Turning Point will take its final bow during the summer 2017 and be replaced by Top Hat for the autumn semester. There are several reasons for this change, but chiefly, Turning Point does not interface well with Microsoft Office 2016.
Pedagogically, Top Hat can be used as a student engagement tool to test student’s prior knowledge, check for understanding of material recently presented, encourage class participation and engagement, and take attendance. The question types vary in range from a standard multiple choice question to “Hot Spot” questions that allow students to click on an area in an image for identification.
Questions can be asked as a block at the beginning or the end of class, or in between lecture chunks to check for comprehension. It also interfaces with CarmenCanvas, allowing professors to assign points to Top Hat questions that are automatically entered into the gradebook.
Practically, professors can upload non-animated slides to the Top Hat website and integrate their questions just as they always have. You can even use point/click devices to advance from slide to slide, making the integration seamless for the professor and student.
We have been working with Top Hat to develop a way to deal with animated slides or slides that include video. Currently, if these slides are uploaded to Top Hat, the animations cannot be viewed through the Top Hat website. You can still use the Top Hat Presenter App to pose questions, but this has proved awkward for professors who have to shift from their presentation to the app.
The good news is that we have discovered two ways you can embed video in Top Hat using Discussion, Question, or Pages to integrate the content in the presentation more seamlessly. For more information on how to make better use of Top Hat, please see Katie O’Keefe (VMC 0076A) to schedule a consultation, or you can read about it at the Top Hat site at the Links below.
Embedding Content into Your Slide Presentation