(Our previous posts and documentation have focused on the Hypothes.is – Canvas integration.) With the Chrome plug-in, annotators access web pages in their internet browser, as usual, with the collapsible Hypothes.is annotation applet available on the right-hand side of the page. Interacting with and annotating web pages and web-based materials with the Hypothes.is Chrome plug-in is identical, on the level of user experience, to social annotation activities accessed through the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS) integration. As we shall see, one key feature of the Hypothes.is Chrome plug-in is the portability it imparts to collective projects of annotation, enabling users to initiate and contribute to Hypothes.is activities outside of a specific Canvas course site. In this blog post, we will introduce the Hypothes.is plug-in for the Chrome web browser, a no-cost utility that presents opportunities for critical engagement within and beyond the classroom. As a research tool and as a platform for open and collaborative scholarship, Hypothes.is offers further opportunities for multiperspectival analysis, collective thought-projects, and engagement across institutions and communities. As a social annotation tool, Hypothes.is enables instructors and students alike to engage in collaborative reading and idea-generating activities across course content and openly accessible web-based materials.

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