The following are some of the questions we frequently get asked about Announcements and Canvas Inbox.  

How can I be sure everyone is receiving notification of new announcements? 

You and your students can get a notification from Canvas when Announcements are posted in your course. Go to your Account and click on Notifications. Under Course Activities you will see Announcement and Announcement Created by You. Both the instructor and students should have these options turned on. They should be set to ASAP, at the end of the day, or the end of the week. Remember Announcements will always be visible on the tile for your course on the student’s Dashboard. They will also see them on the Course Home Page if the Course Home Page is set to the Course Activity Stream or if you changed your settings to display announcements on the Home Page. 

I would like to add particular students to receive particular Announcements. Can I do this? 

The Announcement tool is design to make announcements to everyone in the class.  To contact individual or groups of students with information, go to the Inbox and create a Conversation (like an email.)  You can select which students get this message.  It will go to both their Canvas Inbox and their UO Email.  Like with Announcements, both the instructor and students should check their Notifications to make sure Conversations and Conversations Created by You, are turned on. 

What does Canvas call email? 

Email in Canvas is managed in the Inbox.  Canvas refers to email messages as Conversations or messages. If the instructor sends a Conversation or message to the whole class, it is the same as sending an Email to the whole class. That message or conversation will also go to the student’s UO Email if the students have properly configured their Notifications. 

Is it possible for the instructor to prevent students from opting out of getting Announcements or Conversations?  

No, not at this time. In Canvas, since the Announcements and Conversations are shown in the course site, students and instructors both have full control over their own Notifications. They can always see those items in Canvas.  Reminding students how this works might encourage them to keep their Notifications turned on. 

Does Canvas resend an Announcement if it has already been sent, and then it is edited and saved again? 

Canvas will re-post the Announcement but will not send an additional email. However the Announcement icon will appear on the Course Card on the Dashboard.

When I send an email from Canvas do the students’ replies go to my Canvas email or my @uoregon account? 

Replies will go to both accounts, but the receipt of a Canvas email in your UO Email could be delayed during times of higher Canvas usage. Checking your Canvas Inbox periodically is the best practice.

How do I know an Announcement has been posted?   

Announcements are posted to the Course Activity Stream page. They can also be seen by clicking on the Announcements link on the Course Navigation Menu. 

Is there a way to disable Comments on Announcements? 

There is!  Go to Settings, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on more options. In this list of more options are several serendipitous finds!  At the very bottom of the list is Disable comments on announcements. The rest of the list pertains to Discussions, Groups, and Grades.  Check it out.  Finally, make sure to click the Update Course Details button to save changes. 

When sending messages or emails to a large multi-section course, is it possible to send it to some, but not all, sections within the course? 

It is possible to select one section at a time, and then select another, until all sections who are to receive the message are listed on the To: line.  To do this, when clicking on the icon to select recipients, Course Sections will be an option.  Click on Course Sections and then click one of the sections that is to receive the message. Hover over the section to see the full section name if they are long names.  Repeat the process and click on each Section until all of the sections that are to receive the message are selected. Fill in the Subject line and write the message.  Remember to put a check in the Send an individual message to each recipient box so the message doesn’t end up in the student’s spam mailbox and so the students can’t use the Reply All option. 

Can students email each other in Canvas?

Yes, the Inbox tool works for students the same way it works for instructors.