Piazza is a discussion board application that can be used to create an online space where students can post and answer questions, help their peers outside of the classroom, and encourage discussions. Piazza is fully integrated with Canvas.
There are two ways in which you can integrate Piazza into your Canvas site. We recommend choosing only one method to minimize multiple entry points.
Adding a course menu link
1. Access your Canvas course site.
2. Click Settings on the course menu.
3. Select the Navigation tab.
4. Drag the Piazza item from the bottom section of the page to the top section.
5. Click Save.
You may be required to refresh your browser for the course menu link to appear. Click on the link to launch Piazza and create your course.
Adding a Piazza link in a Canvas module
1. Access your Canvas course site.
2. Click Modules on the course menu.
3. Click the + icon on the top right corner of the module you wish to add the Piazza link to.
4. Select External Tool from the Add drop-down menu.
5. Scroll all the way down and check the box Load in a new tab.
6. Click Add Item.
Click on the link to launch Piazza and create your course.
If you decide to use Piazza in your course, you are required to use the Canvas integration to ensure that its use is compliant with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). The Canvas integration link directs students to the proper Piazza course and masks the student’s identity before it is sent to the site. To comply with BC privacy legislation, students will need to create a Piazza account and agree to the terms of use the first time they use the tool. While Piazza adheres to strict U.S. privacy regulations (FERPA), UBC cannot guarantee the security of student’s private details on servers outside of Canada. Students should be reminded to exercise caution whenever using personal information, and that they may use a pseudonym to protect their privacy if they have concerns. Creating a Piazza course outside of Canvas and providing students with the external URL is not FIPPA compliant and is not recommended.
Once your Piazza link has been added to Canvas follow these instructions to create your Piazza class.
- Log in to your Canvas course and click the Piazza link.
- Enter your UBC email and click Check Email.
- You may be prompted to enter your name and create a password if you have never used Piazza before (for security reasons, please use a different password than your UBC CWL). Click Continue.
- Verify your email account with the verification code sent to your email and after entering the code, click Confirm. Your Piazza account will now be associated with Canvas.
- Fill in the "Estimated Enrollment" field and click Create New Piazza Class. Note that this field can be changed later.
- On the "Configure Your Class" page, after reviewing the default settings already in place, adjust as needed. We recommend the following:
- Keep the “Disabled” option default for the "Instructor Self-Signup". This ensures that only enrolled course instructors and TAs can sign up as instructors.
- Set up an access code for your Piazza class. This code will prevent non-registered students from accessing your Piazza course.
- Do not enroll students, other instructors, or TAs on this page. Instructions for that are mentioned in the following section.
- Click Finish Setup and Continue to Class Q&A to access your Piazza course.
- Proceed to the following section for steps on adding students, other instructors, and TAs to your Piazza course.
Adding students
Students can self-enroll in your Piazza class by clicking the Piazza link in Canvas from the Course Navigation or a module. If a student is using Piazza for the first time, they will be prompted to create a Piazza account. If a student has an existing linked Piazza account with Canvas, it will be automatically associated.
Note: To ensure the use of Piazza aligns with privacy requirements (FIPPA), students must be given the option to use a pseudonym when setting up their accounts. The steps are included below:
- Prior to inviting students to self-enroll in your Piazza course, please share the following information with them:
In this course, you will be using Piazza, which is a tool to help facilitate discussions. When creating an account in the tool, you will be asked to provide personally identifying information. Please know you are not required to consent to share this personal information with the tool if you are uncomfortable doing so. If you choose not to provide consent, you may create an account using a nickname and a non-identifying email address, then let your instructor know what alias you are using in the tool.
- If you have set up an access code (refer above), please provide it to the students.
- Please provide the subsequent instructions to students to assist them in completing the enrollment process:
- As a student, you will need to log in to Canvas and click the Piazza link from the Course Navigation or a module, depending on where the instructor has added it.
- After you have clicked on the link, Piazza will open in a new tab. For first-time Piazza users, the new tab will prompt you to set up your Piazza account. For students with an existing account linked to Canvas, it will be automatically associated and you may skip step iii.
- For first-time users, you may be prompted to:
- enter your preferred email, preferred name, password, and email verification code. You may create an account using a nickname and a non-identifying email address for privacy reasons.
- enter your level of study, major, and anticipated completion date. You may keep these detail private. This information does not need to be accurate.
- "Join the Piazza Network of students and employers". You are not required to join the Piazza network to participate in course discussions.
- Click Join Class to complete the enrollment in the Piazza course.
- If you choose to use an alias when creating a Piazza account, please let the instructor know what you used.
Adding other instructors and TAs
The most efficient way to add other instructors and TAs is to add them directly through Piazza.
- Open your Piazza course.
- At the top navigation bar, click Manage Class.
- At the top grey toolbar, click Manage Enrollment.
- Under the "Enroll Professors/TAs" section, enter the UBC business email addresses of other instructors and/or TAs (separated by commas or spaces) in the textbox.
- Click Add Instructors.
- On the pop-up page, select the role of each person. Either as TA or Professor.
- Click Add Instructors at the end of the pop-up page.
- Once other instructors and TAs are added, they will receive a welcome email to activate their Piazza account.
Note: To protect the confidentiality of other instructors' and TAs' personal email addresses, please add them using their UBC business email addresses. UBC business email addresses are considered public information, therefore, they are the advised email to send Piazza communications and notifications.
Note: It is possible to allow other instructors and TAs to self-enroll by accessing the Piazza link in Canvas, but this approach is not as efficient. Each time another instructor and/or TA attempts to enroll, the first instructor of the Piazza course will be notified by email and need to approve each request manually.
Students are able to post private questions (where only the instructor/TA can see the question and response) and public questions (where anyone can see the question and response). Students can also choose to post their public question anonymously so that their names will not appear next to the question.
When creating a new Piazza course, the default settings allow students to post both private and public questions anonymously. Instructors are able to enable or disable these settings.
Posting anonymously
Enabled: Students show up as "Anonymous" to both classmates and instructors.
Disabled: Students show up as "Anonymous" to classmates, but not to instructors.
Private posts
Enabled: Instructors and students will be able to post privately to instructors.
Disabled: Only instructors will be able to post privately to instructors.
To manage these settings:
1. Access your Piazza course.
2. Click the Manage Class tab.
3. Click the Customize Q&A tab.
4. Enable/disable settings as desired.
5. Click Save Changes.
