Top Hat

The Top Hat learning platform is an interactive, cloud-based teaching platform that leverages students’ mobile devices to increase in-class engagement and get real-time feedback. Top Hat can be used in the following ways: 

  • Engage students using interactive slides, questions, attendance tracking, customized content, videos, discussions, and polls. 
  • Create and personalize homework to build student comprehension. 
  • Securely administer exams and quizzes directly on students’ devices. 

Instructor Resources

Create a New Course Top Hat Course

  1. Log into Top Hat and select Create Course from your course lobby.
  2. A pop-up window will now appear requiring you to input the required course details. Once complete, select Create.

For more information, view the Getting Started with Top Hat video.

Import Existing Content From a Previous Course

Follow these steps to import content from a previous course. You must be listed as a professor in both the previous and new courses. 

  1. Create a new course using the steps listed above. 
  2. Navigate to the existing course, select the content to be copied, and select Copy. (Note, max 300 items can be copied at any one time)
  3. In the pop-up window, choose the course from the dropdown list you wish to copy the content into and choose either Copy to Top or Copy to Bottom of the content tree.
  4. Choose Copy Here. The content will now be copied to the new course.

Connecting Top Hat to your Canvas Course

To add Top Hat to your Canvas course, follow the steps in these guides:

  1. Include information about Top Hat in your syllabus by copying the syllabus statement below
  2. Open your Canvas course
  3. Follow the steps in Top Hat’s “Integrating Top Hat with Canvas at Iowa State University” online faculty guide or view the video.

Using Top Hat with Your Canvas Course

Using the new integration can be as simple or complicated as you wish.

  • Roster Sync: At its most basic, professors can use the automatic roster sync to ensure that only currently enrolled students can access the Top Hat information. Read more about using the Canvas roster sync and the new procedure for students to sign into the Top Hat course. Students no longer need a join code to access the Top Hat course. Instead, they need only to click the Top Hat link in their Canvas course navigation the first time they access the Top Hat course. All subsequent Top Hat sessions can be launched directly from the website or mobile app. View the Invite Students and Sync Rosters video for more information.
  • Deep Linking: A new feature available through this integration is linking directly to specific Top Hat content from within Canvas. This feature enables students to find all of the material they are accountable for, graded or non-graded, in one place. Creating a deep link to Top Hat content will also enable automatic grade syncing for that assignment.
  • Grade Sync: The new integration facilitates automatic and manual grade syncing between Top Hat and Canvas. Grades are synced automatically for deep linked content, or manually for unlinked content.

Syllabus Statement

Add the statement below to the required technologies section of your syllabus.

This course will use the Top Hat response system in class. Visit the Top Hat learning tool guide to view the terms of service, privacy policy, accessibility statement, and instructions for joining the Top Hat course and engaging with the Top Hat course.

Student Resources

Create a Top Hat Account

If you have not previously used Top Hat, you will be prompted to create a new account the first time you click the Top Hat 1.3 link in your Canvas course. Please note that you must create your Top Hat account using a web browser. You cannot create an account using the mobile app. 


Engaging with a Top Hat Course

To access Top Hat, use a…

See the Student: Checking Grades article for guidance on seeing the results of your submissions.

Licensing

All students, faculty, and staff members with an Iowa State Net-ID have access at no charge.
Top Hat uses your ISU netID and password to log in.

Policies

 

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