Hypothes.is

Integrates with

Google Chrome
UVACanvas

Overview

Hypothesis is a social annotation tool that allows students and instructors to highlight and comment directly on course readings and other digital materials. Students can respond to one another’s annotations, ask questions, and participate in discussions connected to specific passages, images, or moments in a video. It can be used with web pages, PDFs, e-texts, images, Canvas pages and videos to make reading a more collaborative activity.

Get Started

Quickstart Guide Getting Started with Hypothesis

In the Classroom

Hypothesis is a social annotation tool for digital content that supports active reading by:

Helping students engage directly with course texts by highlighting, questioning, and responding in context
Enabling instructors to creating focused discussions around readings before, during, and after class
Guiding close reading and critical analysis with instructor prompts, explanatory notes, and reflection questions

Getting started using Hypothesis in Canvas

Helpful for…

Collaboration and Communication Student Engagement

Need Help

Booking

Schedule a personal consultation with Christie DeCarolis, Hypothesis account manager for UVA

Schedule Consultation

Contacts

Learning Tech

For assistance getting started using the tool

learningtech@virginia.edu

Learning Technology Services

For questions regarding the integration between Canvas and Hypothesis

lts-support@virginia.edu

A&S Learning Design & Technology

For instructional design services and assistance with supported tools for faculty in the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences

learningdesign@virginia.edu

CTE Articles

Article Teaching with Social Annotation: A Spotlight on Hypothesis February 17, 2026

Upcoming Workshops & Events

View all events

17
Sep

Workshop

Learning Lab: Modeling and Prompting Meaningful Annotation

Social annotation offers students a way to build community while they annotate course documents, but just because we create an annotation assignment does not mean that students automatically know how to write meaningful annotations. This session provides strategies for increasing instructor presence in annotation activities, prompting meaningful original annotations from students, and inviting students to respond to each other. You will leave with strategies that you can apply to your assignment prompts to start seeing better results from student annotations & discussions immediately.

September 17, 2026

2:30 PM

Online

Register Details

Availability and Licensing

Availability:

All Access Tools, University

This tool is available to faculty, staff, and students affiliated with All Access Tools and University.

License:

Limited

This tool is available to a limited number of faculty, staff, and students within the organization that has purchased the license. Contact learningtech@virginia.edu for more information.

Access:

LMS

Access to this tool is available through integrations with selected Learning Management Systems.

Student Cost:

This tool does not require any additional purchase from students.

Ease of Setup

4.17/5

Ease of Use

4.33/5

Features and Options

4.33/5

Pedagogical Impact

5.00/5

Accessibility

5.00/5

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Reviews

I've been using Hypothesis for the last three years and the ease of integration within Canvas has improved. It is a great tool for collaboration and increasing reading comprehension and making connections across content.

Lysandra Cook

Education

4 people found this review helpful.

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Specifications

This tool has provided a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) or other resources that summarize its compliance with important accessibility standards.

Learn More

This tool conforms to the University’s regulations for data privacy and protection.