Communication Tools

Communication Tools

It's important to communicate with students early and often about essential course elements and any course changes throughout the semester. Course changes to communicate may include:

  • Course delivery format
  • Schedule and deadlines
  • Course policies and procedures
  • Expectations  for instructor and student communication
  • Expectations  for assessment and course completion 

This section will highlight Canvas features that facilitate effective Instructor-Student and Student-Peer communication. 

Syllabus

The syllabus is a contractual document that communicates information about basic course content, course policies, the course schedule, and additional resources to ensure student success (e.g., Tech Help, Academic Resources, etc.). Canvas has a built-in Syllabus section that allows instructors to highlight syllabus content and upload attachments.  For guidance on how to customize your online syllabus, see the Download Online Syllabus Checklist

.  To learn how to use and edit the syllabus in Canvas, see:

Announcements

Announcements allow instructors to communicate with students about course activities and post interesting course-related topics. Announcements are designed to allow instructors to broadcast information out to all members of a course or to all members of sections within a course. Students may be able to reply to announcements, but replies are not considered to be a conversation and do not appear in the Inbox. Watch the video below for more information on this topic. 

How do I add an announcement in a course? Links to an external site.

How do I use the Announcements Index Page? Links to an external site.

Discussion Boards

Discussions allow for interactive communication between faculty and students. You may choose to use discussion boards as an ungraded activity (such as a course FAQ or general forum) or as a graded activity. Watch the video below to see how to create discussion topics in your Canvas course.

How do I use the Discussions Index Page? Links to an external site.
How do I create a discussion as an instructor? Links to an external site.

Inbox

Your Inbox is linked to all of your Canvas courses and contains messages between you and your students about courses. It functions a lot like email, and by default, you will be notified of new messages to your university email address. You can respond directly to the email notification to reply to the message in Canvas.

How do I use Conversations as an instructor? Links to an external site.

Calendar

The Canvas calendar displays all assignments and events for your courses. You can even add your Canvas calendar to your Outlook, Google, or iCal calendar.

How do I use the Calendar as an instructor? Links to an external site.