UT Snapshot: Piazza & All that Jazz

   In his online Jazz Appreciation course, Jeff Hellmer Links to an external site. (Butler School of Music Links to an external site.) uses Piazza Links to an external site. to conduct all class-related discussion. Jeff encourages students to dive into the course by asking questions on Piazza (rather than via emails) as a means of fostering community: "You'll benefit from the collective knowledge of your classmates and instructors," he tells them, "We encourage you to ask questions when you're struggling to understand a concept—you can even do so anonymously." Piazza permits students to ask questions (anonymously, if desired), edit questions and answers wiki-style, and tag their posts using a "#" for ease of tracking. 

Jeff models and encourages interactions with and among students on Piazza, occasionally initiating posts: 

As students respond, Jeff continues to interact conversationally with them:

You don't have to respond to every post, or to any posts: Depending on the kind of interaction you want, Piazza can be a place for students to trouble-shoot problems amongst themselves! 

 "How Do UT Instructors Build Connections and Community?"