hypothesis brings collaborative reading into the digital age—supporting academic integrity, building digital literacy, and preparing students to learn in a world shaped by AI.
Unlock the same engagement, community, and workforce-ready skills in your async courses.
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