Canvas Notifications: How are Students Receiving Your Communications?

Several instructors have contacted the CON IT department with questions of how Canvas sends out emails and announcements.  Canvas does this differently from D2L in that each individual has control over which notifications they receive and how.  Because of this, if some of your students are receiving emails when you post an announcement and others are not, this is in the control of the students– not the instructors.  Below is a quick overview that you can use yourself and send out to your students so that they know where their notifications are going:

First, know that your default email is your name.#

If you would like to add an additional email for notifications, you can do this on the profile page by logging into Canvas, clicking “Account” –> “Profile” and clicking “+ Email Address” on the right side of the screen:

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Now, to view and change your notification preferences, go to “Account” on the left hand side and then click “Notifications”. 2016-09-21-1

The Notification Preferences menu will open up.  Along the top of the menu you will see an explanation of what each of the 4 symbols mean.  There will be a column for each email address you have entered. If you have installed the Canvas app on your phone or tablet, there will also be a “Push Notification” preference column.  By clicking on the corresponding symbols, you can choose whether to be notified by email for each item, and how frequently you want to receive such emails.  If students are not receiving emails when you send announcements, their preferences will look like the below image.

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Whether or not students receive email notifications, they can always find these notifications when they log into your classroom on Canvas.

It’s a good idea to inform your students that if they want to email their instructor from Canvas, they can do so through the “Inbox” tab on the Canvas menu (see below).  The benefit of this route is that the instructor will receive the email both to their email inbox and to the Canvas inbox, and the message will inform them which course it came from.

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More information can be found on the Instructure Canvas guide here.

What other burning Canvas questions do you have?  Leave a comment or contact us by email to let us know!

 

Meet our Newest Undergraduate Student Staff Member

Shekinah Moon is our newest student employee in the CON IT department. If you see her around, be sure to say hi!

 

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Shekinah Moon is a sophomore at The Ohio State University. She is in the Young Scholars Program and is pursuing a nursing degree with a minor in Spanish. Her goal is become a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner and work in the nursery unit at the hospitals.  She ultimately wants to become a nurse midwife. During Shekinah’s years in her Cincinnati high school, she was on the Varsity cheerleading team and was a member of Pep Club, CATCS (a 3D glass and ceramic class), and choir. She volunteered for her school organization “Dater Cares,” which participates in various activities around the neighborhood like cleaning, painting, gardening, and volunteering at animal shelters and schools. She also volunteered at the Cerebral Palsy Center where she participated in arts and crafts with people with disabilities.

Meet our Undergraduate Student Staff Member

The CON IT department is happy to welcome Allison Boyce, our newest student staff member on the instructional design team. Be sure to say hello if you see her in Newton Hall!

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Allison Boyce is a freshman this year at The Ohio State University. She is an aspiring nurse and has an ultimate goal of earning a nursing position in one of the medical centers at OSU when she graduates in 2020. During Allison’s time in high school, she was involved in multiple clubs such as Key Club, National Honor Society, and Spanish Club. She has also participated in many community service activities. These community service activities include “Feed my Sheep” which is an organization that helps feed underprivileged people while simultaneously spreading the gospel, and “bed brigade” which is a group that constructs bed frames for families who cannot afford them. Allison is very involved with her church and serves as an active member of the worship band by singing and playing the piano. This year, Allison is living on South Campus in Park-Stradley hall, but is from Grove City, Ohio, where she lives with her parents, twin sister, and two cats.

Canvas: Assignment Submission Types

Canvas allows you to create many different kinds of assignments, and allows a variety of options for how to submit.  Here are some tips on the different “submission” types that are available to you:

Remember that you can create a new assignment either by going to Assignments –> “+ Assignment” or by going to Modules and clicking the “+” to the right of the Module you choose.

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Note that if you create your assignment in the Modules space, you will at first just create the title of the assignment and then will need to edit the assignment to add details.  When in the “edit” view of the assignment, you will see options for submission after scrolling down:

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Here, we see several options for submission type.  Below is a brief breakdown of these options:

  • No Submission– the assignment does not require students to turn anything in (either online or in-class).  This is useful for attendance or participation grades.  Read more here.
  • Online– students will turn their assignment in online– either through a drop box (for file uploads) or in a text/media-entry box.  This option also allows students to turn in a URL to a website, which is useful for courses where students will create blog posts.  More about online submissions can be found below.
  • On Paper– the assignment will be due in class or to the teacher.  You will need to create this type of assignment in your Canvas course in order to insert a column on your grade sheet.
  • External Tool– If you want to use one of the external tools in the drop-down list on Canvas Assignments, please contact your CON IT team.  Read more about this option here.

Online Submissions:

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There are several options for online submissions. The first thing to note is that in Canvas, there is no need to “create” a drop box for your assignments.  If you choose “file upload” as the submission method, a drop box will be created on the assignment page, and students will see a red button prompting them to submit their work.

You also have the option of limiting file types for submission. For instance, a teacher could require that submissions be .pdf files rather than the standard .doc or .docx files created in Microsoft Word.

Finally, don’t forget to save your work!  The red save button is located at the bottom of the screen.

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More questions about Canvas? Check out these great resources! 

Canvas Instructor Guide

ODEE Canvas Page

Previous CONTECH blog posts on Canvas

 

 

How to make a blog

Ever wonder how to make your own blog using the U.OSU blog tool? Creating a blog can be a fun and useful experience, and is oftentimes a component of classes offered here at the College. Well, this video series will get you started! Just 4 videos and less than 10 minutes of your time. These videos cover the basics, but don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you need help with some more advanced features.

Links to the videos are below: