Hello again!
I wanted to take a few to discuss something I learned about while studying to take my Google Certified Educator exams (more on that later!). Now, I’m not claiming to be an expert, by any means, but I did want to put this idea out there! As I was combing over the basics on how to utilize Google Docs in the classroom, I came across a very brief snippet on something called a “HyperDoc”. It looked interesting and I jotted the idea down to check out later. When I finally finished the studying and passed the exams, I did a little research and, eventually, made my own!
So, what is a HyperDoc? Well, “HyperDoc is a term used to describe a Google Doc that contains an innovative lesson for students- a 21st Century worksheet, but much better”( Changing Digital Pedagogy). Because my school went 1:1 with Chromebooks this year, I have been doing many of my lessons with the integration of apps and other digital resources. With that said, I have often run into the problem of figuring out what to do when it came time to do a worksheet. I really take pride in the worksheets I have designed and I really didn’t want to give them up, so to speak. Through the use of a HyperDoc, I didn’t have to give up my awesome worksheets! I simply turned them digital and added interactive components to make them even better!
This particular worksheet was simply an article (with a metacognitive marker key for marking the text) with questions to follow. The assignment itself was nothing impressive, but I was semi-proud of how polished I had made it look as a paper assignment. It was time to revamp it! I’ll tell you all about the first HyperDoc I ever made and how it fared in my own classroom! I'll post pictures beneath the steps. The examples are real student work, so you're not only able to see the HyperDoc design, but you get to see how it was used in my classroom!
Step 1: I turned my .pdf file into a Google Doc by opening and saving the file in the Google Docs app.
Step 2: I decided I wanted to turn this very independent and straightforward assignment into a semi-collaborative and interactive one. With that new thought in mind, I found four more articles that tied into the same subject as the original and decided to go in the direction of a jigsaw.
Step 3: I came up with a pre-reading question and created a table at the top of the doc with enough rows for each student in a group of five (I chose five, but you can do any number of students in a group for a HyperDoc activity. The possibilities are endless!).
Step 4: Next, I took the five articles that I had found on the same topic and created a simple chart that consisted of the following: article title, a short description of each article, and a link to each article. The directions above this chart asked students to each choose a different article and read it (no one from the same group should read the same article).
Step 5: Under the article link chart I made another table with questions for the students to answer about their articles. After filling out their own column, students were instructed to jigsaw (share) a short summary of their article and their findings that they had recored in the above mention chart.
Step 6: After jigsawing, students were asked to answer another question using information from their discussion. I created a chart identical (with the new question instead of the old) to the first question chart for this.
Step 7: I took this versatile digital worksheet as an opportunity to reinforce a strategy we had been learning. The last portion of the worksheet was an easy way for my students to get some practice with that strategy while also utilizing information they had gained after reading their articles and jigsawing with their peers.
Step 8: I put specific and bright directions on what to do when finished (how to turn the assignment in for grading).
Now, like I said at the beginning of this post, I don't claim to be an expert in all things HyperDocs, but I do think they are a phenomenal way to boost student engagement/collaboration and an even better opportunity to cover more than one subject,strategy, standard, etc. If you would like more information on how I use HyperDocs, or if you would like an editable copy of this very HyperDoc, comment below or drop me an email and I would more than happy to share everything and anything I have with you!
-Taliena (Koch's Odds 'N Ends)
"HyperDocs - Changing Digital Pedagogy - 2014 Mountian ..." 2014. 4 Nov. 2015 <https://sites.google.com/a/googleteacheracademy.com/2014-07-30/agenda/room3>
