Student-centered learning focuses on the meaningful needs and development of students in class, rather than the pedagogical course material as an endpoint. And it’s worth investing time in getting right, particularly if you’re currently using traditional, structured “chalk and talk” teaching methods within your course design and learning environment. But some innovative educators are evolving […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Yik Yak, a college-based, largely anonymous, chat app shut down earlier this year after numerous accounts of cyberbullying, racism and bomb threats. Now another app, called Islands, may be about to take its place. Like Yik Yak, Islands is a chat-based app built specifically with college students in mind. Also, like Yik Yak, it’s location-based, […]
You wouldn’t normally expect students to have passionate opinions about their textbooks, let alone rave about them. But when Professor John Redden used Top Hat’s platform to build an interactive anatomy textbook for his class, 83% of his students said that it was “better than other books”—both interactive and digital—they’d ever tried before. As assistant […]
In 2006, when Pluto lost its status as a planet, textbooks didn’t help alleviate confusion over the galactic changeup. Many still counted it as part of the solar system. As several new terms were being debated (is it a “dwarf planet”? a “plutoid?”), textbooks struggled to keep up with debate, and it appears many stopped […]
For decades, Carnegie Mellon University has been at the forefront of the development of technology-enhanced learning. But when administrators discovered that, within their own institution, new evidence-based classroom technology was not being widely adopted, educational anthropologist Dr. Lauren Herckis was brought in to investigate. After receiving a $1-million, two-year grant from Carnegie Corporation of New […]
The historian Melvin Kranzberg reminded us—in the first of his “Laws of Technology”—that “technology is neither good nor evil.” And yet, he insisted, “neither is it neutral.” Our tools (however advanced) remain expressions of human intent. They magnify both our follies and our promise. So, to adopt a Kranzbergian attitude, where are there openings that […]
Deborah Carroll is a Psychology professor at Southern Connecticut State University and contributing author of a chapter of Top Hat’s interactive text Statistics for Social Science. In the latest instalment of our webinar series, Why Innovative Educators Are Using Interactive Content, she talked about the lesson structure behind how she teaches a particular statistical concept—and […]
VR in education isn't just entertaining. It could become integral to a holistic, three-dimensional understanding of a particular subject. We look at trends in VR in higher education and how it is impacting the classroom
Dr. Thierry Karsenti, Canada Research Chair on Technologies in Education, believes technology in class is inevitable and should be embraced soon as possible.
It's essential for instructors to have an accurate attendance tracker. Here's our evaluation of the most popular technologies—polling, GPS and proximity.
Professor Carl Braunlich explains the advantages that an interactive textbook has over print -- it can be kept up-to-date, for one.