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Running Head: NOVEL HYPERDOCS

Novel Hyperdocs

Madison Nittinger

Loyola University
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Introduction

Within my school, implementing technology is a struggle. We lack the funding and training

necessary for teachers to effectively use technology in their classrooms. Each classroom has

projectors but there is only computer lab for all lower school (K-5) but the middle school (6-8)

is one to one with chromebooks. If we had the opportunity, I would include more blended

learning opportunities for the students, primarily focusing on the middle school since they are

currently one to one. Our teachers would be comfortable with technology and move through the

ACOT model until they reach the final step, Invention (Dwyer, Ringstaff & Sandholtz, n.d).

They would have more positive perceptions of technology and would receive the training needed

to be successful with implementing technology.

Thinking about the plethora of blended learning opportunities, I would like to see

hyperdocs being utilized within my school. Currently, the students are familiar with the Google

apps but the teachers lack the training to use technology to its full advantage. One way to

increase student learning and engagement is to use the hyperdocs to have student’s lead their

learning. For example, they could be used for novel units that students would be able to choose

from that they would have the opportunity to complete online as well as in the classroom. It

would be more individualized since the students would get to choose what they would like to

learn but it would also ensure the students are reaching the standards set forth. Each unit or novel

would be a collaborative effort from the grade level teams and administration. Student's behavior

would change from relying on the teacher to spoon feed the information to them to becoming one

that searches for the information. They will gain strategies to aid them in understanding how they
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learn best. The school as a whole would be more collaborative and tech savvy and students

would be more motivated to learn.

Hyperdocs are units of study that students go through independently to acquire the

content (Gonzalez, 2017). The hyperdocs would direct and support the students through the

content of the novel as well as interact with the novel through various activities and videos. For

example, in order to gain background knowledge for “The One and Only Ivan”, there would be a

lesson the hyperdoc that focuses on giving the student background knowledge in order to be

successful when reading the novel. This will allow for more class time spent working on

comprehension and ensuring the students are grasping the material. It will also allow for more

student choice, which will lead to more engagement during a novel study.

Due to the lack of knowledge my school has with technology and how to effectively

implement it, I chose to use Hyperdocs. In my opinion, they are more straightforward and

teachers can see the effects of them directly. There are many resources for novel Hyperdocs as

well so they wouldn’t have to come up with the hyperdocs all by themselves. They would just

have to modify ones previously made to fit their students’ needs. Our middle schoolers have

Chromebooks that I feel can be utilized more to foster enhanced learning by using a blended

learning approach. That way they are able to gain independence by completing their learning

outside of school but also teachers in class will be able to have deeper discussions and move

quicker through the content. The teachers will be able to select a variety of novels and create

Hyperdocs for each. They will be able to allow the students to choose which novel they would

like to read and since the hyperdocs would be done prior to assigning the novel, the teacher will

be able to support the students with the various learning activities.

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Analysis of Current Situation

Perceived Attributes

There are many relative advantages in terms of using novel hyperdocs. Instead of

focusing on using only class time to do novel studies, using the novel hyperdocs will give

students the opportunity to explore a novel in various ways in class and outside of class. They

have the opportunity to explore the novel independently or as a small group. They will also have

more choice in the activities they complete with the novel. Currently, the students are given tasks

by the teachers and lack little choice in their learning as well as what novels they read. They

consistently work independently as well as collaboratively but they also have small group time

with the teacher. Most of the independent time or collaborative time is spent reading the novel so

they can discuss it in their small group with the teacher. Once implementing the novel

hyperdocs, the teachers will realize the convenience of having students complete activities at

home so they are ready for class the next day. The teachers will realize how much more they can

accomplish as well as how much more learning is happening when using the blending approach

of novel hyperdocs. Normal novel studies take a long time to complete and a lot of time spent in

class is reading the novel itself but not as much time spent on doing activities to enhance the

student’s learning from the books. Using hyperdocs will allow students to become more

independent with their and the teachers’ role becomes more of a facilitator of learning. The

students' pride and interest in the content will show through, which in turn will promote student

agency. Student agency allows students to direct the learning by “making, creating, doing,

sharing, collaborating, and publishing in ways that are meaningful to them, using real-world

tools.” (Wagner, 2016, para 3) The student’s currently lack the ability to share their learning

outside of the classroom using real world tools.

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The schools’ goal in the upcoming years is to incorporate and implement more

technology into the classroom and school in general. Using hyperdocs is an easy way to

implement technology in a way that will support student learning and standards. It also is

compatible with the direction our school is hoping to go with technology. The middle schoolers

will be in their second year of one to one with devices and they have a basic knowledge of the

Google apps but this will allow them to expand on their knowledge of them and use them more

collaboratively. The school likes to focus on more student driven instruction and hyperdocs

would support that learning model. In order to adopt this teachers need to be willing to take the

extra time to learn about blended learning and how to manage it within the classroom. They

would also need to take the time to learn what novel hyperdocs are and what the benefits are of

using them.

We have no professional development available to our teachers and limited technology to

explore, which makes novel hyperdocs seem more complex than they are. Due to this our

teachers would struggle to understand what blended learning is as well as know what hyperdocs

are and how to effectively implement them. They wouldn’t understand the benefits of blended

learning and how to do it. They may struggle formatting them and figuring out how to balance

the classwork load and homework load for the kids. This would possibly lead to teachers

struggling to implement this innovation because it would require additional time and energy to

learn the material and how to use it. Knowing these challenges in advance is helpful in planning

on how to support our teachers with these concepts.

It may not be all the middle schoolers that use blended learning, some may stick with

what the teachers were doing last year and some may use the hyperdocs. This way teachers can

compare data they find. It could even be for one novel unit and then another novel unit is done
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the traditional way, to see if the hyperdocs are effective or reflect on what they can do to

improve upon them.

In order to observe how well the innovation is doing, the teachers would need to ensure

they are checking the activities the students are doing for comprehension of the novel as well as

ensuring the activity showcases what they learned from the novel. Discussing the novel and

reflecting on the activities would also be a way to determine how successful the hyperdocs are.

They can also tell how successful using the quality of the activities the students do. Consistent

reflection and review of the hyperdocs will be the key to determine if the innovation is effective

or ineffective.

Ely’s Conditions

In regards to Ely’s eight conditions of change, my school is lacking on quite a bit of them

but through this innovation it will strengthen all of the conditions as well as have us meet some

of the conditions. My school is typically one big team so commitment from teachers and

administrators is strong. We are willing to support and encourage each other. We also have time

available to prepare and improve upon the innovation. We have planning all day on Wednesdays

so the time is there, we just need to be sure to utilize to our benefit! In our contracts, we have a

set amount of contractual events we are required to go to that are outside of the typical school

day but we also have optional events that most teachers go to anyway. This meets the condition

of encouraging and having expected participation. We have five administrators who all have

different tasks, so the leadership is there and we know who to go to when we have a specific

problem, idea or suggestion. Out of all the conditions we meet, the strongest condition my school

meets is a clear dissatisfaction of the current status quo and has a desire to change it. The

administration is unhappy with the lack of technology implementation and resources that they
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have but they lack the budget to do anything about it. Classroom teachers are unhappy with the

lack of technology and professional development occurring within the school and would like to

change it. We consistently ask the administration for professional development but it continues

to not happen. In order to best support our students, we need to be up to date with the new

technology, teaching models and strategies. We have students that are low readers as well as

students who are high flyers. We need to know a variety of strategies in order to make sure we

are supporting all our learners. Using hyperdocs is a great way to differentiate the learning for

that spectrum of students and teachers would gain insights to a new strategy of teaching.

In regards to conditions that are lacking, we struggle with knowledge and skills. Our

teachers have many skills and knowledge of their specific content areas. What we lack is

knowledge of how to use technology in our specific content areas. Professional development will

need to occur in order for teachers to become comfortable with the innovation. Most teachers

have a basic knowledge of the various Google apps but have little to no knowledge of how to use

it with their students. Students know now to use Google documents independently but very

rarely have used them in a collaborative setting. Teachers have no knowledge of blended

learning so would need training and explanations of what it looks like and what it is. We will

need to scaffold the implementation so both teachers and students are gaining the knowledge

needed to be successful with hyperdocs. This will also increase our teachers and students

knowledge and skill sets.

Our administration encourages us to try new teaching methods and strategies but lacks

having resources available for us to be successful with them. This is another area of weakness for

us. The resources readily available to teachers are the standards that the students should master

by the end of the year. The teachers share resources with each other but there isn’t one place that
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we can all go to find resources. If we could have one shared folder in our Google drives to place

materials, that would aid everyone. Having one place where everyone can go for information

about blended learning and novel hyperdocs is one of the goals for this innovation.

Currently the school doesn’t offer rewards or incentives for teachers who go the extra

mile. This is a constant area of struggle for my school. I do it for my own satisfaction but others

may need some additional motivation to try something new. The school could possibly provide

the opportunity for one new piece of equipment or a small monetary reward for trying the

innovation. I could also offer additional professional development or food incentives for being

willing to try novel hyperdocs in their classroom.

Reflecting on the conditions and my school, it’s clear the school is the process of meeting

some but we are also strong in some. Some we have but we need to tweak in order to meet the

condition even more such as the time available. We have all the time on Wednesday but we don’t

use it as effectively as we could. Overall, we are a committed group of educators who just want

to see our school and students do the best they possibly can. Strengthening and meeting the

conditions will be one way to ensure the success of the teachers, school, students and the

innovation.

ACOT Model

The ACOT model is a great tool to use to see where schools are at in regards to

implementing technology. It clearly explains what the levels look like and helps guide a school

or individual through the model.

The first step in the model is known as the entry stage. Our primary (K/1) teachers fall

into this stage. They very rarely use technology, they rely mainly on worksheets or whiteboards.
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They are also very hesitant on implementing technology into their classrooms due to the

students' young age and their lack of skill using technology.

Our grade 3 teachers and middle school teachers, fall into the second stage, adoption.

They are able to replace worksheets with something electronic but the productivity hasn’t

changed. It could be an experiment or writing piece. They are more willing to try technology in

their classroom and will soon be ready to move onto the next stage!

The rest of our teachers (grades 4 and 5) fall into the third and fourth stages, adaptation

and appropriation. They are able to use technology with no disruption to student learning. If we

were to compare it to the SAMR model, they would fall into the augmentation and modification

stages. They are able to have students produce content more efficiently and the teachers have the

students working more collaboratively using technology. For example, one of the teachers had

the students create mythological trading cards as well as a text structure magazine using Google

Slides.

Those that are in the appropriation and adaptation phase will most likely reach the fifth

and final phase, invention. Completing this technology innovation will help support all teachers

in reaching the next stage of this model. By the end of the year, the fourth and fifth grade

teachers, if they continue on their path, will be able to reach this final stage. The other teachers

should be able to reach the appropriation or adaption phase. Reaching this stage will lead to new

ways of using technology so the lack of this is prohibiting teachers from creating their own

change either in the school or in their own personal classrooms. With support and continued

training, this will benefit the whole school.

Discussion of Stakeholders
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In order for this innovation to be successful, I would need stakeholders from both home

and school. In school, administration is one of the most important stakeholders. They will be able

to regulate the technology and ensure the students are not going on a site not specified by the

teacher. They also will be able to discipline the students if they are not using their technology in

the proper way. They will be acting in more of an enforcer role. They will also be able to offer

rewards or incentives and encourage participation in the innovation. The students and teachers

are the next most important stakeholders. The students need to be invested in the content and

willing to take responsibility for their learning outside of the classroom. The teachers need to

ensure the standards are being met as well as managing the blended learning within the

classroom. Their role is the implementers. They are implementing the blending learning so the

success of this innovation is dependent on how invested the teachers are with it. They will be

showing leadership, offering rewards and encouraging the kids. They will need to make time to

learn the ins and outs of blended learning, specifically Hyperdocs. They are the mentors.

The stakeholders outside of the school are the parents. They will need to ensure their

children are completing the work at home and aiding them if they need it. Their role is more of

an observer to make sure the students are completing what needs done for class. They will be

able to encourage their students to try their best and be prepared for the next day. They will be

committed to both their child and the plan!

Plan of Action

Vision

A vision for this innovation is to increase increase student engagement and promote a

more positive look at novel studies. It would promote collaboration and improve student agency.

Purpose
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The purpose of this innovation is to increase student comprehension and engagement

during novel units. It also is having students become more responsible for their learning outside

of school and recognizing how they learn, acquire and present information best. This resolves

the issue of students not having the background knowledge of the book because the teacher is

able to provide resources to the kids that will ensure they have all the necessary information in

order to connect and comprehend a novel. It will also aid in differentiating the material for the

kids. If a student is strong in art but struggles with writing, the teacher may have an activity that

is more geared toward showing their learning through art rather than writing a paper. It is

encouraging more independence for the students and is having the teachers become facilitators of

learning. The students are guiding their own learning and the teacher is helping along the way.

Implementation

In order for this innovation to be successful, I would first need support from all

stakeholders mentioned earlier. I would lay out the benefits and explain what the vision is. This

would happen during summer so we can plan ahead and prepare the teachers for when the school

year starts. We would also prepare the administration beforehand on what blended learning is

and what novel hyperdocs are as well so they will be able to fully support their teachers.

Once the support is there, teachers will need professional development in what blended

learning is as well as what it looks like within the classroom. That is where I would take the time

to explain what blended learning is and what novel hyperdocs are. The administration would also

be able to provide meaningful training to their teachers and explain what the goals are for the

innovation. They would be shown examples of blended learning and hyperdocs and provided

resources to go through on their Google drive.

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The teachers would then get together to determine what novels they would like to do for

the year and from there create or modify the novel hyperdocs. I would be there to assist and

ensure they are creating and modifying them appropriately. They would create a plan of attack

that would work for them and then meet weekly to do training or work out any kinks. They

would discuss their observations and data in order to determine if they are effective and if they

are not, determine ways to improve them.

Throughout the implementation there would be opportunities for parents to voice their

opinions as well as ask any questions they may have. We would start the hyperdocs in the second

trimester since that is typically when we begin novels. We would complete one novel hyperdoc

in the second trimester and improve them before we do them in the third trimester.

The plan would be assessed through the various activities the students do. There would

be rubrics used to grade the activities based on the standards. Based on those scores, we would

be able to see if the students were successful in meeting the standards or not.

Resources Needed:

● computers

● shared Google folder for the hyperdocs so everyone can access them

● training for blended learning

● training for hyperdocs

● resources or recordings explaining hyperdocs and blended learning

Conclusion

This innovation will take a lot of planning, scaffolding and training but by the end of this

innovation, the teachers would have gained new knowledge and skills and the students would

have gained a whole new way of learning. The school would have improved upon their
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technology goals. The novel hyperdocs would enhance student learning and encourage teachers

to try something new in their classrooms and move through the ACOT model. They would now

have the power to differentiate materials to ensure all students are able to acquire the material

and standards. They would be able to have choice when doing novel students and teachers would

be able to have more time during class to do activities that promote comprehension of the novel

instead of just reading the story. Students would show more responsibility for their learning and

engagement with the novel.

References

Dwyer, D., Ringstaff, C. & Sandholtz, J. H. (n.d). The evolution of teachers’ instructional beliefs

and practices in high-access-to-technology classrooms first-fourth year findings [research

paper]. Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T0Zn4WLNud2A2-8n_ymR8F-

2bXXmCsUO/view
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Gonzalez, J. (2017, June 11). How hyperdocs can transform your teaching [blog post]. Retrieved

from https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/hyperdocs/

Wagner, M. (2016, November 2). What does student agency mean? [blog post]. Retrieved from

https://www.edtechteam.com/blog/2016/11/what-does-student-agency-mean/