Introduction

This page will help you learn how to use the four main communication tools available in Canvas: announcements, conversations (inbox), chat, and conferences. Not all courses will use all of these tools, so feel free to skip any resources that are not relevant to your specific needs.

On This Page:

Prepare your students for effective communication in Canvas
Create an announcement
Create and manage conversations (inbox)
Use chat
Create online conferences

Prepare your students for effective communication in Canvas

Learn how students can optimize their individual notification settings to be sure they are receiving important updates throughout your course:

Canvas Student Orientation Module: Profile & Notifications

We also recommend directing your students to this brief video overview which describes how students can use announcements, discussions, and conversations to communicate with instructors and peers:

Communication (7 min)

Create an announcement

Read this short introduction to learn how you can use announcements to communicate with your entire class:

What are announcements?

Practice creating an announcement in your course sandbox using either of the following tutorials as a guide:

Announcements Overview (3 min)

How do I make an announcement in my course?

Please Note: When copying announcements from a Master Course to a Live Course, be aware of the following behaviors:

If the course is unpublished when the announcements are imported, they will not appear on the Course Activity Stream, but are visible under Announcements.
If the course is published when the announcements are copied over, they are visible in the Course Activity Stream.
If you create announcements in a Master Course, set the delay posting option. When you copy the announcements over to the Live Course and select the adjust due dates option, they are not available to students.

Create and manage conversations (inbox)

Canvas' "conversations" or "inbox" tool is an internal course mail feature that allows you to send messages to individuals or student groups without leaving Canvas. Use the following tutorial to learn how to create and manage conversations in your Canvas inbox:

How do I use conversations?

Please Note: Your profile and notification settings will allow you to receive alerts about new messages via your chosen email address, and you have the option to respond to Canvas messages using the reply function in your email client. However, that option does not always function as expected. Our recommendation at this time is to return to your Canvas inbox to respond to any messages directly from within Canvas.

Use chat

Read a brief introduction to the purpose and function of Canvas’s chat feature, or watch a video demonstration to learn how to access and use Chat:

What is Chat?

Chat Overview (2 min)

Create online conferences

Conferences are a feature within Canvas that can be used for live online interactions with students including virtual lectures, virtual office hours, and online student group meetings. There are two different options for holding conferences in Canvas:

Use BigBlueButton which integrates with Canvas
Use Meeting @ PennState powered by Adobe Connect

Review the following chart to see which of the two conference tools is best for you:

Conferences in Canvas: Meeting @ PennState vs. Big Blue Button

Use the following tutorials to learn how to create a conference using BigBlueButton or Meeting @ PennState:

How do I create a conference?

Create a Meeting @ PennState Adobe Connect meeting space in a course

Quick Navigation

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Learning Path Overview Module 4 Overview