Top Hat is a teaching tool that enables instructors to engage students with compelling content and activities, online, in person, or both.
Top Hat is a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) solution and students use their phones, tablets, or laptops to interact with the instructor and with each other. Several years ago, Top Hat was selected as a replacement for clickers.
This article provides a brief overview of what the Top Hat tool has to offer as well as some basic guidance on how to get started using Top Hat.
Primary Features of Top Hat
Some of the primary features instructors use in Top Hat are:
- Attendance
- Live Chat & Discussion
- Assignments
- Learning Insights
- Polls & Quizzes
Additionally, Top Hat is an accessible learning platform.
Popular Uses
Popular uses of Top Hat include presenting interactive questions in class and generating conversation with discussions.
Instructors find value in garnering more participation using Top Hat, especially in large enrollment courses. Responses can be displayed in real time, which helps instructors gauge student comprehension and attitudes. Attendance is another popular use of Top Hat along with assignments and quizzes.
See Top Hat's "Learning is Active" video, an overview of using Top Hat features to improve student learning and make teaching more fun and effective.
Getting Started with Top Hat
Instructors
These steps are suggested for getting started:
- Create a Top Hat account using Top Hat's "Educator: Creating an Account" article.
- Create a Top Hat course using Top Hat's "Educator: Course Creation (New or Copy Existing)" article.
- Add Top Hat to a Moodle course using the instructions in the "Connecting a Top Hat Course with Moodle" article. This also creates an instructor account.
- Create Top Hat questions and activities using Top Hat's "Educator: Interactive Questions" article.
See Top Hat's "Educator: Getting Started with Top Hat" article for detailed guidance.
Students
NC State's campus license allows students to use Top Hat Pro at no cost. They will need a wireless device, which can be a web-enabled smartphone, tablet, or laptop computer.
After Top Hat is added to a Moodle course, students should access the activity to create their account. Ensure they select the "Student" option and follow the instructions to create their account. Students may also review Top Hat's "Student: Creating an Account" article for further guidance.
Browser Requirements
There are recommended browsers for using Top Hat.
Web
For the best user experience, Top Hat recommends one of the following web browsers:
- Chrome (supporting last 3 major versions)
- Mozilla Firefox (supporting last 3 major versions)
Top Hat also supports the following web browsers:
- Safari (supporting last 3 major versions)
- Edge (supporting last 3 major versions)
Students or instructors experiencing issues should verify the issue appears on the recommended browser before reaching out to support.
Mobile
The supported iOS platforms are iPhones, iPads, or iPod Touches running either of the two latest versions. The supported Android platforms are phones and tablets running the latest OS version. Note that Android variants such as the Fire OS (Kindle Fire), Silent OS (Blackphone), YunOS, and the Nokia X Platform are not supported.
Top Hat Success Center
Top Hat's "Support Center" site is an essential resource for learning how to use Top Hat. Content can be displayed by role.
Use the Support Center to access:
- A searchable Knowledge Base with an extensive collection of articles
- An inventory of live and recorded webinars about Top Hat
- Release notes for new features, product improvements, and bug fixes
- Information on support options including phone & live chat
Many resources can be found in the Support Center for working with the platform.
Top Hat YouTube Channel
TopHat's YouTube channel contains a wealth of "how to" videos as well as pedagogical topics.
Top Hat Blog
The Top Hat Blog offers timely articles on active learning written by faculty and other experts. Be sure to subscribe for updates.
DELTA Workshops
DELTA regularly offers faculty workshops on using Top Hat. Look for our offerings on REPORTER by searching "Top Hat".
Additional Resources
Connect a Moodle Course to Top Hat (TopHat Knowledge Base)
Moodle and Top Hat Roster Sync (TopHat Knowledge Base)
Deep Linking Activity in Moodle (TopHat Knowledge Base)
Grade Sync in Moodle (TopHat Knowledge Base)
For additional assistance, please contact the LearnTech Help Desk at learntech@ncsu.edu or (919) 513-7094, or via the Get Help form on the DELTA Knowledge Base.