Running head: USING HYPERDOCS IN THE ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM 1

Using HyperDocs in the Elementary Classroom to Achieve Deeper Learning

Kaleigh Braverman

Loyola University Maryland

ET 660 – Innovative Digital Schools

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Introduction

For my Digital Innovation Pilot Project, I intend to introduce HyperDocs into my

classroom in order to enhance student learning by addressing student agency. I teach fourth

grade English Language Arts (ELA) at Vincent Farm Elementary School in Baltimore County

Public Schools. All students at my school are equipped with 1:1 HP revolve devices, and

students currently access Microsoft 365 products including Word, PowerPoint, and One Drive.

Next year, students will be accessing Google Suite through 1:1 chrome books. Since our school

is departmentalized, I teach two blocks of ELA throughout the school day. My first block is

taught to my homeroom of 23 students during the morning for approximately 2 hours total,

however, this time is interrupted by lunch and recess. My second block is taught to my afternoon

class of 27 students uninterrupted for approximately 2 hours as well. Overall, I intend to reach 50

students in my two ELA blocks with this pilot program.

Innovation Reflection

I am proposing that my students begin to use HyperDocs in my ELA classroom during

various stages of the lesson. Depending on the lesson, students will engage in the completion of a

HyperDoc either individually or with a collaborative group to facilitate instruction, practice, or

assessment. A sample lesson may be conducted as follows: Students arrive in class with their 1:1

devices, but begin with a brief introduction to the topic from me, the teacher. I would engage

students in a conversation dissecting the lesson’s learning goals and prepare students for active

learning through a hook or motivation activity. Then, students would have the opportunity to use

their devices to access a HyperDoc related to the day’s topic for instruction. They would work

through the HyperDoc at their own pace, completing the engage, explore, explain, experience,

share, and reflect components. About half of these activities would be completed individually,
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while the other half would be completed in a small collaborative group, depending on the lesson.

Collaborative groups would be flexible, meaning that some days students would be grouped by

ability, choice, skills needed to be worked on, etc. Finally, an optional extend activity would

wrap up the HyperDoc, allowing students to push beyond what they have learned if they feel

ready for the challenge.

My pilot idea is innovative because it allows for students to take control of their own

learning, while giving teachers the opportunity to respond to the individual needs of students in

the classroom. It takes the technology already being used in our school and broadens the

horizons of what students have been previously expected to do. By using HyperDocs in the

elementary classroom, students are not merely using technology to substitute paper and pencil.

They are using technology to explore and research topics and to create products that are

meaningful to their individual learning.

Deeper Learning Reflection

Through the completion of this Digital Innovation Pilot Project, I have conducted an

analysis of my current classroom practices in relation to deeper learning. Through the use of

McLeod and Graber’s (2019) “4 Shifts Protocol”, I questioned where I am currently and what

changes I need to make to my instructional practices to move myself in the right direction. I

found that overall, my students often engage in higher-level learning, having the opportunity to

design or create something that they are interested in, reflect on their process and product, and

engage in critical thinking and problem-solving practices. For example, students utilize

metacognitive planning strategies such as graphic organizers during the process of their work

and reflect on their products by self-assessing themselves on a scale of 1-4 using a pre-

determined rubric. Students also complete authentic work in my classroom, using tools and
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technologies that are reflective of what experts use in the real-world and engaging in learning

experiences that incorporate processes that they can use in a professional setting. For instance,

students use their 1:1 devices to access Kidblog and create blog posts in order to share their

writing with others and communicate by giving feedback to classmates through comments.

Technology integration is a strong-suit in my classroom, allowing students the opportunity to

collaborate and communicate with one another, learn in better and different ways, and engage in

digital citizenship. For example, students use technology in order to collaborate and

communicate with peers using Padlet and Microsoft 365. Through the use of their 1:1 devices in

the classroom, students also have access to digital resources that they otherwise would not have

the ability to learn from without the technology.

After analyzing my classroom in relation to deeper learning, I have come to realize that

student agency is my weakest Big Shift for several reasons. Although I believed that my

classroom was highly student-centered, I quickly realized that being student-centered is much

deeper than surface value. According to McLeod and Graber (2019), student agency requires

personalization in the classroom, and learning environments are moving away from being

teacher-controlled. Students now take “ownership and control of what, how, when, where, who

with, and why they learn” (McLeod & Graber, 2019, p. 15). Unfortunately, I have only been

addressing a few of these components in my classroom thus far, and the components are not

addressed at all times. For instance, I as the teacher choose learning goals, activities, and

assessments on most days. Students are sometimes given choice as to where to sit using flexible

seating, what to learn when engaged in an independent rotation activity after completing must-do

work, and how to represent their final assessment product. However, after deep reflection, I

realize that what I have been implementing in my classroom merely looks like student-centered
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learning. In order for my students to build true agency, I must engage them in an innovative tool

such as HyperDocs to begin facilitation of this process.

My pilot project of implementing HyperDocs into my classroom supports not just the Big

Shift of student agency, but also the other 3 Big Shifts, including higher-level learning, authentic

work, and technology infusion. First, the use of HyperDocs supports higher-level learning

because it moves “from pedagogy that requires students focus on factual recall and procedural

regurgitation to one in which students work on tasks of greater complexity including creativity,

critical thinking, problem solving, and effective communication and collaboration” (Peterson,

2018). HyperDocs require students to engage in activities that are higher on the scale of Bloom’s

Taxonomy, reaching levels of applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating. Second, the use of

HyperDocs supports authentic work because it provides students with opportunities to work in

ways that are relevant to real-world, professional settings. Students use technologies, strategies,

skills, and thought processes that experts use, such as HyperDocs through Google or Microsoft,

collaboration, critical thinking, problem-solving, etc. Third, the use of HyperDocs supports

technology infusion because it incorporates more digital resources beyond the traditional paper

and pencil into classrooms to propel all the Big Shifts into high gear (Peterson, 2018). By having

students explore content using curated articles and videos as well as the Internet, they are able to

take their learning to the next level and use technology to create products that showcase their

expertise. Lastly, the use of HyperDocs supports student agency because it requires teachers to

take a step back from traditional learning environments in which the teacher is the sage on the

stage and center of the classroom. Instead, teachers become a guide on the side or facilitator of

learning, allowing for increased time for differentiation and personalized learning. In all of these

cases, “the promise of relevant learning becomes real” (Peterson, 2018).

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Research

Teachers are always looking to encourage student agency in their classrooms. One clear

way to do this is to incorporate HyperDocs as a means of student choice and ownership of their

learning. Using Technology Better EDU (2019) offers an excellent example of utilizing

HyperDocs to increase student agency, giving students choice and highlighting their interests.

The activity allows students to choose an emoji maker to create a digital outcome that is

appealing to them. The choices of emoji makers are differentiated, moving from simple (standard

emojis) to more difficult (coded emojis or gifs), and tables are utilized throughout the HyperDoc

in order to keep students’ work organized. After students create their product and insert it into

the HyperDoc, they are required to think critically and reflect on what they have made. They are

again given a choice to either write their reflection or record their thinking using linked tools

such as Vocaroo or Voice Recorder. Finally, students are given the option to choose a design tool

using Google options, Microsoft options, or Canva to build a new digital outcome such as a

thank you card using their created emoji. Students are then asked to again insert their final

creation and think critically and reflect on their work. This HyperDoc incorporates a great

amount of student choice and engages students in high-interest, relevant activities.

Another teacher used HyperDocs in her classroom to promote student agency in a

different way and posted a blog to iTeach. Angelaryall (2018) described the menu board that she

created using a HyperDoc for her students to access and choose activities from for completion.

The hope is that not only would students develop a sense of student agency, but also that students

would choose activities that address skills on which they know they need to work. The author

supplies students with an abundance of options in order to provide a wide range of choices and

notes that these menu boards are always a work in progress in order to ensure that students
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achieve high-quality outcomes and do not get distracted. Overall, however, “students are

definitely enjoying the range of activities” (Angelaryall, 2018). In addition to simply choosing

activities to complete, students also access a wide variety of digital tools such as Flip Grid,

Padlet, and Pobble. After working with the menu board HyperDoc for a week, students are

required to complete a reflection in which they discuss the activities they completed during the

week, why they chose those activities, what they think they need to choose next week, how they

would rate their work, and why they rated themselves that way.

The innovation of incorporating HyperDocs into the classroom supports Deeper Learning

even beyond the 4 Big Shifts. According to McLeod and Shareski (2018), there are 6 arguments

for why schools need to be different. In my opinion, I believe that HyperDocs address argument

3, “The role of teachers as exclusive purveyors of information is obsolete,” and argument 4, “The

tasks we ask students to perform are often undemanding and tedious, leading to boredom and a

lack of critical thinking” (McLeod & Shareski, 2018, p. 3). Regarding argument 3, teachers

taking on the role of primarily relaying knowledge to students is old-fashioned. Not only does

this discourage higher-level thinking among students, it also stifles creativity. Allowing students

to develop agency in the classroom through the use of HyperDocs gives them the responsibility

to explore topics and gather information that is relevant to content areas they are lacking. In

addition, it allows teachers to take the role of guiding students and facilitating learning rather

than dictating. Regarding argument 4, it is true that activities that students complete in school

often lack rigor and lead to disengaged students. Having students use HyperDocs in the

classroom can alleviate this issue because it promotes higher-level thinking, requiring students to

think critically, participate in multiple types of activities, and engage highly with their work.
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In addition to the 4 Big Shifts and 6 arguments for why schools need to be different,

incorporating HyperDocs into the classroom also supports the Deeper Learning Competencies.

Specifically, it allows for students to “master core academic content” and “think critically and

solve complex problems” (Deeper Learning Skills, 2013). Because the use of HyperDocs

requires students to acquire knowledge, draw on the information learned, and create something

new with it, it is considered a deeper learning activity. Due to the fact that a wide range of

strategies for learning are used when completing a HyperDoc, “the learner moves from the

novice to the expert level within the sphere of knowledge and expertise in question” (Deeper

Learning Skills, 2013). Under the umbrella of thinking critically and solving complex problems,

students have to apply specific tools and techniques from the HyperDoc in order to gather

information necessary to complete their task. Students also must evaluate and analyze

information found to be sure it is worthy of integrating into their learning activity. Finally, in

order to complete the HyperDoc’s tasks, students must have the ability to persist when solving

complex problems.

I believe that my pilot project best aligns to the Technology Integration Model TPACK.

According to McGraw-Hill Education (2017), “TPACK represents a class of knowledge that is

central to teachers’ work with technology. This knowledge would not typically be held by

technologically proficient subject matter experts, or by technologists who know little of the

subject or of pedagogy, or by teachers who know little of that subject or about technology.”

TPACK is the sweet spot where knowledge of technology, pedagogy, and content come together

to propel learning activities to the next level. In order to use HyperDocs effectively, it is

imperative that teachers are knowledgeable of the content they are conveying, the technology

they are asking students to use, and the pedagogy to best support students’ learning.
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The use of TPACK will improve student outcomes in the classroom for a couple of

reasons. According to Rodgers (2018), “TPACK can be a helpful mantra urging you to step back

and look at your whole strategy and the nuanced connections between all of its moving parts.”

When students have a teacher who is reflective and understanding, student learning outcomes are

bound to be positive. In addition, his article states, “TPACK…also paves the way for educators

to engage students in collaborative learning and to develop the concept of digital pedagogies.

Digital pedagogies may be the concept that can encompass all: teaching approach, students’

attitudes, and desired learning outcomes” (Rodgers, 2018). When students are engaged in

collaborative learning, student learning outcomes soar due to their ability to use essential P21

skills, work together, learn from each other, and deepen their learning. By using contemporary

digital technologies, such as HyperDocs, in teaching and learning, students’ attitudes toward

learning changes for the better, leading to teachers’ desired learning outcomes.

Project Goals

At the end of this pilot project, students should have a comprehensive understanding of

how to use and learn with HyperDocs. Specifically, I intend to utilize one HyperDoc a week in

my classroom in order to convey content necessary for the week’s instruction. There are multiple

goals aligned with this pilot project regarding the technology used and knowledge acquired.

First, students will be able to access, share, and edit HyperDocs with teachers and peers using

Microsoft 365 or Google Suite. Second, students will be able to explore a topic through online

research and evaluate sources for relevancy to their topic. Third, students will be able to create a

product that demonstrates their understanding of a topic through the use of multimedia tools.

These project goals support my identified Big Shift of student agency because students are taking

control of their learning by finding chosen resources, creating products that are relevant to them,
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choosing multimedia tools for creation, and sharing their learning with peers and teachers

through the use of the HyperDocs.

Success with this pilot project would look like students guiding the learning in the

classroom, the teacher facilitating and helping students as needed in the process, and

collaboration among peers taking place. If someone were to walk into my classroom while

students were working with a HyperDoc, they should see some students working individually on

tasks that they need more practice with or require reflection. They should also see groups of

students working collaboratively in order to complete tasks that require students to think

critically. They should see the teacher working one-on-one or in a small group with students on

skills that need to be addressed and are differentiated for their specific needs. Finally, they

should see students creating authentic products that will be shared to showcase their learning.

If this project were to be presented to an administrator to show success, I would show

two video recordings – one of what a traditional lesson looked like in my classroom before the

incorporation of HyperDocs and one of what a reformed lesson looks like in my classroom since

implementing my pilot project. I would emphasize the Big Shifts that occurred in my teaching

and students’ learning due to the project’s implementation. I would also show completed

HyperDocs by students to demonstrate that the use of this innovative tool has value in my

classroom and all elementary classrooms in our school, especially when attempting to achieve

student agency and deeper learning.

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References

Angelaryall. (2018, August 2). Hyperdocs to promote student agency. Retrieved from

https://angelaryall.com/2018/08/02/hyperdocs-to-promote-student-agency/

Deeper Learning Skills. (2013, April). Deeper learning competencies. Retrieved

from https://hewlett.org/wp-

content/uploads/2016/08/Deeper_Learning_Defined__April_2013.pdf

McGraw-Hill Education. (2017). What is TPACK theory and how can it be used in the

classroom? Retrieved from https://www.mheducation.ca/blog/what-is-tpack-theory-and-

how-can-it-be-used-in-the-classroom/

McLeod, S. & Graber, J. (2019). Harnessing technology for deeper learning. Bloomington, IN:

Solution Tree Press.

McLeod, S. & Shareski, D. (2018). Different schools for a different world.

Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Peterson, S. (2018, July 30). 4 big shifts that can personalize the learning journey. Retrieved

from https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-07-30-4-big-shifts-that-can-personalize-the-

learning-journey

Rodgers, D. (2018, January 19). The TPACK framework explained (with classroom examples).

Retrieved from https://www.schoology.com/blog/tpack-framework-explained

Using Technology Better EDU. (2019, January 10). Hyperdocs2 [YouTube Video]. Retrieved

from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFsbTiQd4_8&feature=youtu.be