We spoke to Elijah Mayfield and Todd Brekhus, two of the top influencers in the educational technology world, to get their 2018 edtech predictions. According to both, if the edtech industry is able to prove its financial and educational worth next year, it can focus on creating new ways of learning, engaging and assessing students […]
There are no typical students, and no typical classroom. Some students might have never grown up with a university tradition in their family. Some might not know how to equally participate in a class discussion. Some may be overwhelmed, and some might start out enthusiastic but lose attention over time. For each of these scenarios, […]
In a world of proclaimed experts on social media, who is actually worth listening to? We’ve picked 10 people doing interesting and boundary-changing work in the education technology spere, ranging from CEOs to podcasters. Upgrade your feed and follow these edtech social media leaders today. Adam Bellow Adam Bellow is best known as the co-founder […]
Student demographics are changing from the days when college class attendance taking was common and attendance was fully mandatory in every course. More and more people take classes part-time and balance their studies with family and jobs. While attendance remains important to many, online textbooks, video conferencing and other tools can allow for learning to […]
The students have spoken and one thing is clear: They view their mobile devices as an essential part of in-class learning. In early November, Top Hat’s inaugural Student Pulse Survey was sent out to over 500 students, asking them for their opinions on textbooks, technology, cellphones in school and the ways that higher education might […]
Educators have good reasons for turning their backs on traditional textbooks. While textbooks have until now been an essential teaching tool, they’re no longer doing the job they need to do
Professors have always had to contend with cheating in college, but thanks to the growing use of technology in the classroom, students are finding new, inventive methods—they’re recording and playing back what faculty members type. The practice, known as keylogging, made headlines last month when a student at the University of Iowa was arrested for […]
Visual learners make up 65 percent of the student population, according to the Social Science Research Network. So it only makes sense that if you’re teaching using slides, diagrams and charts, you should test knowledge in class by asking lecture questions in the same medium. Top Hat’s “click on target” question format shows students an […]
The results are in from our comprehensive survey of over 5,000 educators across the United States and the world—our definitive barometer of the current trends in education. Among the most important findings: 63% say that the biggest issue currently facing their school is underfunding 78% believe students are more distracted than ever before 75% claim […]
Instructors are increasingly using Open Educational Resources (OER). But given the wide variety of materials available, how do you judge their provenance? What defines good OER? OER includes educational materials in the public domain or with an open license that anyone can freely use, copy and adapt. They range from textbooks to lecture notes, examinations and […]
In an extract from our new teaching guide, Innovative and Unexpected Ways to Teach Your College Class, we look at a couple of great gamification examples that can get students enthusiastically preparing for your class while they hope for victory over their peers… and have the side-effect of learning. Innovation isn’t always synonymous with technology. While […]
Every teacher knows what a pedagogical lecture plan is meant to achieve in the classroom. But if you want to know how to organize your approaches towards engaging lectures that make the most of in-class time and promote deeper interaction among students and their peers, yet still focus on your instructional learning outcomes, try our […]
Three years ago, the global consulting firm McKinsey & Company provided a dire forecast for the sector in a report titled The Future of Textbooks. “Higher education publishers face a growing threat from the rental-textbook market,” the report said, predicting that rentals would begin to cannibalize new textbook sales by 2017. “Publishers can meet this […]
Filmed in Chicago at Engage 2017, Malgosia Green’s keynote kicked off Day 2 of the conference. With the rapid rise of modern technology, the challenges that university campuses are facing have changed. Yet most higher education institutions are slow to evolve and remain mired in old ways of thinking. The result: unhappy and disengaged students. […]
There’s more to testing than paper. And as schools demand assessment technology that is secure, accessible and respects the integrity of exam conditions during tests taken in class, the market of online exam solutions is expanding. Here are some assessment technologies that provide educators the tools to create secure online exams and maintain academic integrity, […]
Long before the existence of the Internet, students have found ways to cheat. They wrote mathematical formulas on their hands or tried to sneak a peek at their neighbor’s exam paper. But in the digital age, to prevent cheating in college, instructors have to give up more of their time. Now, students can copy and […]
In-class discussion forums sound good in theory, but in practice, they’re too often abandoned within your LMS as soon as the first thread is posted. With discussions in Top Hat Classroom, you can say goodbye to zero participation, and realize the potential of class discussion as an active, mobile in-class participation tool. Discussions have all […]
Teaching STEM students often means rote memorization, a technique that can cause disengagement and resentment. Our latest innovative educator, Professor Neil Garg, has found a more effective way of teaching organic chemistry—his BACON project, which supplements complex molecular diagrams with common visualizations. As undergraduate science courses go, organic chemistry has a terrible reputation—and Neil Garg […]
Educators have good reasons for turning their backs on traditional textbooks. While textbooks have until now been an essential teaching tool, they’re no longer doing the job they need to do. Here are three reasons why. 1. They’re outdated The way textbooks have traditionally been created and conceived is incredibly antiquated. Textbooks—especially the standard editions […]
What is an adjunct professor? An adjunct professor, a term most often used in the U.S., is a temporary, part-time appointment brought in by college administrations to teach. Many adjunct professors teach at short notice on part-time contract; many more teach at more than one institution, looking to supplement their income from their other careers. […]