The short answer
Yes, for Top Hat homework, readings and revision — and you should be careful about the rest. Top Hat is unusual among course platforms because much of it runs live during class, where questions are often graded for participation and answered in real time. That is much closer to an assessment than a homework assignment, so the honest answer is: useful for the study material, and not something to lean on during a live in-class question.
Where an AI study tool genuinely helps with Top Hat
- Interactive readings and textbook chapters — get a dense passage explained at a different level before class.
- Homework and practice sets assigned outside class time, where your instructor permits AI.
- Reviewing questions you already answered — understanding why you got one wrong is the whole point of a participation question.
- Exam revision — turning your Top Hat readings and past questions into practice material.
Should I use AI during a live Top Hat question in class?
No, and we would rather say so plainly than sell you something. In-class Top Hat questions are usually graded for participation or correctness in real time, which makes them assessment rather than practice. Published academic integrity guidance is consistent that where an activity does not explicitly permit AI, the default is that it is disallowed — and a live graded question almost never permits it. Using a tool there also defeats the purpose: those questions exist so your instructor can see what the room has and has not understood, and answering them with AI removes the one signal that would have got the concept re-explained.
How does an AI homework helper work with Top Hat?
It opens a study panel on the Top Hat page you already have open in your browser, rather than in a separate tab. Because it reads the content in place, it sees the passage, diagram or question as written, and returns the reasoning beside it. For interactive readings in particular this is the useful mode: you can ask for the paragraph you just stalled on to be explained differently, without losing your place in the chapter.
Does it work with Top Hat readings and textbooks?
Yes. Top Hat's interactive readings render in the browser, so an extension can read the passage on screen and explain it. This is where most of the value sits for Top Hat specifically — the readings are frequently the assigned preparation, and a paragraph you do not follow before the lecture becomes a lecture you do not follow either. Getting an alternative explanation while you read is straightforwardly good studying.
Do I need my school or instructor to install anything?
No. A browser extension installs on your own machine and touches nothing on your institution's Top Hat account — there is no integration to enable and nothing for IT to approve or maintain. That is separate from whether you are permitted to use AI for a given activity, which your course sets. Managed or school-issued devices sometimes restrict extension installation, which is a device policy question rather than a Top Hat one.
What about attendance and participation grades?
An AI study tool has nothing to do with attendance, and treating it as a way to handle participation grades is the wrong frame entirely. Top Hat participation exists to make lectures interactive; the grade is a proxy for being present and engaged. If you are struggling to keep up in class, the durable fix is doing the reading beforehand with better explanations available — which is exactly what an on-page tool is good for — rather than outsourcing the live questions.
Why not just copy the question into a chatbot?
Because the copy loses information, and because Top Hat content is often visual. A general chatbot only sees what you paste, so diagrams, embedded figures and the layout of answer choices usually do not survive the transfer. It also has no view of what your course taught, so explanations arrive pitched at a different level than your class. Working on the page keeps the material intact and keeps you in your reading.
What can Apex Vision AI do inside Top Hat?
- Explain readings — rephrase a dense passage at the level you need, without leaving the chapter.
- Show worked steps on homework problems, so you can reproduce the reasoning yourself.
- Break down questions you already answered, including why the other options were wrong.
- Generate revision material — flashcards, practice exams and study guides from your own course content.
- Work across platforms, so the same extension covers Canvas, Blackboard and Moodle alongside Top Hat.
Am I allowed to use it on Top Hat coursework?
For assigned homework, readings and revision, most instructors permit AI study tools, and many state so in the syllabus. For live in-class questions, assume no unless your instructor has explicitly said otherwise. Check the activity itself first, then the syllabus, then your institution's academic integrity policy. Apex Vision AI is built for the permitted side of that line — it explains reasoning so you can learn and verify — and we do not support using it during graded live questions, closed-book work or proctored assessments.
How do I get started?
Install the extension from the Chrome Web Store, sign in once, and open it on a Top Hat reading or homework set you are already working through. You start with 30 free requests and no card is required. The best first test is a passage you already understand — if the explanation is genuinely clearer than the textbook, it will be useful on the ones you do not.
Try it on the question you are actually stuck on
Apex Vision AI is a Chrome extension and mobile app that reads the question already open on your screen — including diagrams and answer choices — and explains it step by step, without you copying anything into a separate chatbot. It works inside Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle and Top Hat.
Free plan includes 30 requests a day, no card required. AI answers can be wrong — always check them against your course material.