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*Speaker:* Piazza Team *Title: *A Tour of the Piazza Discussion Forums *Date/Time: *Tuesday, 1/24/2012 @ 12pm *Location: *Research Hall 163 *Host:* Jeff Offutt *Abstract:* Members of the Piazza team are visiting GMU on Tuesday, January 24 for a lunchtime seminar, with lunch provided. They will spend some time demonstrating the site, sharing best practices, and answering any questions. Piazza is a free online gathering place where students can ask, answer, and explore 24/7, under the guidance of their instructors. Students as well as instructors can answer questions, fueling a healthy, collaborative discussion. Instructors can go into deeper detail on complex topics, and spot areas where students are struggling. In SWE 432, we found that Piazza streamlined the teaching experience. All those hours spent responding to individual emails can now be put to better use. You will never have to answer the same question twice. Better yet, a student might answer it for you. On top of that, you always have complete editorial control over your class. Most bulletin boards are organized top-down with the instructor creating and controlling all topics and threads. Piazza allows bottom-up organization by students, leading to a richer, more interactive, more collaborative, and more free learning experience. This leads to more participation from students and more learning by students. You can read more about Piazza in this article from the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/04/technology/04piazza.htm. Or you can see demos and sign up at http://www.piazza.com.