One of the major aspects of incorporating technology into learning is the freedom of exploration it allows students. When students are given the initiative to do their own exploring on a certain topic, it provides them a sense of ownership and therefore they have a vested interest in learning more.

This is where Hyperdocs can be incorporated into a “Creative Writing Challenge”, which is a Hyperdoc that provides students with resources to explore creative writing. I found this Hyperdoc on the Teachers Give Teachers Twitter page, and clicked on the first title that caught my eye, which was the Sample Creative Writing Challenge Hyperdoc.

Not only does this Hyperdoc give students room to reflect on their own opinions of writing, but it introduces them to Storybird, an online storyboard platform that students can use to make their own interactive, visually compelling stories. The Hyperdoc also provides an article called “13 Stunning Places to Publish Student Art and Writing“. This feature was especially exciting for me because I was never provided with an opportunity to publish my creative writing before college.

Getting published at a young age, no matter the platform or the material being published boosts someone’s confidence in sharing their work. As a writer or an artist, sharing your work is so important. In fact, it’s crucial to kickstart any career in the arts. Also, getting published at a young age is vital to establishing a sturdy portfolio.

It also provides students a place to start and gives them time to be creative and add to their portfolios. This is so important, because when I got to college and had the chance to be exposed to freelance work as well as internship opportunities, the job application always wants a writing portfolio, and I always wish that I had the chance to work on that long before college.

This is why Hyperdocs is important because it directly connects students to the world. It is also the height of interactive learning, especially since it provides students with different platforms for submitting and participating in online discussions and projects. It gives them more than a traditional written assignment to hand in, or a response typed on a Word Doc to be submitted to Google Classroom or even their teacher’s email.

So far in my Hyperdoc research, I have stumbled across Google Forms, Padlet, Jotform, Submittable, and so much more. The more students are exposed to in this fast-paced, technological world, the better; they will be so ahead of the game. Who knows what long-term effects that can have on their professional lives?