Piazza Tutorials:

Piazza Basics

Getting started with Piazza 

There are two ways to set up a class with Piazza.

  1. Canvas integration
  2. Piazza Website

Option 1: Canvas Integration

To add Piazza to your Navigation panel, go to Settings → Navigation and drag “Piazza” from the hidden items list to the course navigation list and click “Save.”

When you click the Piazza link in your left navigation, it will automatically prompt you to sign in, create a class in Piazza, and link this class with Piazza. You can always click on this link in Canvas to interact with Piazza.

Direct your students to also click on this Piazza link in the left navigation. It will also prompt them to sign in and enroll in your class when they first click on it. Afterwards, they can access the class in the Piazza website, Piazza app, or through Canvas.

Option 2: Piazza Website

Setting up your course on Piazza takes two minutes (video tutorial of these steps): 

  1. Navigate to piazza.com/signup  
  2. Search for your school in the School Search field.
  3. Enter your class name.  
  4. Click the + Create a new Class button.  
  5. Enter your course information.  
  6. Click Create Class.  
  7. Follow the prompts to add students, TAs, and share the Piazza link with students. You can also enroll students from your Manage Class page in one of the following ways:  
    • Paste in students’ email addresses (in any format), and Piazza will automatically extract just the email addresses, and send the students Welcome Emails.  
    • Upload your student roster file.  
    • Copy the class signup link and send it out to your students. Students will need to provide a valid school email address if your school has an email domain associated. with it, otherwise they will need to provide an access code which you can find on the same Manage Class page.  
    • Note, during Add/Drop period, you can use our add/drop roster feature by checking the box that enables add/drop support prior to copying in students’ emails or uploading your student roster. This feature can be helpful during the first couple weeks of the term when the student roster is continually changing.  

Configuring Your Class  

There are a number of ways you, as an instructor, can configure your class. Visit the Manage Class page to change or view the various settings:  

  • Keep the default folders (for organizing class content), otherwise edit them to better suit your class structure (or disable folders altogether).  
  • Allow private or anonymous student posting options.  
  • Allow instructors to self-enroll via the Piazza homepage, by providing a valid school email address. By default, when another instructor attempts to join your class with the class signup link, you’ll be sent an email to approve their enrollment.
  • Enroll fellow instructors by pasting in their email addresses or sending them the enrollment link. 

Creating Your First Post  

It might be a good idea to create an introductory note, welcoming your students to Piazza. Click the New Post button in the top left of your Q&A dashboard to create a question, note, or poll depending on what you’d like to post. You can also send them the video introduction for students. 

Engaging with Students

There are many ways for instructors and students to support one another using Piazza features. See Ideas for Teaching with Piazza on our Piazza overview page or learn more about Piazza using the Professor Toolkit. It includes an in-depth product guide, professor case studies, tips for a successful class, boosting minorities’ participation in the class, information on FERPA compliance, and student privacy.