college-engagement

Large state university rolls out new engagement tool


Move could signal a larger shift in focus toward in-class engagement, officials said.

college-engagementThe Ohio State University is rolling out Top Hat campus wide as the selected classroom engagement system to nearly 65,000 students and 7,000 faculty members.

The rollout started May 1, 2015 in a renewed focus on creating an active learning environment in the classroom.

“The classroom has hardly changed in over 50 years,” said Mike Silagadze, CEO of Top Hat. “There has been a lot of focus on online learning and almost none on the in-class experience in the service of bumping up online enrollment numbers and revenues. This has resulted in an outdated sub-par classroom experience and terrible student graduation rates.”

Top Hat’s position in the education space is to enhance the student experience by making in-class learning more interactive, personalized, and helping students get more value out of their education.

The Ohio State University was looking for an engagement system that had greater functionality than a classroom polling tool, which is why it chose Top Hat. Top Hat transforms the technology devices students already own, such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops, into tools of learning and engagement.

Top Hat allows professors to instantly gauge students’ understanding, automate grading and attendance, and deliver their lecture from anywhere in the room on any tablet device.

“We designed Top hat to be easy-to-use, affordable, and full-featured to promote an active learning environment. We aim to be the dominant platform professors use to teach in the classroom,” said Mike Silagadze, CEO and co-founder of Top Hat. “We are thrilled that The Ohio State University, such a reputable and large institution, has selected Top Hat as the superior choice to simplify student engagement and create an active learning environment.”

The Ohio State University, America’s largest university, will be joining over 500 universities who have adopted Top Hat in the classroom such as Seton Hall University, the University of Georgia, and the University of Calgary.

Material from a press release was used in this report.

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Laura Ascione