Exemplars: Hypothesis Social Annotation

Hypothesis empowers students and instructors to highlight and comment on digital course materials, helping to develop reading comprehension and critical thinking skills, increase student engagement, and create community in online, hybrid, and in-person courses.

Explore our collection of examples showing how social annotation is being used by teachers and students in different institutional contexts and disciplines.

For different institutions

1670 oil painting of a variety of birds gathered around a music book, open on a branch in the trees, with a large white owl perched right above the book and clouds in the distant sky. Image Credit: The Concert of Birds (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hondecoeter,_Melchior_d%27_-_Das_Vogelkonzert_-_1670.jpg) by Melchior d'Hondecoeter, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Social Annotation for Higher Education

Very young, vibrant green plant shoots just rising and opening out of cracks in rich brown dirt. Image credit: Buds (https://unsplash.com/s/photos/buds) by Chetan Kolte, licensed Unsplash (https://unsplash.com/license).

Social Annotation for Community Colleges

1765 still life oil painting showing a variety of early science tools, including a globe, a telescope, a microscope, a square, an incense burner, a vase, some fabric, and scrolls and books on a brownish surface and background. Image credit: Attributes of the Sciences (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chardin_-_Les_attributs_des_Sciences.jpg) by Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) via Wikimedia Commons.

Social Annotation for Liberal Arts

A white neoclassical building shot from a low angle so the front pillars and roof loom in the sky. Image Credit: The University of Georgia (https://flic.kr/p/3uWeYe) by Josh Hallett, licensed CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/).

Social Annotation for Public Universities

A hallway of red school lockers, fading in the distance to the glint of sunshine out a doorway, with combination locks in high focus in the foreground. Image credit: Lockers at School (https://flic.kr/p/anKiAE) by Brett Levin, licensed CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/).

Social Annotation for Secondary Education

For different disciplines

Close up of a petri dish, backlit to show translucent blue organisms. Image credit: Biologycorner by Hannah Brum, licensed CC BY-NC.

Social Annotation for Biology

A black and white photo of three dark ballpoint pens lying diagonally on top of a mottled composition book on top of some other books. Image credit: Three Pens on a Composition Book (https://flic.kr/p/oEFEGs) by Leslie Richards, licensed CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/).

Social Annotation for English and Composition

Two old books seen from the side: One with a green cover and a metal bookmark stacked slightly ajar on one with a blue cover. Image credit: Old Books (https://flic.kr/p/9ot8E8) by Zan Ready, licensed CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/).

Social Annotation for History

Close up of a black wall etched with the word WELCOME in different languages, red in English and the rest white. Image credit: Atypical Welcome (https://flic.kr/p/9YsmGD) by Quinn Dombrowski, licensed CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/).

Social Annotation for Language Learning

A section of a periodic table of the elements made out of backlit compartments holding element examples with element info in black letters on transparent compartment faces. Compartments shown have orange, blue, and green coloring. Image credit: Tellus Science Museum (https://flic.kr/p/EaBD1F) by Rob DiCaterino, licensed CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/).

Social Annotation for Science

A wall of shelves crowded with books placed every which way, with an opening in the center bottom leading to a dirt path through a forest of tall dark trees with sunlight at the end. Image credit: Book Story Forest (https://pixabay.com/photos/books-story-forest-2885315/) by Reinhardi, licensed Simplified Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/service/license/).

Social Annotation for Student Success