#hyperdocs

I've long been a fan of Hyperdocs; a lesson-building format that focused on providing students with the resources they need to work at their own pace throughout a lesson or unit.

Hyperdocs also gives teachers the chance to provide supports for students in a lesson exactly when they need it most. The format works well in either virtual or blended learning environments, giving students control over the pace of the lesson.

With a bit of a different twist, there's now the HyperRubric.

Think of it as a traditional rubric super-powered with examples and supports that will give students the resources they need to complete a task.

HyperRubrics can give help students answer the "why" behind what they are doing in a lesson rather than just the what. We've all had great lessons that students loved but at the end of the lesson, students can't really express what they were supposed to be learning during the lesson, only remembering the cool stuff they did.

This may seem like a strange 'end of the school year' topic, but I see it every single day, and I worry. Mental Health: Teaching Teens They Are Strong http://bit.ly/2W8Zl5h

Mental Health: Teaching Teens They Are Strong

On the surface, hyperdocs look like an online worksheet that is typical in classrooms especially in hybrid and 1:1 settings, and that is because by literal definition a hyperdoc is a document with links to other resources and activities. However, as is my experience with most web tools, the way in which you plan and implement hyperdocs dictates whether the lesson is a differentiated, engaging learning experience or just another worksheet. 

What is Essential to a Hyperdoc?

Most teachers are familiar with the typical lesson pattern: engage, explore, explain, apply, share, reflect, extend. Because hyperdocs are usually meant to be done independently, a hyperdoc lesson missing one of the aforementioned elements can feel empty and leave students missing important pieces of content. The nice thing about the hyperdoc format is that it is a product that is very close to the initial planning stage most teachers do individually or within a PLC. What I mean by close to planning is that other than aesthetically a hyperdoc is essentially the same document as a lesson plan or unit outline. You explicitly list the parts of the lesson, list out instructions, house all of the resources that will be used, and then link to the assignments and web tools that you will use.  

As I mentioned before hyperdocs are meant to be done asynchronously, so students can work at their own pace, but that does not mean that hyperdocs contain students thinking to their own brains. Collaboration is a key element in a hyperdocs lesson. Usually students are asked to share what they learned in the exploring section of the lesson. This common practice of students teaching each other is reminiscent of the popular jigsaw method. The web tool I have seen used to facilitate collaboration in this way with the most frequency through my exploration of hyperdocs is Padlet. I have to admit as I looked to design a hyperdocs lesson, I also went with Padlet because it is a very simple tool that allows for the posting of various types of media on a particular topic. Students can share, comment, and like each others’ contributions.  

Traditional lessons would feature a direct teaching method when introducing a new topic where new vocabulary and background information are covered largely through lecture. A hyperdocs lesson replaces this with an independent student exploration followed up by teacher explanation. This simple adjustment from teachers providing knowledge to students finding knowledge immediately ups the academic rigor and encourages students to evaluate the resources to determine what information is essential or even intriguing. Most students will find something interesting within a lesson if specific knowledge is not dictated to them.

Application

While a hyperdoc lesson fits nicely into any content area or lesson type, I feel it works especially well for a novel study. Maybe that is because I am an ex-English teacher, or maybe because the workflow of a novel study mirrors that of a hyperdoc: students start out exploring and reading independently, then discuss collaboratively, the teacher clarifies (either as a whole group or individually), and then students reflect individually. Here’s an example of a particularly well done hyperdoc for To Kill a Mockingbird. The hyperdoc helps students and teachers slow down and make sure that they are hitting each part of the 7-part lesson I mentioned before. This ensures reflection time, etc. since it is so typical to get thrown off course while in the midst of a novel study because the teacher or her students get so engrossed in discussion or even the literature itself.