PrintCanvas supports several modes of communication, including discussions, conversations, and announcements. This course may use a combination of the options below.
Discussions
Discussions are threaded discussion areas within the course. Everyone enrolled in the class can post messages of their own and can read and respond to everyone else's messages. A series of messages that make up a conversation is called a "thread."
- In general, questions and comments about assignments, content, or other course topics should be shared with the entire class via a general discussion forum. That way, everyone can benefit from the discussion. A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself, "Would I raise my hand in class to ask this?" If the answer is yes, put it on the discussion forum. Chances are, if you're wondering about something, at least one other person is, too!
- NOTE: You are responsible for any and all communications that the instructor sends to the class, including discussion forum posts. You can subscribe to entire Discussion threads in your courses and be notified when new comments are posted to the topic. If you reply to a discussion, you will automatically be subscribed to discussions and will be notified of updates unless you manually unsubscribed to that discussion. Please note that you cannot subscribe to individual threads within a threaded discussion. For more information, see 'How do I reply to a discussion as a student?'.
Conversations
Conversations is the Canvas messaging tool used instead of email to communicate with a course instructor, a group, an individual student, or a group of students. You can communicate with other people in your course at any time.
- Please use course mail only for private messages to instructors or fellow students.
- The instructor prefers to keep course mail within the course management system, except for emergencies.
Note:
Whenever you post a message in a forum or send course mail, please entitle every message with a descriptive subject line. Subject lines that include the gist of a question or comment increase the chances that students and instructors can retrieve the messages we're looking for. Poor subject lines, such as "Question" or "Lesson 1," are useless as search keywords.
Announcements
Announcements are occasional messages from the instructor that appear when you log into your course. It is important to configure your notifications preferences so that you receive announcements where and when you wish to receive them.
Activity: Setting Up Communications
Your Canvas Profile and User Settings let you control your personal information in Canvas. Take a few minutes to personalize your Canvas profile and set your Notification Preferences, by following the instructions below.
| Task | Instructions |
|---|---|
| Personalize your Canvas Profile |
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| If you use PSU OneID |
Students who are enrolled with OneID will not receive emails automatically from Canvas due to not having PSU email access. We advise that students set up a personal email address for notifications.
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| Set your notification preferences |
You have the option to select how, when, and for what information you would like to receive notifications. This can be very helpful when keeping track of items such as discussion posts, assignment due dates, and exams. Visit Canvas Notification Preference Support and follow the instructions for setting up your notification preferences. The video below this table provides additional information. To ensure that your Canvas Inbox messages forward to your regular e-mail account immediately, check the "Notify me right away" option (the checkmark) for each item under "Conversations" in Notification Preferences. |
| Set your timezone |
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| Download the Canvas App | For information on using the app by device, please see the following: |
Video Tutorial: Canvas Notification Preferences (2:56)
In this video, you will learn about managing your notification settings for all courses and for an individual course.
To get started, click the Account link in the Global Navigation menu.
Then click the Settings link.
To add an email, click the Add Email Address link.
Enter your email address in the field and click the Register Email button.
After your email has been registered, you will receive a confirmation email. To complete registration, click the link provided in the email.
To manage notifications for all your courses, click the Notifications link in the User Navigation menu.
You can also access your notifications from anywhere in Canvas by clicking the Account link and clicking the Notifications link.
Notification settings are divided into sections including: Course Activities, Discussions, Conversations, Scheduling, Groups, Conferences, and Alerts.
Each section includes notification categories. You can view what triggers each notification by hovering your cursor over the category.
Contact methods linked to your account and push notifications for the Canvas apps are listed in individual columns.
To change how often you receive notifications for a specific category and contact method, click the corresponding notification icon.
You can receive notifications immediately, receive a daily or weekly summary, or turn notifications off completely.
Instructors, students, and observers can also manage notification settings at the course level. To open a course, click the Courses link in Global Navigation and click the name of the course.
In the Course Home Page, click the View Course Notifications button.
You can choose to enable or disable notifications for your course using the Enable Notifications toggle button.
If notifications have been enabled for your course, you can specify how often notifications are sent to a contact method for a specific category. Course notification sections and categories may differ from those available at the account level. However, course level settings will override notification settings at the account level for that course.
To manage how often you receive notifications for a specific category and contact method, click the corresponding notification icon. Then click how often you'd like to receive the notification.
Thanks for watching this Notification Settings overview video. To learn more about Canvas, ask questions, or engage with other Canvas users, please visit community.canvaslms.com.