Notes &
Lit up my geek radar like a christmas tree:
[On Piazza, a homework-help site,] students post questions to their course page, which peers and educators can then respond to. Instructors moderate the discussion, endorse the best responses and track the popularity of questions in real time. Responses are also color-coded, so students can easily identify the instructor’s comments.
Although there are rival services, like Blackboard, an education software company, Piazza’s platform is specifically designed to speed response times. The site is supported by a system of notification alerts, and the average question on Piazza will receive an answer in 14 minutes.
“The whole idea of Piazza stems from the dynamics that I observed at I.I.T. From the sidelines I saw how effective it was to get immediate help, from peers in the same room,” Ms. Nath, 30, said.
…
Piazza’s own metrics are promising. The average user, according to the company’s data, spends two to three hours a day on the site. [!]
(Source: The New York Times)
