Using Piazza
This semester we will be using Piazza for class discussion. The system is
highly catered to getting you help fast and efficiently from
classmates, the TA, and myself. Rather than emailing questions
directly to me or the TA, I encourage you to post your questions on
Piazza. We'll get them just as fast, and in addition other students can
participate in the discussion. If you have any problems or feedback
for the developers, email team@piazza.com.
While Piazza is great for discussions, it also provides for
information like the syllabus, assignments, etc. that is found on the
course webpage. We will not in general replicate this information both
places. In the past, things other than discussions have been provided
via the webpage, and we plan to continue that this semester, although
we may start migrating more material to Piazza if it proves
convenient.
Using Canvas
In addition to information posted on the class webpage and in Piazza
you will be able to find your course grades as the semester progresses
via Canvas. Canvas is our replacement for the much maligned and not much
lamented Blackboard system. You are likely not familiar with using Canvas,
so instructions for using it are available via the login page
here.
Note that we will not generally make information that is available on
the class webpage or in Piazza available on Canvas as well, you should
rely on it primarily for grades. Since I am no more familiar with it than
you are, this may change later in the semester if it proves to be as much
superior to Blackboard as my initial experiences with it indicate it might be.
Last modified: 08/27/13
by Don Fussell fussell@cs.utexas.edu