Piazza
Piazza is an online discussion tool that facilitates discussion of topics in a question-and-answer format with a dedicated area for students and instructors to respond to questions. Students can post and answer questions, help their peers outside of the classroom, and encourage discussion. Instructors can answer student questions, which provide correct and “expert” answers to students and are marked with a yellow symbol, differentiating their posts from student posts. Piazza is also fully integrated with Canvas and offers other interactive features, such as anonymous posting and polls.
Key Features
- Question-and-answer format: ask questions and discuss topics in a question-and –answer format
- Student collaboration: multiple individuals can contribute and answer questions by editing the same post to formulate the best answer to a question
- Open learning environment: anonymously post questions and answers
- Check student understanding: create polls to assess student understanding of class concepts
- Announcements: create announcements to inform students of important class information
- Canvas integration: easily accessible as Piazza is fully integrated with Canvas
Getting Started
To start using Piazza, you must first enable Piazza in your Canvas course (either by adding Piazza to the Course Navigation or adding a link to Piazza from a module). Next, create and set up a Piazza class for your students to enroll in.
Instructions
- Add students and other instructors and TAs to your Piazza class
- Note: To protect the confidentiality of other instructors' and TAs' personal email addresses, please add them using their UBC email addresses.
- Note: If Instructors and TAs self-enroll by accessing the Piazza link in Canvas, the first instructor of the Piazza course will be notified by email and will need to approve the request.
- Change anonymity settings for discussions in your Piazza class
- By default, students have the option to post anonymously.
Additional Resources
Last updated on: September 27, 2024