Course Communications

Course Communication Options

There are two recommended ways to communicate with students outside of class. We typically do not recommend use of the Canvas Inbox/Conversations except when specific Canvas groups need to be delineated in communications on a regular basis.

Course Emailer

The course emailer is a tool that generates an email address that can be used in any external email client to email the entire course; email address are also generated for particular sections, if a course has more than one.

The Course Emailer offers different permission levels that can be selected to prevent students and guests from sending and replying to the mailing list. The default setting is for "Course Access" so be sure to change this to "Staff Access" if you wish to prevent students from "replying all" to the whole class in error or intentionally. 

Course emailer permission set in Canvas, with descriptions. Course Access is selected.

For more information, consult the HUIT Help article on the Course Emailer.

Announcements

Canvas's "Announcements" feature generates an email notification, and a dashboard notification in Canvas, have a dedicated place on the course navigation bar, and can involve user interactivity that may be useful to clarify important global messages about the course. Announcements have the following advantages:

  • User interactivity with comments (can be enabled/disabled)
  • Postings can be scheduled ahead of time
  • Redundancy (email notification + canvas dashboard notification)
  • Persistent (appears on the course homepage).

Additional Guides

How to use Conversations (Inbox) How to use Announcements How do I show recent announcements on the Course homepage?

Feedback Form

Submit suggestions or feedback on the HGSE Canvas environment and associated tools.