Hypothesis Launches the Social Learning Innovator Awards 2023

The Social Learning Innovator Awards 2023, hosted by the online annotation provider, Hypothesis, celebrates outstanding educators and institutions that have revolutionized the world of education through the use of social learning across various disciplines.

The winners were selected from the award categories of higher education ‘Instructors’, ‘Administrators’, and a special ‘Program Wide Award’. This final award celebrates an institution that has adopted social learning at a broader scale, demonstrating a unique and transformative approach to collaborative learning across multiple disciplines or departments.

The evaluation criteria for the awards focus on assessing the innovative ways instructors or admins are using social learning to increase student engagement, peer collaboration, learning outcomes, and course comprehension. Additionally, Hypothesis looked into the winners’ ability to amplify the use of technological tools and alternative methods that had been successful.

Dan Whaley, Founder and CEO of Hypothesis, stated, “In the ever-evolving landscape of education, the Social Learning Innovator Awards seeks to spotlight those trailblazers harnessing the profound capabilities of social learning. These leaders are a testament to the future of collaborative learning.”

Hypothesis would like to congratulate the winners, who are listed as follows:

• Winners:
  • Humanities and Arts: Justin Hodgson, Indiana University
  • STEM: Viranga Perera, University of Texas
  • Computer Science: Leysia Palen, University of Colorado
  • Health and Science: Nick Denton, Ohio State University
  • Business and Economics: Jennifer Young, University of Alaska
  • Social Sciences: Minghui Hu, University California Santa Cruz 
  • Interdisciplinary Studies: Francie Quaas-Berryman, Cerritos College 
  • Administrator: Fatma Elshobokshy, University of District Columbia 
  • OER: The ROTEL Project
  • Pedagogy: Sheli Ayers, San Joaquin Delta College

The awards ceremony will be held at a webinar on Wednesday, December 6 at 12:00 PM ET. For more information, visit the Hypothesis website.

Disclosure: This article mentions a client of an Espacio portfolio company.