EARTH 540
Essentials of Oceanography

Course Communications

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Meaningful interactions among students and instructors are the hallmark of a successful online class. The two learning environments we will use are Canvas and Drupal.  They will provide several types of communication, as described below.

Communications in Canvas

The Canvas course management system supports several modes of communication, including discussion forums, course mail, announcements.

  • Discussion forums are a kind of public email known as "threaded discussion." Everyone enrolled in the class can post messages of their own and can read and respond to every other message. A series of messages that make up a conversation is called a "thread." Discussion forums are included in each chapter and project folder (located in the menu bar under "modules"). A few others are available as well -- for Personal Introductions, Questions, etc.
    • In general, questions and comments about project assignments, and about topics in the course text that pertain to more than a single page, should be shared with the entire class via the discussion forums. That way, everyone can benefit from the discussion.
    • For more information see Canvas Discussion Forums for Students at https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-4121#jive_content_id_Discussions
  • Message in Canvas is private email; only the recipients you designate can read your messages. Please note that it is internal to Canvas. To send course mail, visit the "Inbox" link in the Canvas menu bar.