Do you teach online? Do you hate the native discussion tools in your LMS? There are some interesting options emerging that could replace (or add another dimension) to online discussions. Enter Piazza, the social question and answer tool.
Piazza is a question-and-answer website for students to discuss topics about individual classes. Professors can set up a page for a class for their students to discuss with each other. Or students can set up a page without a professor being involved. The service reduces the number of repetitive questions that students ask professors, because they can check the site. Piazza can also show professors standing questions that they need to answer.
Piazza’s Q-And-A Website Goes Back To School – http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomiogeron/2011/08/26/piazzas-q-and-a-website-goes-back-to-school/
Community Building 2.0: Using Piazza to Encourage Student Rapport Outside the Classroom