Faronics Insight vs Piazza

Faronics Insight is classroom management software for educational institutions. It gives teachers a central view of student devices, with real-time screen thumbnails and indicators such as login status, operating system, Focus Mode, and web restrictions. Teachers can allow or block websites and apps, review web and app history, disable private browsing, and blank student screens. Communication tools include individual or group chat and audio, while screen sharing lets a teacher present their screen or show a student’s screen to the class. Teachers can create tests with true or false, multiple choice, short answer, or essay questions and see results in real time; polls support yes-or-no and multiple-choice responses. Other tools cover class lists, file transfer and collection, remote control, app and website launches, and student computer power options. Insight Cloud offers centralized management and remote access, while Insight NXT is on-premise for local-network or offline environments. In the documented on-premise setup, Insight Connector runs on a network computer accessible to teacher and student devices. Insight is paid, has no free plan, and offers a 30-day trial; pricing is available on request.

Piazza is a course Q&A platform connecting students, teaching assistants, and professors around coursework. Its wiki-style format lets participants edit shared responses, with one student answer and one instructor answer for each question. Students can post anonymously to classmates, or anonymously to the instructor if the instructor permits it; instructors can endorse questions and answers. Course pages can hold announcements, course information, syllabi, assignments, lecture notes, and links. Participation reports show instructors who asks, answers, edits, or reads, as well as when questions arise during the term. Piazza lists integrations with Blackboard, Moodle, Sakai, Desire2Learn, Canvas, Jenzabar, and Angel. Integrated rosters can enroll users with appropriate roles, and users can sign in through the LMS. Piazza is available on web, iOS, and Android, with class alerts in its mobile apps. It says student email addresses and course enrollment details are accessible only to class instructors, and describes technical, administrative, and physical safeguards. Founded in 2009, it is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. A contribution-supported plan is free; paid instructor licenses start at $379 a month, billed per term.