Guest Mode is a feature in Top Hat that allows users to participate in Top Hat presentations (slides and questions) without needing to log in or create an account. When the presenter begins displaying content in a course that has Guest Mode enabled, participants can join the Guest Mode session using a QR code or short URL displayed on the screen.
For most situations, Guest Mode replaces the need to ask Top Hat staff to open the course to an anonymous audience.
The Guest Mode feature is largely intended for presentations outside the context of the classroom, such as:
- Conferences and Events
- Trainings
- Seminars
- Presentations for participants who have Top Hat Instructor accounts
When using Top Hat Guest Mode, you can:
- Show slides
- Present questions
- Export question results
- Host up to 500 concurrent users
You should be aware of the following considerations and limitations when using Guest Mode:
- Guest Mode is not available in a Top Hat course with more than 10 registered students.
- Guest Mode can only be used up to five times in a single Top Hat course.
- Because guest participants are not registered students, you cannot assign content or take attendance.
- Guest Mode sessions last for 12 hours after participants begin responding to questions.
Setting Up and Using Guest Mode
To manage Guest Mode as a presenter:
- Navigate to your Top Hat Course and click the arrow button next to the Present button.
- Click to Enable guest mode. By default, Guest Mode is disabled.
Presenter Experience
If Guest Mode is enabled, you will be informed before beginning a sessions that it is currently enabled. You will also see how many Guest Mode sessions you have remaining. You have the option to disable Guest Mode at this point.
When you begin presenting content in a course with Guest Mode enabled, a QR code or short URL is display on the screen to allow participants to join the session. At this point, you have another opportunity to disable Guest Mode before presenting. In large rooms, if the QR code does not appear big enough for the audience to scan, you can click the QR code to expand its size.
Instructions to join the Guest Mode session are displayed with each question you present.
Outside of the differences outlined above, the experience of presenting in Guest Mode is otherwise the same as a traditional Top Hat presentation.
Joining and Participating as a Guest
To join a Guest Mode session as a participant:
Scan the QR code displayed on the screen or visit app.tophat.com/guest and enter the displayed join code.
Image
- Input your name when prompted. All responses you submit during the session are saved under this name and included in the exported results.
Viewing Questions as a Guest Mode Participant
As questions are displayed by the presenter, they will appear on your browser's screen. Slide content is visible only on the projected display.
Considerations when Participating as a Guest
- Guest Mode users will interact with Top Hat using their mobile device browser. The Top Hat app is designed for use by registered students.
- If you are logged in to a Top Hat Professor account, you will be presented with an error screen that asks you to open an incognito window before visiting app.tophat.com/guest and inputting the displayed join code.
Managing Grades and Results
Note that guest users will not show up in the course Gradebook or student manager. However, polling results will still be available by navigating to a given question in the Gradebook:
- Click the Gradebook tab at the top of your course page and navigate to the question you desire to pull results from.
- Then click the arrow button next to the Export button.
Next click the Grades and Responses button. This will create an Excel file with all grades and responses for the selected question.
Image
The exported results will include the name that guest users input when joining the Guest Mode session.