Top Hat aims to transform student engagement by empowering educators to deliver personalized, meaningful and equitable learning.
Top Hat is the leader in student engagement for higher education. Our AI-powered platform helps educators create interactive, personalized learning experiences that deepen connection and drive meaningful student success. Reimagining Engagement in Higher Education
Top Hat is the leader in student engagement for higher education. Grounded in learning science and powered by AI, our platform helps ed
ucators create interactive, personalized learning experiences that deepen connection, strengthen belonging, and drive student success. A Platform Built for the Way Students Learn
What started as a tool to make lectures more interactive has grown into something bigger—a platform that makes learning come alive, from the first class to the final exam. Everything we build supports how students learn best: by doing, questioning, solving, and applying knowledge. Today, 30,000+ instructors at over 1,500 institutions use Top Hat to support more than 3 million students, turning classrooms into spaces of active exploration and connection. Our platform combines real-time engagement tools with customizable, interactive textbooks, homework, testing, and powerful analytics—all in one integrated experience. With Top Hat Ace, our AI-powered teaching and learning assistant, educators save time on course prep and students get the personalized study help they need to stay confident and on track. Sparking Better Teaching and Learning
Learning happens when students feel connected—to their instructors, their peers, and the material. That’s why Top Hat is built to do more than deliver content. We help educators teach with proven practices that boost engagement, comprehension, and outcomes—while keeping the human element at the heart of it all. Follow us to see how innovative educators are using Top Hat to help students stay engaged, motivated, and on track—on campuses across North America.
08/13/2026
Kinda chic to teach smarter.💅🏼 Even chicer to have the tools to do something about it.
From turning lectures into two-way conversations to spotting learning gaps in real time, Top Hat helps you spend less time on admin work and more time creating those aha moments.
⚡️ Spark participation with live polls and discussions
📊 See who’s thriving—and who could use support
📕 Make course content interactive and easy to update
🗓️ Take attendance without the attendance sheet
🤖 AI to streamline prep and give students personalized study support
We're honored to share that Top Hat has been named one of TIME's World's Top EdTech Companies 2026!🎉
This marks the second time we've earned this recognition, highlighting our continued commitment to helping educators create more engaging, active and meaningful learning experiences.
A heartfelt thank you to our customers, partners and team members who make this possible.
Teaching is at its best when students are engaged, connected and excited to learn. 🌼
That's why we've partnered with renowned educator and author Flower Darby to create a free 90 min Learning Lab filled with practical, evidence-based strategies you can use to foster deeper participation, stronger belonging and more meaningful learning—whether you teach online, in person or both.
Students learn more when they're curious. But how do we cultivate curiosity in today's classroom?
Watch Todd Zakrajsek unpack this topic at Top Hat Summer Camp 2026 next Thursday, June 18. You'll leave with actionable strategies you can bring back to your courses right away.
What if AI could help students engage more deeply with readings instead of helping them avoid them?
In this episode of "Intentional Teaching," Professor Jessa Roisen shares how she uses AI-powered activities in Top Hat to make philosophy readings more active, and engaging. Students role-play conversations with characters from the text, teach concepts back to AI chatbots, and explore ideas through examples tailored to their own interests.
It’s a thoughtful example of using AI to help students wrestle with complex ideas in more meaningful ways.
“Read Chapter 3” sounds simple enough. But for many students, making sense of complex readings requires more structure and support along the way.
In this episode of "Intentional Teaching," Professor Jessa Roisen shares how she uses Top Hat to help students engage more deeply with difficult texts. Instead of assigning 25 pages and hoping for the best, she embeds questions directly into the reading to help students pause, reflect and process key ideas as they go.
We’ve rounded up standout titles from influential voices featured in our latest blog—authors who are rethinking education, student engagement and the classroom experience. Check out the latest work from Flower Darby, Jessamyn Neuhaus, Susan Blum and more!
As the semester comes to a close, the real impact of teaching is just beginning.
To the instructors who sparked curiosity, challenged thinking, and made learning stick, this is your moment, too. Because students leave with more than knowledge. They leave with confidence, questions and possibility.
Here's a small reminder of the impact educators make every single day — with love from Top Hat.
04/23/2026
AI is changing learning. Shouldn’t assessment change, too?
Join Dr. Susan Blum (author of "Ungrading") for a live webinar on April 30 to explore fresh, alternative approaches that boost student engagement and deepen learning.
✨ Rethink traditional grading
✨ Discover authentic assessment strategies
✨ Walk away with practical ideas you can use right away
Reading isn’t just about keeping up with coursework—it might be one of the last places students can actually slow down and think. In a world of constant pings, scrolls, and notifications, that’s not easy.
In our latest episode of Higher Listenings, Jim Lang (author of "Small Teaching" and "Distracted") reframes reading not as a requirement—but as a gift. One that can bring focus, clarity, and even a bit of calm in an otherwise fragmented day.
08/13/2026
04/30/2026