Reading the syllabus is for teacher and student alike...problematic. Assign it, read it to students in class, create quizzes for it, get them to read it to you in class.

It is a burden with remit until now.

My purpose in providing a syllabus is not to add a burden, but rather to lift one. I want to allay student fears and give them a roadmap for the semester, but I fear it is still a burden. I want to fix that.

I am using social annotation to share the burden.

What if there was some way to get students to read and interact with the syllabus with the added bonus of finding mistakes, adding their point of view, clarifying language, and negotiating a better shared tool?

Well...Hypothes.is did exactly that this for my ENG 300 call this Spring. For the first time I felt we were all reading from the same script...at least at the beginning.

1. Create a digital space for the syllabus in Blackboard.
2. Create a Page Note with "how to" directions for students.
3. Create a screencast demonstrating how to use Hypothes.is in the syllabus context.
4. Tag (or get students to tag) all items that need a "fix".
5. When assignment is complete search in the "search box" inside of Hypothes.is for the word "Fix".
6. You might differ here, but I printed out the old syllabus and then worked my way from start to finish with student annotations.
7. Resubmit the syllabus on Topnet and then on Blackboard.
8. Get feedback from students using a Google Form survey.

You have to set up the digital artifact in Blackboard.
It is quite simple and the company has videos explaining


Link to directions for how to use Hypothes.is in Blackboard: https://web.hypothes.is/help/creating-hypothesis-enabled-readings-in-blackb...

Link to Video: https://youtu.be/2AzmvycGM8Q

The next slide after this shows the screencast I created as a set of directions inside of Blackboard.

Video directions:

Link to Video: https://youtu.be/Z4gbHOgpHSk

Every item that I or the students tagged as a "fix" I was able gather together and change in the original document.

This is what we ended up with. All the yellow is what was changed.

Here is the link to the Google Form where I surveyed my students for their feedback regarding the Hypothes.is/ Syllabus adventure.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeNOdNYAlGC1YTAQP4KOSozzZg8nd7j5yd...

Here are some results:
1. 217 Annotations
2. 10 Page Notes
3. Helped make the class more of a community.
4. Introduced the use of a valuable tool for close reading that we used for three other assignments.
5.Allowed them to use it "in the wild as a private tool" for other classes.
6. Created a better syllabus that is more a reflection of our community of writers and that will continue to help future ENG300 courses.
7. Helped drive home the importance of close reading in research.
7. I learned a lot.

Other resources:

Here are all of my resources from this slideshow in one place plus some quoted annotations of note: https://wakelet.com/wake/eeIFVVtnPVCeOkGYRS7GI

Here are some general sources for using Hypothes.is in Blackboard: https://wakelet.com/wake/T9sqKtPCkhuiT1hlYLGRv