Getting Started with Attendance Tracking: Top Hat

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Topic

Top Hat is a useful way to track course attendance automatically. Top Hat attendance can be synced to the LMS and included in your grade calculations. There is no need to add course content to Top Hat in order to use this feature.

Connecting your course to TopHat

Canvas

Blackboard Original and Ultra

Accessing Top Hat

  1. Access Top Hat at app.tophat.com/login
  2. Search for and select “Ohio University”
  3. Select Log in with school account
  4. Log in with your OHIO credentials (if prompted)

Creating a Top Hat course to capture attendance

Syncing your course to the LMS (optional)

Syncing your Top Hat course to the LMS allows attendance to auto-populate in the LMS. 

Canvas

Instructions for syncing a Canvas Course can be found on Top Hat's help article Advanced Canvas Integration

Blackboard Original

  1. Access your course in Blackboard at blackboard.ohio.edu
  2. Add the Top Hat integration to your Blackboard course
  3. Select Learning Modules
  4. Select Build Content
  5. Select Top Hat Course Launch
  6. Select Submit
  7. Select the Top Hat attendance space that you just created (this will take you back to Top Hat to Connect your Courses)
  8. Select the Top Hat course that you would like to sync to your Blackboard course
  9. Select Connect
  10. Close the Top Hat browser tabs

Note: The next time you access the TH link in your BB course you will be directed to your corresponding TH course

Blackboard Ultra

  1. Access your course in Blackboard at blackboard.ohio.edu
  2. Add the Top Hat integration to your Blackboard course
  3. Under Books & Tools, select View course & institutional tools
  4. Scroll down and select Browse all course tools
  5. Scroll down to Top Hat Course Launch and select the + symbol 
  6. Select Top Hat Course Launch on your Blackboard course page (this will take you back to Top Hat to Connect your Courses)
  7. Select the Top Hat course that you would like to sync to your Blackboard course
  8. Select Continue (You will receive a message that the Top Hat and Blackboard courses have been successfully linked)
  9. Return to your Blackboard Ultra course and set your Top Hat Course Launch link “visible to students”

Enabling secure geolocation attendance (optional)

You can enable the geolocation option to ensure that students are physically present when submitting attendance

  1. Access Course Settings in Top Hat
  • From the home page select Settings on the course you wish to configure

Or

  • From inside the course Select “your name” from the right top corner
    • Select Course Settings
  1. Select Attendance
  2. Select Use “secure” location-based attendance for in-person classes
  3. Select Save

Providing Top Hat course information to students (preferably on the first day)

This step Is required for initial student enrollment into your Top Hat course

Canvas

For Canvas please follow instructions found in Top Hat's help article Complete Course Enrolment with Canvas

Blackboard Original

For Blackboard students should access the Top Hat Course Launch link in the Blackboard course

  1. Log into the Blackboard Original course
  2. Select Learning Modules
  3. Select Top Hat Course Launch 

Students may later access Top Hat via the:

Blackboard Ultra

For Blackboard students should access the Top Hat Course Launch link in the Blackboard course

  1. Log into the Blackboard Ultra course
  2. Select Top Hat Course Launch on the course homepage

Students may later access Top Hat via the:

Taking daily attendance 

  • If you are only using Top Hat for attendance

  1. From the Top Hat home screen access your course by clicking on the course title
  2. Select Create
  3. Select Take Attendance
  4. Share your screen with the class
  5. Direct students to submit their attendance using the 4-digit code on the screen

Note: You can leave attendance open for the duration of your class session by selecting Minimize and keep open or end the attendance submission period by selecting Finish

Note: You can see the number of submissions on the Attendance Code page

Image of Top Hat attendance code and submission options

Accessing most recent attendance data

  • To update attendance in the LMS

Note: You will need to complete these steps each time you want to update your attendance in the LMS

  1. Access Top Hat
  2. Select the desired course
  3. Select GRADEBOOK
  4. Select the “Sync with LMS” symbol (circular arrows)

Top Hat Sync with LMS symbol

  1. Select Attendance > Sync with LMS (You should recieve a "Syncing grades to LMS. Syncing will continue even if you close this page." message)
  2. Access your corresponding course in the LMS
  3. Access you grades in the LMS

  • To download an Excel file from Top Hat

  1. Log into Top Hat at app.tophat.com/login
  2. Select the name of your course
  3. Select  GRADEBOOK
  4. Select the "down arrow" next to Export to select download options 

Get help from OIT

Visit the Classroom Hardware: Attendance Tracking page to create a ticket

Additional resources

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