Top Hat logoTop Hat is Oregon State University's centrally supported student response system (SRS). These systems are also commonly referred to as 'clickers' or 'classroom response systems'. At OSU, we have discontinued the use of a physical clicker for classroom response and adopted Top Hat in its place, which allows students to participate through a smartphone, computer, or tablet. 

Top Hat includes a collection of tools that are free for faculty, but students are required to purchase a license to use their Top Hat account for their courses.

  • Top Hat Classroom: Take in-class attendance, launch discussions and questions during lecture, and get real-time feedback
  • Top Hat Assignment: Create, personalize and assign homework with auto-grade capabilities
  • Top Hat Textbook: Adopt and customize interactive textbooks and course materials from Top Hat
  • Top Hat Test: Administer tests and quizzes in a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) environment using Top Hat’s proprietary lock-out capabilities

The standard Top Hat license allows students to interact with an instructor's Top Hat Classroom, Assignment, and Test tools. Students may need to pay for access to an instructor's Top Hat Textbook (though 90% of the content in the Top Hat Marketplace is open and free to use in your courses). Students must purchase a Top Hat license through the OSU Beaver Store or the Top Hat website.

Getting Started with Top Hat

Faculty interested in using Top Hat in their courses should begin by taking the following actions:

  1. Create a Top Hat account and bookmark the Top Hat login page for quick access.
  2. Contact the OSU Learning Platform Services team for support

Faculty can find resources to share with their students on our Top Hat Student Support page.