Top Hat Engage 2020 is just five weeks away, taking place from March 5–7 in New Orleans. Join hundreds of like-minded and passionate educators with a collective goal of making a more significant positive impact on today’s students by teaching with insight. Discover how real-time teaching decisions—powered by data-driven insights—can maximize engagement, personalize learning opportunities and enhance student outcomes.
At Top Hat’s higher ed conference, you’ll get inspired by your academic peers. You’ll learn practical Top Hat tips and tricks that improve your teaching experience. You’ll become better equipped to help your students succeed inside and outside of the classroom.
We’ve asked some of our attendees what they’re most excited about. Continue reading to learn more about some of our educational workshops, keynote presentations and networking opportunities at Engage 2020.
“Seeing how other instructors incorporate Top Hat in their courses and sharing how I engage with my students”
The Efficacy Grant recipient research showcase will feature three researchers who have dedicated themselves to examining how our active learning platform can be implemented to support faculty effectiveness, student engagement and achieving successful learner outcomes.
“How to keep my students’ attention during my lectures”
The “Student Success in the 21st Century: How Instructors Can Evolve Their Approach Along with Students’ Needs” session will discuss how educators can use technology to their advantage. Our panelists will advocate for the use of technology in the classroom to keep course materials up-to-date and students focused on course content during lectures by using the multimedia and interactive tools they already know and love.
“Learning how other educators use interactive tools to achieve excellence in teaching, student cognitive learning and how they have measured such outcomes.”
Dr. Lauren Herckis, an anthropologist at Carnegie Mellon University, will discuss the rapid pace of change today’s professors and students are experiencing and the social, cultural and academic forces affecting that change. She will illustrate how faculty can look for support from their institutions while implementing new interactive technologies that allow them to harness data and insights aimed at improving their teaching.
“I look forward to learning about new features in Top Hat that can further enhance my teaching”
The opening keynote will be led by Mike Silagadze, Top Hat’s co-founder and CEO. He will discuss how technology has reshaped virtually every element of our lives and how the key to thriving in this age of disruption means embracing technology, the very source of disruption itself. Silagadze will discuss how Top Hat embraces this disruption to improve the return that college and university students get on their educational investment through new product updates and a more streamlined platform.
“Building my expertise with the latest teaching trends and technology, hearing from teaching experts and networking with like-minded educators who share a passion for higher education.”
The “Innovation-Based Learning (IBL) Session” uses a student-centred pedagogical approach to focus on aligning course content to a student’s academic pursuits with the aim of helping them develop critical thinking, collaboration, communication, problem solving and leadership skills. Professor Joe Sanchez has trained over 800 educators on instituting IBL in their classrooms to give learners a deeper understanding of how their knowledge can extend to their endeavours outside the classroom.
“Learning more about bringing active learning into my class and how Top Hat textbook helps increase readership and reduce DFW rates.”
In the “Tech and Techniques That Motivate Learners Outside the Classroom” session, three professors will discuss the tools they use to engage their students before, during and after class. From bonus points systems to assigned homework readings that drive deeper engagement with instructional video and practice questions, this session will provide educators with pragmatic ideas that use tech tools and platforms to expand the time for learning.
“New trends in education and to hear thoughts and ideas about where education is heading”
Day two of Engage programming concludes with a keynote presentation led by Nina Bilimoria Angelo, Top Hat’s VP Product Marketing. Bilimoria Angelo will discuss how data-driven insights and iterative feedback loops are vital in shaping and improving the learning experience. She will discuss how educators can use technology to uncover insights that make teaching more effective and more relevant to today’s students.
“I have attended all of the Engage conferences. They are just the right mixture of learning, professionalism and laid-back-ness! The sessions are super-fun, as is the networking.”
The Birds of a Feather Networking Lunch provides the opportunity for educators of different disciplines to share experience and collegial advice on navigating the triumphs and tribulations on the modern college campus. This lunch is a chance to learn practical Top Hat tips and tricks that streamline the teaching and learning experience. You’ll leave better prepared to generate successful student outcomes inside and outside the classroom.
“More robust ways of developing interactive content and using the Top Hat platform to engage students”
The “Blended and Hybrid Learning with Technology: A Design Workshop” session will demonstrate how implementing a blended and interactive learning model helps improve engagement and success rates. In this hands-on workshop, participants will examine successful blended learning models. Working in small groups, they will learn how to leverage face-to-face and online interactive course delivery tools and platforms to achieve your course’s overall objectives.
“Learning how active learning can be used within the classroom can increase student comprehension of key concepts”
Our Top Hat Engage 2020 final keynote will be delivered by Dr. Christopher Emdin, an associate professor at Columbia University. Emdin will discuss the philosophical approaches and teaching strategies educators can harness to improve engagement and academic success rates of diverse, interdisciplinary student populations.
