Hi all, quick update — the Hyperlink newsletter has been quiet, as we've been busy building Leaflet, our new app for collaborative document creation & publishing!

You can try it here, no signup needed: https://leaflet.pub

It's still early but Leaflet feels promising — fun and flexible, easier to use than Hyperlink, and in service of things we've long been exploring around collaborative creative work and learning.

Hello from Hyperlink!

We're making something new: a fun — and lightning fast! — app for making delightful documents.

It's called Leaflet. And it's coming soon!

Hello from Hyperlink!

We're looking closely at learning communities…in particular, thinking about how they can be better!

You may recall we recently ran some experiments with internet clubs. These were a lot of fun — but hard to be self-sustaining on their own. One reason for this is simple: clubs require activation energy that's a lot easier to harness in existing communal contexts.

Our current hypothesis is that Hyperlink is best, not for one-off projects and cohorts and gatherings, but as a community hub for persistent groups doing a range of different things together.

Hello from Hyperlink! Two new things for you this weekend:

First, a new post on the club-newsletter loop — an idea for how email newsletters can spin up groups to do interesting activity, write about it, and share back to their wider audience in a nice feedback loop.

We think Hyperlink can be a great place to organize pop-up gatherings and clubs, particularly for newsletters aligned around a community of practice.

If you write a newsletter (or know someone who does!) let us know if this sounds fun:

If you love creative side projects, working in public, or learning clubs (a la Hyperlink v1!) — we're trying some experiments you'll find interesting.

We're using new and improved Hyperlink Studios to play with internet clubs, where people each work on projects around a given theme, and the group shares regular updates by email.

We want to experiment with combining individual project workspaces with regular rhythms for sharing your work socially.

A quick update about Studios on Hyperlink!

We made Studios as a place for groups to organize and share many projects together — useful for things like clubs, cohorts, and gatherings.

The short story is: we've made a bunch of improvements to how they work, putting the focus more on the people and projects involved.

More detail here on what's new:

Hello & happy new year!

Wanted to share a new post we wrote — a vision, an exhortation — on "small-scale social" tools and networks on the internet:

• Things we value in cozy online social spaces, and want to bring to life
• Others in the small-scale socialverse, a burgeoning "shared society", and what we see as our role in it
• An emerging network topology, and how we might continue to create our own corners of the map :)

Check it out & let us know what you think!

Hi all,

Celine wrote an essay on our vision for designing software to help you do creative, collaborative projects — how and why we're working to make Hyperlink useful for projects that don't easily break down into simple lists of tasks, but are more like adventures, emergent and exploratory.

This piece touches on…

• the emergent process that unfolds in creative work
• designing an app that's like a flexible workbench
• creating space for slow meandering exploration

Hey! A few things for you from Hyperlink—

(…we say, pulling back the curtain as we make an app for learning and creative work, a collaborative enabling environment, an intimate playspace for projects, a friendly campus for cohorts…)

One, what's new in Hyperlink

We're seeing some very cool Spaces — visual storyboards, shared to do lists, collaborative workshops and more.

Hi all—

A couple months ago we announced that we were going deep on making hyperlink a great place to do projects together with close collaborators, and now we're releasing the output of that!

The big new features are:

• audio calls, to be able to communicate with your collaborators while in a space without juggling different windows and contexts
• realtime presence, so when you're in a space together you can see where people are and what they're doing
• and notifications, which if you enable, let you know when people are chatting with you inside a space!

Hi all—

We're exploring how to make Hyperlink great for small-scale creative collaboration — grab a friend and join us to play with projects!

To read online or share this post with a friend:

Hello!

We're launching a new part of Hyperlink we're calling Studios: internet homes for close-knit groups to learn and create together.

If Spaces are where we do projects, Studios are where we start, join, share, and talk about them with people who care.

Hello, friends of hyperlink.academy —

Big news: the new Hyperlink app is now in beta and you can try it today!

New Hyperlink TL;DR ✨

Hyperlink is a platform for creative work and learning — like a virtual campus or studio where you can make spaces to do meaningful things with small groups of friends and collaborators.

Hello from Hyperlink :)

If a reminder is helpful — we're building Hyperlink to make spaces for small groups to learn and create together. A place to make microworlds for book clubs, writing groups, collaborative projects…and play learning games of our own invention.

We've been busy working on the alpha of our new app, and have shared a few dev updates to our (as yet very small) alpha group, but want to give you the overview!

—=--˜¯--≈-—=-¯˜-≈--=≈--=—~>

Hi all, a quick update to share some Hyperlink news!

TL;DR: Hyperlink is evolving and we’re making something new — a social environment and set of tools, built around interlinked card-based activity spaces, for learning and creating.

We’d love to know if you’d like to play with an early version. If so, read on…

One more collaborative learning experiment to close out the year — let's get ready for Reading Week!

In college, "reading week" was built into the academic calendar: a period at the end of the semester, between the last day of classes and the start of finals, to spend studying and writing term papers.

Heading into the holidays, we thought: what if we could do something similar, and build some end-of-year focus time into our own calendars?

Hyperlink's Reading Week is one week long: Monday 12/6 – Sunday 12/12.

Next week, join us in the Challenge Garden! 🌱

Starting Monday, we're doing a week-long DIY creative challenge exercise, one of a couple small experiments we're running as we lay the groundwork for the next version of Hyperlink.

The Power of a Challenge

We're fans of the creative challenge format — typically a well-scoped, time-bound challenge based around a series of daily prompts or creative activity.

image credit: Harvard Map Collection

Last month we had ~25 conversations with members of the Hyperlink community, exploring a range of questions that are key to building the kind of product and learning space we envision. Questions like:

How do people manage contexts for creative work and learning?

What makes social interactions feel meaningful?

Let’s talk about our projects.

I don’t know about you but I have a whole pile — ranging from things I’ve been working on sporadically over the years, to things I’d love to make happen when I can wrangle the time / motivation, to constellations of ideas floating around, yet to crystallize.

Antilibraries book discovery newsletter. Hip-hop writing practice. Experimental event hosting (reading retreat? Micro-conference?) Getting back into photography. Making a website curating cool libraries. Poetry experiments. Creative constraints and Twitter games. Book clubs…

We're hosting two workshops next week, based on suggestions from our current Meta Course cohort.

One's about syllabus writing; the other is about designing more flexible and async-friendly learning experiences.

All are welcome to attend. Both events are free, just require RSVP.

Upcoming Events

Hey Hypernauts,

We're busy on a few fronts and want to share what we've been up to, and ways you can get involved—

Join Us to Get Meta

One, our new Meta Course is starting later this month, and we're excited to jam with you, not only on courses but clubs and research projects and learning communities — any kind of experiment you might like to play with together.

We’ve been running the Meta Course for over a year, and until now we’ve focused primarily on helping people develop courses.

A few months in, we added clubs on Hyperlink, but creating them has been a more casual DIY process. We’ve also written about ideas for further shapes and forms of learning, and want to do more to help bring them to life.

There’s a tremendous possibility space for what internet learning can look like. We’ve seen all kinds of interesting formats — workshops, research collectives, communities, peer groups — and we know there’s so much yet to explore.

One of our favorite parts of building Hyperlink is working with so many creative people who are doing fascinating work and research, and excited to share that with others.

Here’s a roundup of fascinating things we’ve discovered related (more or less) to internet learning, just in the past month.

This is a new email format we’re trying…if you dig this, let us know and we’ll do it again periodically.

And please send us websites we should visit, people we should meet, things we should read, and so on!

Proposal: let's do a collaborative library-creation session together in Hyperspace.

We've started making a library of libraries — starting with our own Hyperlink Learning Library (favorite books on education, learning, pedagogy) and with your help, many more shelves and stacks to come.

Today, 5-7pm Eastern, we'll be hanging out and adding to the Metalibrary. While we're at it, we'd love to talk about some of our favorite books, and have you join to add yours as well!

We can talk about some of our meta-learning favorites, like Deschooling Society, Mindstorms, The Teenage Liberation Handbook and more.

Hello, hypernauts!

A couple things for you this week—

First, we've published a new post in the Hyperlink Library, on things to consider in designing for accessible and inclusive learning:

Hyperlink Library - Designing Accessible and Inclusive Learning

It’s time for Hyperlink’s monthly launch — some great learning experiences now open for enrollment!

View all here: Courses | Clubs |

This week from Hyperlink — a call to play with shapes and structures for collaborative online learning. You can also find the full post here in the Hyperlink Library.

Happy birthday to Hyperlink!

The three of us officially joined forces in June 2020, so we’re celebrating Hyperlink’s first year — what we intend to be the first of many.

Highlights:

Hey, reminder that we’ve got a week of Hyperlink events lined up, starting tonight!

Some great workshops, experiments with Hyperspace & more. Also our first Brooklyn meetup :)

We’d love to see you at any of these:

It’s time for Hyperlink’s monthly launch — or knowledge drop — with some great cohorts and events now open for enrollment!

creative websites ✨ at-home ecology ✨ restorative art ✨ digital alchemy ✨ conservation ✨ motion design ✨ art of memory ✨ comics making ✨ cryptoeconomics ✨ applied rationality

Let’s explore a thought experiment:

What does a space for lifelong learning look like to you?

This week, a book review — examining Priya Parker’s The Art of Gathering, and considering how the lessons she shares about designing meaningful gatherings might be applied to the ways we shape learning experiences.

We’ve been thinking a lot about the social contexts of learning, and how people come together to explore something in a directed way.

This week, we’re writing about social environments for flexible learning — specifically, our vision for Hyperspace, a new thing we’re building!

You can view this post online in the Hyperlink Library here:

It’s time for Hyperlink’s monthly launch — or knowledge drop — with some great cohorts now open for enrollment!

interface design ✨ graphical systems ✨ I Ching ✨ journaling practice ✨ creator websites ✨ personal cinema ✨ archiving ✨ at-home ecology ✨ conservation ✨ art of memory ✨ autodidacticism

Click each to learn more and enroll. (“NEW” ones = starting their very first cohort!)

Today, two items — an announcement and a new book notes post:

Hyperlink Hypotenuse

We’re refreshing this newsletter!

Hi all!

Brendan here from Hyperlink. I'm working on refactoring our newsletter, and want to get your input on something new we'd like to try.

Some of our big goals for what we publish, in both the Hyperlink Library and this newsletter, are to share:

• Useful info on indie internet learning (great links, papers, book reviews, events & more)
• What we're up to, getting meta and "working with the garage door open"
• Community news & updates — what you're working on and thinking about

It’s time for Hyperlink’s monthly launch — AKA knowledge drop — an awesome learning lineup of new courses and clubs.

The following cohorts are now open for enrollment, starting in April and early May. Click each to learn more and enroll. (Ones labeled “NEW” = running their very first cohort!)

You can also view all here: + .

This week is Hyperlink's latest Demo Week — a chance for course creators to share what they're working on, give you a preview of forthcoming courses, and get community feedback.

We've got some great events on the calendar!

Upcoming Events

Gender and Interfaces Happy Hour - Wed Mar 24

A couple quick things for you this week—

New in the Hyperlink Library

We’ve recently added three new pieces to the Library!

It’s time for Hyperlink’s monthly launch — AKA knowledge drop — an awesome lineup of courses, clubs, and events.

The following cohorts are now open for enrollment, starting in March and April. Click each to learn more and enroll.

(Ones labeled “NEW” = running their very first cohort!)

Join us for a free preview of some upcoming Hyperlink courses in development!

We’ve got some cool Demo Day events coming up to showcase ideas from the latest Meta Course cohort.

Hyperlink's latest batch of learning is here! An awesome array of courses, clubs, and events…AKA a knowledge drop, if you will.

We're moving to monthly launches — so you can expect another update at the same time next month.

First, a number of new course and club cohorts now open for enrollment, starting later Feb and early March. Click each to learn more, view schedules, and enroll. You can also view all here: Courses + Clubs.

Courses

Here at Hyperlink we're packing bags, buying provisions, setting up base camp — getting ready for an experimental expedition:

Learning Adventures.

Do you have a personal learning project you'd love to complete this year?

Often the hardest part about learning outside of a full time institutional environment (read: school) isn't deciding what you want to learn — but the motivation to actually do it, and a support network to help keep you focused and accountable.

Happy New Year from Hyperlink!

We’ve got a few quick updates for you — let’s get right to it.

Cohorts Starting Soon

First, a reminder that we’ve got some great courses (and a club!) scheduled. Several already have full cohorts, and you can any course to get updates when new cohorts are scheduled.

Hey!

This coming Monday Dec. 21 Hyperlink Academy is hosting a Hyperhour from 5-6pm EST (10-11pm UTC)

This is a casual happy hour, open to anyone in the Hyperlink community — teachers and learners, past present and future. And it will be in an interactive social space, rather than video call; see below for details.

We’re excited for Hyperlink’s latest launch batch — our biggest one yet, with an awesome array of new courses and a total of a dozen cohorts open for enrollment!

From antifragile writing to infinite art-making; language learning to home conservation; tabletop games to neighborhood-scale cybernetic design; Indigenous worldviews to neostalgic computing; comics-creation to esoteric programming languages…

New Courses & Clubs

Say goodbye to the Hyperlink Blog…

…and hello to the Hyperlink Library!

We’ve redesigned our (former) blog, and planted the seeds of our new Library — a collection of resources on teaching and course creation, influential books, and more.

Lately we've had community-driven learning on our minds.

What we're thinking about: how an existing community, with its own niche and identity, can better enable its members to come together to learn.

So many communities are brimming with knowledge, passion, and creativity. We think unlocking that energy can open some fascinating and valuable possibilities for what a community can be. Many communities already learn together. But it's not always an explicit value, and it's not always easy to make it happen.

We believe learning should be active, exploratory, collaborative. What if communities could make this kind of learning more legible and accessible — both to current members, and potential ones?

Now on Hyperlink: our first batch of Learning Clubs!

Similar to Courses, Clubs are a format for learning with small groups, actively facilitated, on niche topics.

But they're also: more casual, more exploratory, and more peer-driven.

Think: book club, research group, art critique cohort — people creating their own structures to learn together in a focused way.

We’re dropping another round of new courses — and new cohorts for some of our current ones!

The Meta Course bears more fruit, in the form of some exciting new courses on Hyperlink. We’re excited to share courses on community and conlangs, antilibraries and overthinking. See below for open courses, old and new.

New Courses