The Ohio State University Adopts Top Hat to Transform Their Classrooms; Signals a Larger Shift in Focus towards In-Class Engagement
TORONTO, June 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The 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 This has resulted in an outdated sub-par classroom experience and terrible student graduation rates."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. Over one million students will use Top Hat in the coming academic year; pair this with thought-leaders like The Ohio State University committing to a classroom engagement system, and it's clear to see that there is a larger shift happening within higher education.
The Ohio State University was looking for an engagement system that had greater functionality than a simple classroom polling tool, which is why they 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 Silagadze. "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.
About Top Hat
Top Hat is the leading teaching platform that professors use to create an active learning environment. Using Top Hat professors can transform students' smart phones into tools of engagement, leading to increased attendance, higher grades, and a more effective lecture experience.
In the classroom, the platform creates a seamless lecture experience where professors can automatically take attendance, present interactive slides, launch six different types of questions, facilitate an open discussion, and get real-time feedback on how well students are grasping concepts. Outside of the classroom, Top Hat's platform further engages students through assigning homework, automatic grading, and digital content.
Top Hat was founded in 2009 by two students who were inspired by the underutilization of their own devices in the classroom. Today, Top Hat is used and adored by over 500 universities, and half a million students worldwide. For more information, please visit Top Hat's website.
SOURCE Top Hat
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