Top Hat provides an efficient way to reuse and manage educational materials by allowing you to easily copy content, primarily between courses. This feature is invaluable for instructors looking to save time and maintain consistency across different sections or semesters.
Copying Content Between Top Hat Courses
The ability to copy content from one course to another is a core Top Hat functionality, specifically designed to help instructors pull assignments and other materials for reuse. This streamlines the process of setting up new courses or updating existing ones, ensuring that your valuable educational resources are easily transferable.
The Process of Copying Course Content
While the exact interface might vary slightly with updates, the general steps for copying content between your Top Hat courses typically involve:
- Access Your Course: Log in to Top Hat and navigate to the course where you wish to add the copied content.
- Initiate Copy: Look for a "Copy Content," "Import Content," or similar option, often found within the course settings, content manager, or a dedicated menu. This allows you to easily copy content from one course to another.
- Select Source Course: You will be prompted to choose the "source" course – the course from which you want to copy materials. This is where you can pull assignments from a previous offering or a master course.
- Choose Content to Copy: Browse the content of the source course and select the specific items you wish to transfer. This could include individual questions, pages, assignments, or even entire folders.
- Review and Confirm: Once you've selected your desired content, review your choices and confirm the copy operation. The selected materials will then be imported into your current course.
For detailed, step-by-step instructions, you can refer to Top Hat's official support resources: Copying Content in Top Hat.
What Content Can Be Copied?
Top Hat's copying feature is versatile, supporting a wide range of content types that can be transferred between courses. This includes:
- Questions: Multiple choice, short answer, fill-in-the-blank, click on target, word cloud, and more.
- Pages: Lecture slides, text-based content, embedded videos, and interactive elements.
- Assignments: Quizzes, tests, and homework modules.
- Folders: Organize your content by copying entire folders to maintain structure.
Here's a quick overview of common content types that can be copied:
| Content Type | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Questions | Interactive questions used for engagement and assessment. | Can be copied individually or as part of a page/assignment. |
| Pages | Comprehensive lecture slides or content pages with various elements. | Often include embedded questions, discussions, or media. |
| Assignments | Structured sets of questions or activities for grading. | Essential for reusing graded work across semesters. |
| Folders | Organizational structures for grouping related content. | Helps maintain the original organization when copying large sections. |
Best Practices for Copying Content
To ensure a smooth and effective content transfer, consider these best practices:
- Review After Copying: Always check the copied content in the new course to ensure everything transferred correctly and appears as intended.
- Adjust Due Dates: If you're copying assignments, quizzes, or pages with associated due dates, remember to update them to reflect the current course's schedule.
- Check Settings: Verify any specific settings for questions or assignments (e.g., grading policies, anonymity, availability) to match the requirements of the new course.
- Organize First: Before copying large amounts of content, ensure your source course content is well-organized within folders. This makes selection and subsequent management in the new course much easier.
Duplicating Content Within a Course
In addition to copying content between courses, Top Hat also allows for easy duplication of individual items within the same course. This is useful for:
- Creating Variations: Quickly duplicate a question to create a similar but slightly modified version.
- Reusing Elements: Duplicate a slide or text box to use its formatting or layout as a template for new content on the same page.
- Backup: Create a quick duplicate of an important item before making significant edits.
This internal duplication feature typically involves selecting the item (e.g., a question or page) and choosing a "Duplicate" or "Copy" option available in its contextual menu.
