Interactive content
that sparks lasting learning

Extend engagement beyond class with Top Hat’s interactive content solutions and AI-powered study tools. Easily adopt, personalize or create your own unique textbook that reflects relevant headlines and topics of interest.
of students say Top Hat
helped them understand the course material*
0 %
of students say Top Hat activities helped them feel engaged in the learning process*
0 %
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*Source: Top Hat Student Survey, Spring 2025 (students using a Top Hat textbook, n=4,078)

Make every page engaging, accessible and personalized

  1. Create course materials or upload content to Top Hat Pages, then use our AI-powered Content Enhancer to apply accessibility recommendations and low-stakes questions to your assignments

  2. Incorporate videos, images, simulations and news articles into your content—bridging theory and real-world application

  3. Get clear, real-time insights on student performance from integrated questions, so you can keep every learner on track

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Adapt, edit or create your own content from scratch

  • Turn passive readers into active learners with Top Hat’s library of editable Interactive eTexts, lab manuals and OpenStax titles—all easily personalizable to your course
  • Create your ideal textbook with instructional design support from our Custom Solutions team
  • Keep every reading relevant by customizing content down to the words, photos, videos and questions that appear in your text
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Offer meaningful and connected study support

  • Give every student personalized study support with Ace’s on-demand guidance that’s always tied to your course content
  • Let students test themselves early and often with AI-generated practice sessions that build confidence before exams
  • Spark peer-to-peer interaction with Class Threads: a built-in chat that lets students debate, ask questions and discuss concepts—right alongside course content
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Tools for teaching, learning and engaging

Interactive content is just one of the many ways Top Hat enables professors to teach with engaging content, tools and activities in online, hybrid or face-to-face classrooms

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Why students love Top Hat

I liked how the readings were similar to an article with headings and subheadings, with the addition of embedded videos and questions to test you on the information from that section.

Student

University of Ottawa

The textbook was very well organized and kept my attention. I liked the check-in questions so that I knew if it was time to take a break or if I was engaging with the readings.

Student

Mount Saint Vincent University

The AI feature on the textbook allowed for generated questions to truly test my knowledge. It came in very handy for studying for the midterm and exam.

Student

McMaster University

Frequently Asked Questions

It’s very easy to use Top Hat to create customized content and personalized learning. Using Top Hat Pages, educators can incorporate visual and interactive elements such as images, videos, student engagement features like discussions and live polling, and other personalized content to increase student comprehension. Top Hat’s AI-powered assistant Ace, one of the best AI tools for students, makes this easy with features to generate questions and examples and improve the accessibility of content. For detailed instructions on how to create personalized content, see this Support article.

Research has consistently shown that frequent low-stakes assessments can improve students’ retention and understanding across many disciplines. Assessments are commonly used as tools to measure learning, but they can also be used to enhance it—instructors can have students activate recall while they learn in class or read a college textbook, rather than only during high-stakes assessments. This approach enables retrieval practice, a strategy to strengthen memory by recalling information. As a student engagement platform rooted in active learning—coupled with digital textbooks across several disciplines—Top Hat makes it easy for educators to incorporate frequent low-stakes assessments in and outside of class. You can learn more about the research behind Top Hat here.

Top Hat Interactive eTexts combine expertly-developed college textbook content with interactive learning tools to deliver an accessible and uniquely engaging learning experience. All titles are built to reflect the unique experiences of students, using principles of active learning, cognitive scaffolding, and universal design for learning. All digital textbooks are designed with accessibility in mind, meeting WCAG 2.1 Level AA and Section 508 standards to ensure an engaging experience for every student. Paired with Top Hat’s digital textbook solutions, educators gain real-time insights into how students are engaging with the material and where they may need support. Built-in formative assessments, including live polling tools, and flexible authoring tools make it easy to adapt content—down to the individual words, photos, or videos—so lessons feel relevant, personal, and connected to students’ learning goals.
Interactive OpenStax combines the power of the Top Hat student engagement platform with OpenStax college textbooks to help educators deliver a personalized, engaging, and affordable learning experience. These interactive textbooks feature integrated low-stake assessments that provide both instructors and students with more insights into their learning, and AI-powered, personalized study support from Top Hat Ace. Interactive OpenStax college textbooks are easily customized and available at no additional cost within Top Hat.
With Top Hat Custom Solutions, educators can create fully personalized interactive textbooks that meet specific course objectives and affordability goals. Our team will share how to develop original content, personalize open educational resources (OER), customize existing materials, or mix and match from multiple sources. Our dedicated support in instructional design and project management makes it easy to create interactive textbooks that meet your affordability goals and timeline. Each custom project benefits from Top Hat’s instructional design expertise, ensuring that your course materials encourage active participation, student engagement, and measurable learning outcomes. The result: an interactive textbook that’s uniquely suited to your teaching style and students’ needs.
While both Top Hat Ace and OpenAI’s ChatGPT use AI to provide intelligent responses, Ace is specifically designed for teaching and learning. When you ask a question in ChatGPT, the relevance of the response you receive depends on the quality of your prompt and the context provided in your question. This means Ace can generate targeted answers, examples and explanations that are directly relevant to the digital textbook students are reading. Ace helps students study more effectively and provides instructors with insights into comprehension and engagement.

If you are a student looking for a specific digital textbook, make sure you are in the Top Hat course that corresponds with that text. Students can refer to the course title and unique 6-digit join code at the top of the course page to confirm they are in the right course. To find a specific interactive textbook, navigate to the All Content or Assigned for Grades section of the course. All available textbook material including chapter readings and assignments will be listed here. Students can then click into the folders to reveal their contents and select the corresponding reading or assignment to bring it up on their devices. For more information, see this Support Center article.

If your instructor is assigning Top Hat with an Interactive eText, it will be included in your purchase. Students may access their Top Hat course using the unique join code provided by their instructor. If the instructor does not require the Top Hat platform, but requires students to purchase an Interactive eText separately, please visit our Catalog to buy directly.

Top Hat offers flexible pricing options for students depending on how long they will be using the platform. Students can typically subscribe for a single term (4 months) or a full year (12 months). If an educator is using a Top Hat interactive textbook, students pay one combined price for the platform and the textbook for that term. Find more information on our Pricing page.