Top Hat is a student engagement system and comprehensive teaching platform that instructors can use to engage students in and outside of the classroom with interactive slides, graded questions, customized content, discussions, and polls. Despite its many uses, there have been some commonly communicated concerns around using Top Hat in courses. Thankfully, there are workarounds and features in Top Hat that can help alleviate these concerns. Read on for 5 common Top Hat troubles we hear at ITLD and some tips, tricks, and ideas for solving them!
1: My class is too small to make using Top Hat worthwhile
Top Hat is often marketed towards large classes to help make grading and assessment a bit easier- but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have value in small classes! Top Hat can help ease anxiety for introverted students by providing anonymous and semi-anonymous ways to participate in class discussions and answer questions. You can also use it to flip your classroom, increase energy and engagement, and get back some of your prep time. Please view Top Hat’s Guide to Using Top Hat in Small Classrooms to learn more!
2: My presentations aren’t working/aren’t compatible with Top Hat
Some instructors have PowerPoint presentations that use animations, videos, complex graphics, and transitions. When these PowerPoints are uploaded to Top Hat, they don’t work. Others prefer to use Google Slides or Keynote presentations, which can’t be uploaded to Top Hat. Some instructors prefer how iClicker’s interface worked with their presentations without the need to upload anything.
Top Hat offers a desktop application that allows you to run any type of presentation without uploading it. The tool floats in the corner of your presentation until you are ready to ask a question. You can use it to create polls and questions on the fly from the desktop application. Please view Top Hat’s Guide to Using the Desktop Presentation Tool
3: The location-based attendance is failing for my students/in my classroom
Top Hat bases the location of your class on the location of the first 3 students that submit attendance. Because of this, there are two main reasons that location-based secure attendance may be failing:
- Students may not have enabled Bluetooth or location access on their devices
- The length of the classroom may cause the location focus to be close to the front, so students in the back might not pass the location check
Please read the article, Top Hat: Secure Attendance for steps to resolve these issues.
4: I have too much content in another tool to transfer to Top Hat and too little time to transfer it
If you have content in Canvas, iClicker, Kahoot, or any other tool that you’re dreaming of transferring to Top Hat, but don’t have the time or resources to do it, Top Hat has you covered. Top Hat will transfer any content into your Top Hat course for you!
All you need to do is book a 1-1 teaching support (Top Hat ID consultation) at tophat.psu.edu/resources and let them know what you need to transfer. They’ll collect everything they need, and within two weeks, your content will be in your Top Hat course.
5: I don’t want my students to use their devices in class
Top Hat requires students to use their own mobile devices or computers during class to respond to questions and discussions. However, Top Hat has a feature called Tests which can lock down students’ browsers and disable phone notifications while the test is active.
To use Top Hat but still limit device time in class, you could:
- Group your questions for the day into one or two Top Hat Monitored Tests to launch at given points in time during class to check for understanding
- Inform students when to take out their devices before the Test and put away their devices after
- Provide expectations around device use during periods when the Tests are inactive
- Explicitly frame the Tests so that students understand their purpose and the stakes (for example, they are checks for understanding and not true tests/exams even though Top Hat labels them as such)
To learn more about the monitored test tool, please read Getting Started with Top Hat Monitored Tests.