Piazza

Piazza

Introduction

Piazza is a platform for instructors to efficiently manage class discussions. Students can post questions and collaborate to edit responses to these questions. Instructors can also answer questions, endorse student answers, and edit or delete any posted content.

Piazza is designed to simulate real class discussion. It aims to get high-quality answers to difficult questions, fast!

Features

  • Wiki-style format enables collaboration in a single space
  • Features LaTeX editor, highlighted syntax, and code blocking
  • Questions and posts needing immediate action are highlighted
  • Instructors endorse answers to keep the class on track
  • Anonymous posting encourages every student to participate
  • Highly customizable online polls

Getting Started

Instructor Resources

Add Piazza to Your Canvas Course

The easiest way to use Piazza in your course is to add it to your Course Navigation: 

  1. Go to Settings
  2. Click on Navigation
  3. Drag Piazza from the hidden items list to the Course Navigation list
  4. Click Save

Course navigation page in Canvas, showing Piazza at the bottom of the page where you would need to drop and drag so that Piazza is visible in the Course Navigation menu in Canvas

Use Piazza in your Canvas course

Once you have added Piazza to the course navigation (see above), follow the steps in the Piazza Getting Started Guide for Instructors to learn how to:

  • Create a Class
  • Enrolling Students
  • Viewing the Students’ View of Piazza
  • Blocking Student Self-Enrollment

Add Piazza to a Module

You can also link Piazza within your Canvas modules by adding it to an existing module or creating a new one. 

  1. Click on Modules in the left navigation bar
  2. Select the plus sign in the same row of the module that you have chosen Shows the back end of Canvas. The top row contains two buttons that read View Progress and Module. Under that is the actual title of the module with a plus sign which is boxed out with a blue square because that is the focus for this instruction.
  3. Choose External Tool from the “Add” menu, and select Piazza
    Depicts how to add an external tool to a specific module in Canvas.
  4. Select the blue Add Item button to complete the process

Include a Syllabus Statement

When using Piazza in your class, add the statement below under the required technologies section of your syllabus

This course will use Piazza for class discussion. Visit the Piazza learning tool guide to view the terms of service, privacy policy, accessibility statement, steps for getting started, and support options.

Student Resources

Use Piazza in your Canvas course

To use the Piazza tool in your Canvas course, click on the Piazza link in your Canvas course navigation.

For more information, see the online documentation below or the Piazza Help Guides for Students.

Online Documentation

 Training

Licensing

Using a p-card, instructors may purchase a Piazza license directly from the vendor. Contact finance_delivery@iastate.edu for assistance with the purchasing process.

Support

The available support options for Piazza are listed below.
  1. Begin with Piazza Support:
    1. Help Center: http://support.piazza.com/
    2. Email: team@piazza.com
    3. Phone: (800) 818-4124
  2. Follow-up with ISU Solution Center as needed: solution@iastate.edu / 515-294-4000

News & Updates

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