Template CTL Website Introducing Piazza

Dear CTLs,

We’ve put together information that you can host on your internal CTL website, should this be helpful as you serve to be a resource to faculty on your campus. As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out with questions, comments, or suggestions at team@piazza.com if we can help in any way!

Warm regards,
The Piazza Team

About Piazza

Piazza is an intuitive platform that facilitates online Q&A discussions.

Piazza was built on the founding principle of creating inclusion in the classroom. Their founder Pooja Sankar was one of 3 women studying computer science, and too shy to ask for help from her male classmates, she started Piazza so every student could have a voice.

Benefits of Piazza

Faculty report that Piazza saves them time. When students post their questions on Piazza, instructors or TAs respond to each unique question just once - instead of answering the same question multiple times over email.

Once a class becomes active on Piazza, students often contribute answers to each other's questions on their own. Instructors can endorse or correct a response posted by the community to give confidence that it’s backed by the teaching staff.

Students who would otherwise not actively participate or seek out help (be they too shy or geographically distant) can find their voice in the classroom and get the assistance they need through Piazza’s anonymous posting function, should instructors choose to enable it. Collaboration on Piazza stimulates discussion and active learning long after lecture ends.

Features

  • Students can edit questions and answers wiki-style, enabling collaboration in a single space
  • Questions and posts needing immediate action are highlighted
  • Instructors can endorse students’ answers, letting other students know that the answer is approved
  • Instructors can allow students to participate anonymously, to encourage participation from the shyest students
  • Piazza includes a LaTeX editor and support for code blocking and syntax highlighting
  • Highly customizable online polls to get a sense for where students stand
  • Statistics that help instructors monitor participation, identify top contributors, and adapt teaching strategies 

  • Piazza runs on all devices: students and instructors can connect via iOS or Android mobile apps
  • Best-in-class privacy and data protection
  • Integrated directly into our LMS System 


Toolkit for Professors

Piazza has compiled a Professor Toolkit to help you get started with Piazza for your class.

This toolkit includes an in-depth product guide, professor case studies, tips for a successful class, boosting minorities’ participation in the class, information on FERPA compliance, student privacy and on their optional careers-oriented product offering Piazza Network that serves to aid students in getting jobs and internships.

Getting started with Piazza

[Note to education professionals - we encourage you to customize these instructions to your LMS]


Setting up your course on Piazza takes two minutes:

  • Navigate to piazza.com/signup 

  • Search for your school in the School Search field 

  • Enter your class name 

  • Click the + Create a new Class button 

  • Enter your course information 

  • Click Create Class 

  • Follow the prompts to add students, TAs, and share the Piazza link with students 


Should you want to set up your course through your LMS: 


  • Log in to your LMS website 

  • Navigate to your course site 

  • Follow the prompts to add Piazza as an integration to your class 


Help

You can contact the Piazza Team at team@piazza.com if you would like help getting set up for your classes.