Communicating in Canvas


There are many ways to communicate with your student through Canvas including Announcements, Chat, and Inbox. This page will help you to differentiate between them and decide which option or combination works best for you.

On This Page:

Overview of Communication Tools

Course Announcements
What are Announcements?
Canvas Inbox and Notification Settings
What is Chat?
What is the Inbox?

Announcements

Announcements allow instructors to communicate with students about course activities and post interesting course-related topics. Announcements will publish immediately unless you change the settings to delay posting. It is not possible to save drafts for future use.

Adding Announcements

How do I add an announcement in a course?
How do I attach a file to an announcement in a course?
How do I delay posting an announcement until a specific date in a course?
How do I copy an announcement to another course?|
How do I send an announcement to another instructor?

Managing Announcements

How do I edit an announcement in a course?
How do I delete an announcement in a course?
How do I use the Announcements Index Page?

Responding to Announcements

How do I view and sort announcement replies as an instructor?
How do I allow or disallow announcement replies in a course?
How do I reply to an announcement as an instructor?
How do I allow students to like replies in a course announcement?
How do I like a reply in a course announcement as an instructor?

Chat

How do I use Chat as an instructor?
How do I use inline Chat as an instructor?

Inbox

The Canvas Inbox displays all Canvas Conversations - the internal messaging system in Canvas. These messages automatically forward to your UMass email address.

Sending Messages from the Inbox

How do I use the Inbox as an instructor?
How do I send a message to a user in a course in the Inbox as an instructor?
How do I send a message to a user in a student group in the Inbox as an instructor?
How do I send a message to all course users in the Inbox as an instructor?
How do I attach a file to a message as an instructor?
How do I forward a message from a conversation as an instructor?

Responding to Messages in the Inbox

How do I reply to a message in the Inbox as an instructor?
How do I privately respond to one individual in a group message as an instructor?
How do I attach a media comment to a message as an instructor?
How do I reply to submission comments in the Inbox as an instructor?
How do I add new people to an existing conversation as an instructor?

Cleaning and Filtering the Inbox

How do I find my unread messages in the Inbox as an instructor?
How do I filter conversations as an instructor?
How do I star a conversation as an instructor?
How do I delete a conversation as an instructor?
How do I delete a message from a conversation as an instructor?
How do I archive a conversation as an instructor?

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Canvas Training and Resources (On-Demand)

This course contains a wide variety of resources including a Canvas course checklist, video and written tutorials, sample courses, and access to 24/7 support. The course is "on-demand" meaning that you can access it at any time. 

To access this "Canvas Training and Resources" course, you can simply self-enroll by following these steps:

  1. Click on this link: https://umamherst.instructure.com/enroll/WDGJ8T
  2. Log into Canvas with your NetID@umass.edu and password.
  3. Click on Enroll in Course  OR  Go to the Course to access the course.

You should now see the "Canvas Training and Resources" course on your Canvas dashboard.

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Need Help Now?

IDEAS is available for drop-in support on Monday through Friday, 10am to 3pm:

To schedule an appointment, please contact us at instruct@umass.edu.