Distance Learning for Teachers: Part 1 - Hyperdocs

March 18, 2020 / Oskar Cymerman

“Empty spaces, what are we living for?
Abandoned places, I guess we know the score, on and on
Does anybody know what we are looking for?”

— Queen

Hopefully, you landed here because you are looking for some help in figuring this distance learning thing out because the show must go on.

Below, I show and describe a simple structure I use for online learning in my high school science classroom. Much of what you’ll find can be adapted to earlier grades as well. Make sure to click on the 2 images below so you can copy and use them as templates. They are free.

STEP 1: Hyperdoc - The One document to rule them all

A hyperdoc, which can be a simple table with links to activities and descriptions in a Google doc works pretty great for setting up daily or even weekly lesson plans. It’s easy for the teacher to create and for a student to follow. Check out the one I made to teach covalent bonding in chemistry below. Click on the image to go to the actual document you can copy and use as a template for your own classes.

The hyperdoc is the main document students come back to each time they complete an activity.

To complete Activity 1 students click on the blue “Covalent Bonding Video” text or “video” text which takes them to the video in EdPuzzle. They watch the video and respond to the questions when prompted. I’ll explain how to do EdPuzzle later…

In a distance learning scenario Activity 2 cannot be completed as written in the hyperdoc above so I might skip it or require students to respond in writing using the “Discussion” feature in Schoology or simply create a Google Doc and provide students with a link so they can write their responses.

Then, students would come back to the “Covalent Bonding Activities” hyperdoc and complete Activity 3 by going to the linked grid in Flipgrid and recording their compare/contrast videos.

And here’s the 4-day hyperdoc I used for teaching significant figures. Extra rows can be added for additional days.

Each day consists of a front-loading activity (instruction) such as a video or a slideshow presentation and a follow-up activity (skill practice), which was a worksheet that includes an answer key for immediate feedback. On the following Monday, students took a quiz in Schoology.

Previously, I used hyperdocs for blended learning (online + face-to-face combined) in my classroom. Now, I plan on using them for distance learning with some minor common-sense adjustments.

For one, I will stick to daily lesson plans that consist of two activities only - one intended for front-loading the information and the second follow-up activity to allow the students to process the information they are learning by using it immediately. My plan is to keep the entire lesson below 30 minutes; 10 spent on front-loading and 20 on practice.

As the school district I work in (and I imagine many other ones) is planning on keeping “remote” attendance records the second activity can be used to keep track of who logged on.

The Key Points

Create 1 Google Doc “Hyperdoc” for each day or week of learning with all the directions and links in it.
Stick to 2 Activities - 10 minutes front-loading and 20 minutes follow-up for processing/encoding.

I will give you ideas for the front-loading and follow-up activities tomorrow because

“The show must go on
The show must go on
I’ll face it with a grin
I’m never giving in
On with the show
I’ll top the bill
I’ll overkill
I have to find the will to carry on
On with the show
Show
Show must go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on”

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Hi! I'm Oskar. I teach, write, and speak to make learning better.

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