Online Study Hall?

Students email their professors continuously for help, often creating a breath of written communication that is difficult for their professors to manage. Piazza, a website developed by a Stanford University graduate student, may offer professors a solution that increases the manageability of help requests from students. The website contains a built-in study hall where professors and teaching assistants can easily monitor questions from students. This feature is also used to encourage students who understand the material to help students who are seeking help. The Piazza developer, Pooja Sankar, argues that this innovation simplifies student support for the professor by allowing the professor to post responses to a single online forum. Sankar says this approach is superior to approaches where the professor attempts to manage a scattershot of student email.

While this new innovation seems promising for professors, it is difficult understand how this innovation is superior to a well-designed online forum. After all, some learning management systems such as Canvas contain built-in, context-specific help.