Top Hat Student Review

It has helped me so much with this class. It has given me a new way to go about grasping the material and I would highly suggest it to other people.

Pros

I used it in my economics class, and we had embedded questions within our chapters. It really makes you slow down to understand and grasp the concepts.

Cons

We had problems with being able to go back and view which questions were answered correctly or incorrectly. I also wish there were more functions like notes and bookmarks along with the highlighting.

Easy to use and helpful features

Overall I am pretty happy with Top Hat. It would definitely fall in the upper end of programs I have used. The students also seem to enjoy it as well.

Pros

I was able to log into Top Hat and immediately start using it without any training. It’s a pretty intuitive site. Seeing the grades and attendance is straightforward and has been easier to edit than other programs that I have used.

Cons

When students are submitting their quizzes or comments there is major lag time and I am not sure if that is because of the software or internet connectivity. I am never entirely sure if I know how many people have turned in their questions. Until about 3 minutes after the questions is over. Also, I wish there was a way to edit slides when they are posted into Top Hat because when I upload sometimes the slides become distorted and I need to make the text smaller or rearrange it so that it fits on the screen and can be read. Also, sometimes the link to videos do not work.

TopHat

Pros

Easy to use and navigate. Love the top hat questions feature. Customer service is quick.

Cons

Had a few technical errors which can be annoying

It works, but isn't the most cost effective solution

Pros

Students answer questions in real time and the percentages of what answers were chosen can then be displayed.

Cons

As a student who had to use the software, the cost can be annoying. You have to pay based on how long you think you'll need the software, which you won't always know if you're not sure whether future classes will use the software. For example, you might decide to pay for 1 years use because it's "cheaper" over time, but you only ended up having a class use it for 3 months. So you wasted money paying for the rest of the subscription and the company gets more money from struggling college students. And of course, the opposite could happen where you pay for 1 quarter, then another classes uses it and you'd have to pay for it again. Before Top Hat came along, iClicker was the more commonly used tech and does the same job. With iClicker, you only had to pay one time for the remote and then you could sell the remote to another student, which was much more cost effective for students.

Easy to Use Learning Tool

Top Hat is a wonderful asset to have, and I'm glad my professors have been utilizing it. It has increased the regularity and clarity of communication between myself and my professors.

Pros

When it comes to student/professor education software, I have found, as a student, that my favorite software programs are ones that professors are able to access and utilize with ease. The reason for this is that when professors utilize the functions available on education software, my life gets easier. Instead of dealing with streams of AOL emails, I get succinct and clean information and communication through a user-friendly platform. My professors who use Top Hat are VERY comfortable with it and seem to maximize its potential. Top Hat is easy for me to use, and it's evidently really easy for my professors to use. It's clean, sleek, and really user-friendly. Also, I like how Top Hat is device-friendly; their mobile app is great.

Cons

I've been using it for a few months and have not yet run into anything that I have a problem with. Everything's been great so far.