Student Guide for Hypothesis
As part of this course, you will collaborate with your peers to annotate a portion of your course materials using a free software called Hypothesis. This page provides the rules of engagement and offers technical instructions for accessing and using Hypothesis.
Basic Rules of Engagement
You can use Hypothesis to make four kinds of annotations:
Highlights
Questions or Comments
Responses to Questions or Comments
Hypothesis allows you to make annotations with three levels of visibility:
Public (visible to anyone online)
Limited View (visible only to our class)
Private (visible only to you)
You should follow these norms for our class:
You should not make any Public annotations
You are welcome to post Questions at any time in Limited View
You should not post Comments or Responses unless you are the Section on Call (see below)
Be respectful, careful, and brief in your Questions, Comments, and Responses
Do not share your classmates’ annotations outside of the class (this online engagement is an extension of the classroom, intended only for our class)
Section on Call
Each section will be assigned annotation responsibilities for particular classes taught by Professor Inazu (which are the portions of our class using Hypothesis). On those days, each person in the section will provide in Limited View at least two Comments or Questions and provide at least one Response.
ACCESSINg Hypothesis FOR THE FIRST TIME
Each class taught by Professor Inazu includes a summary page linked from the course syllabus. Each overview page includes a list of the required readings for that class toward the bottom of the page. The words “Reading Assignment” are hyperlinked above the list of readings. Click on that link to access the Hypothesis-enabled readings for that class.
You will likely see the right third of your screen covered with a pop-up that will show annotations as you and your classmates add them. It should look like this:
To minimize that pop-up and view only the readings, click the right facing arrow in the upper left-hand corner of the pop-up.
When you come across a section that you want to annotate, highlight the text with your cursor. Once you take your finger off the touchpad, you will see two pop-up options. The first says “Annotate” and the second says “Highlight.” It should look like this (after highlighting the text “United States v. Kuch” in the example below):
Click “Annotate.” At this point, the pop up on the right side of your screen will return. You will be asked either to sign up for or log in to Hypothesis. For your first annotation, you will need to sign up with Hypothesis and provide an email address:
There is no cost to use Hypothesis
Unless you opt-in to receive news, you will not be spammed with emails
You will need your account for future annotations.
To sign up for Hypothesis, click “Sign Up.” You will be taken to a new webpage that asks you to provide a username, password, and email address. Your username should be your first name and last name (or something close to this) so that your identity is apparent to the class.
After you sign up, Hypothesis will send you a confirmation email that you will need to click to activate your account.
You can join the private group for our class at this link. (Log in to your account and join the group.)
You are now ready to make your first annotation!
PoSTING ANNOTATIONS TO HYPOTHESIS
To post annotations visible to the class, click on the “Public” button in the top left corner of the pop-up and select “RFIA.”
After you enter the RFIA view, your annotations will automatically be posted to the class. To post the annotation, highlight the text, click annotate, type your message, and then click “Post to RFIA.”
You can also make private annotations visible only to you. Click on the dropdown menu next to the “Post to RFIA” button and select “Only Me.” The button should look like this:
If you’d like to highlight a portion of text, simply select that text with your cursor and release from the touchpad. The “Annotate” and “Highlight” options will pop up. Select “Highlight” and the text will be highlighted. This highlight will only be visible to you.
If you would like to provide a Response to a classmate’s Question or Comment, click the left-facing arrow at the bottom of their annotation. Then type your message and hit “Post to RFIA.” The reply button is the curved arrow pointing to the left:
As you use Hypothesis more and more, you will get used to the interface. After some time, it will feel normal to highlight the text and post your annotations. If you are having trouble registering, need help with posting annotations, or are generally confused, please email my research assistant, Elijah. Happy annotating!